What your IP address tells others
Every site you visit sees your public IP address — it is where the answer has to be sent. The address identifies your network rather than your device, and gives a rough idea of where you are and which provider you use.
Public vs local
Your public IP is shared by your whole network. Your local address (192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x) never leaves it and is not visible online.
Approximate location
Country level is usually right. City level often points at your provider's hub rather than your home.
Allowlisting
Need to add yourself to a firewall, a database or an API allowlist? This is the address to give.
VPNs and proxies
If you use one, this page shows the VPN's exit address instead of your own — a quick way to check it is working.
Why you may have two addresses
The internet runs two versions of the IP protocol side by side. IPv4 addresses look like 203.0.113.42; there are only about four billion of them, so providers ration them and often put many customers behind one address. IPv6 addresses look like 2001:db8:85a3::8a2e:370:7334 and are effectively unlimited — your provider gives your network a whole block, and every device gets its own.
If your provider supports both, your connection is "dual stack" and this page shows both addresses. Your browser picks IPv6 when a site offers it and falls back to IPv4 when it does not. That is why different "what is my IP" sites can show different answers: each shows the address of whichever protocol your browser used to reach it. When someone asks for "your IP" to allowlist it, ask which protocol their service uses — or send both.
Does my address change?
On most home connections, yes. A dynamic address is leased to your router and can change when the router restarts, when the lease runs out or when the provider reorganises its network — for some people every day, for others almost never. A static address stays the same and usually has to be ordered, often as part of a business plan. On mobile networks the address changes constantly and is shared by thousands of people at once.
With IPv6 the picture is different again: your network's prefix may stay the same for months, while each device changes the second half of its own address every day or so on purpose, for privacy.
What else a website can see
The address is only part of it. Along with every request your browser sends its name and version, your preferred languages and — to any script on the page — your time zone, screen size and a good deal about your device. None of this identifies you by name, but taken together it is often distinctive enough to recognise a returning browser without cookies. The last table above shows exactly what this page could read. A VPN changes the address and the apparent location; it does not change any of the rest.
Frequently asked questions
What is my IP address?
It is shown at the top of this page: your public IPv4 address and, if your network has one, your public IPv6 address. These are the addresses websites and online services see when you connect.
Why is my IP different from the one on my computer?
Your computer shows its local address, such as 192.168.1.20, which only works inside your network. Your router replaces it with the public address before anything goes out to the internet. Sites see only the public one.
Why does this page say "IPv6 not detected"?
Your provider or router does not offer IPv6 on this network. Nothing is wrong — the whole internet remains reachable over IPv4.
Is my IP address stored when I use this page?
No. The lookup happens in your browser, which asks Cloudflare for the address and public registry data for the location. Upzilla does not record it.
Can someone find my home address from my IP?
No. An IP address gives a country, usually a region or city, and the name of your provider. Only the provider knows which customer had the address, and it releases that only under a legal process.
How do I hide or change my IP address?
A VPN or a proxy replaces it with the address of their server. Restarting your router often gets you a new dynamic address from your provider, though in the same range.