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What's an IP address, and should you worry about yours?
In short: An IP address is a number that identifies a device on a network, much like a postal address for a house. Your home usually has one public address on the internet and a separate private address for each device inside. It shows roughly where you are, but not your name or street.
An address for every device
When you post a letter, you write an address on the envelope so the postal service knows where to deliver it. The internet works the same way. Every device that sends or receives information needs an address, so that the replies come back to the right place.
That address is called an IP address. "IP" stands for Internet Protocol, which is the set of rules for labelling and delivering data across the internet. Without it, a web page you asked for would have no idea where to go.
What one looks like
The most common kind looks like four numbers separated by dots, for example 192.168.1.25. Each of the four numbers is between 0 and 255. This older style is called IPv4.
IPv4 allows a little over four billion addresses. That sounded like plenty decades ago, but there are now far more phones, computers and gadgets than that. So a newer style, IPv6, is being rolled out. It uses longer addresses made of letters and numbers separated by colons, such as 2001:db8::1, and has room for an almost unlimited number of devices. Many phones and home connections already use both.
Public and private addresses
Here is the part that surprises most people: your home usually has two kinds of address.
- A public address, given to your home by your internet provider. This is the one websites see. Think of it as the address of your whole building.
- A private address for each device inside your home, handed out by your router. Think of these as flat numbers inside the building.
When your laptop asks for a web page, your router swaps the private address for the public one on the way out, then remembers which device asked so it can pass the reply back. This trick lets a whole household share one public address.
Addresses also change. Most homes get their public address on loan from the provider, and it may change from time to time. Inside your home, the router lends out private addresses automatically when a device joins. This automatic lending is handled by a service called DHCP, which you can read about in DHCP explained.
What your IP address reveals, and what it does not
People sometimes worry that an IP address gives away exactly where they live. In practice it is much vaguer.
| A website can usually tell | A website cannot tell from the address alone |
|---|---|
| Which internet provider you use | Your name |
| Your rough area, often the town or region | Your street or house number |
| Roughly which country you are in | Which device in the house you are using |
Your provider does know which customer had which address at a given time, and can be required to share that with the police under the law. Ordinary websites and other people online cannot look that up.
Online location guesses are often wrong by many miles. If a shopping site thinks you are in the next city, that is why.
Common worries and sensible steps
"Someone has my IP address, am I hacked?" No. Every website you visit sees it, because it needs to send the page back to you. On its own, knowing your address does not let someone into your devices.
"Should I hide it?" Most people do not need to. If you want to hide your address from the websites you visit, for example on public Wi-Fi, a VPN can do that. See How a VPN works.
What matters far more is keeping your devices and router updated, and using strong, unique passwords. These protect you whether or not someone knows your address.
Try this: On a Windows PC, open the Command Prompt and type ipconfig. On a Mac, open System Settings, then Network, and choose your connection. You will see your private address, probably starting with 192.168 or 10.. Search "what is my IP" in a browser to see your public one. They will be different.
Want the technical version? See IP addresses explained and NAT explained, or try the subnet calculator.
Key takeaways
- An IP address labels a device so data can be delivered to it, like a postal address.
- Your home normally has one public address shared by all devices, plus a private address for each one.
- Your address shows your provider and rough area, not your name or exact home.
- Updates and strong passwords protect you far more than hiding your address.
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