How to find your IP address on Windows: public and local

Your Windows computer has two IP addresses that matter: the public IP, which the whole internet sees, and the local IP, used only inside your home or office network. This guide shows you how to find both in under a minute.

Your public IP address: the fast way

Open the What is my IP address page in any browser. It instantly shows your public IPv4 or IPv6 address, the protocol, country and reverse DNS, with a one-click copy button. This is the address websites see, and the one you need for remote access, allowlists or support requests.

Your local IP in Settings

On Windows 11 open Settings, Network & internet, pick Wi-Fi or Ethernet, click your active connection and scroll to IPv4 address. On Windows 10 the same information lives under Settings, Network & Internet, Properties.

Your local IP with ipconfig

Press Win+R, type cmd, press Enter and run:

ipconfig

Look for the IPv4 Address line under your active adapter (Wi-Fi or Ethernet). The Default Gateway line is your router's address. For DNS, the MAC address and everything else, run ipconfig /all.

From PowerShell

Get-NetIPAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 | Format-Table InterfaceAlias, IPAddress

This lists every interface and its address at a glance, handy when VPNs or virtual machines add virtual adapters.

Public or local: which one do you need?

Local addresses usually look like 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x or 172.16-31.x.x. Your router shares a single public address with every device in the house through NAT. You need the public IP for port forwarding, remote access from outside the network or server allowlists; you need the local IP for printers, file shares or another computer on the same network.

The steps differ on other systems: see how to find your IP address on a Mac and on Linux. Curious what your address says about your connection? Read what reverse DNS is.