How to Change Your IP Address on a Computer or Phone

Your computer, like every device that connects to the internet, has an IP (Internet Protocol) address. It's a series of numbers interspersed with decimal points (for example, "198.169.0.101"), and acts like a home address that identifies where other devices can find your computer.

Your computer, like every device that connects to the internet, has an IP (Internet Protocol) address. It's a series of numbers interspersed with decimal points (for example, "198.169.0.101"), and acts like a home address that identifies where other devices can find your computer. 

It's rare that you need to know your computer's IP address, but should you need it, it's easy to find (for details, see our articles on how to find the IP address for Windows or the IP address on a Mac).

Here's everything to know about changing both your local and public IP addresses.

Why change your IP address?

Most people will rarely ever need to change their IP address. It's a mundane part of your computer's setup, and websites request and see it dozens (if not hundreds) of times each day.

Even so, there might be reasons to occasionally change your public or local IP address. The most common include:

  • Protecting your security and privacy: Although it's rare that anyone would abuse it, your public IP address lets others find your general location. So if you have a reason to be anonymous, changing your IP address can make your computer appear to be a different machine.
  • Change your location: Your public IP address reveals your general geographic location, and changing your IP address can allow you to access geographically-locked content, like content from international streaming services. 
  • Avoiding bans and blocks: Armed with your IP address, it's possible for an entity to block you from accessing a particular website (this is sometimes called an "IP ban") or disable your internet access with a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. Changing your IP is a good way to avoid this.
  • Troubleshooting: You may want to change your local IP address for technical troubleshooting purposes. On rare occasions, for example, you might need to change the local IP address to prevent a conflict with another device on your network.

Your IP address is determined by your location and ISP. CASEZY/Getty Images

Should I change my public or local IP address?

This is probably the most important question you'll want to answer before changing your IP. Luckily, it's pretty easy to answer.

  • If you care about protecting your online privacy or avoiding website bans, you'll want to change your public IP address.
  • If you're trying to troubleshoot internet issues or hide yourself from other devices who are connected to the same internet connection as you, change your local IP address.

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How to change your public IP address

No matter what kind of computer you have — Windows or Mac — it's pretty easy to change your public IP address.

Your public IP address is usually set by your internet service provider (ISP), and you can't choose it yourself. However, you can "coax" it to change in any of several different ways:

  • Change your network or location: Your public IP address will change based on where and how you connect to the internet. If you have a phone with LTE, for example, turning off Wi-Fi so it uses that LTE signal will compel it to use a different IP address. You can also connect to a different Wi-Fi network.
  • Reboot your internet modem: When you reboot the modem (turn it off, wait two to three minutes, then turn it back on) it'll refresh all the IP addresses on the network. 
  • Connect with a VPN: A VPN (Virtual Private Network) hides your public IP address, and connects you to a server in a different location with a different IP address. When you use a VPN, you don't get to choose the IP address directly, but you can usually choose what geographic region you want to appear to come from, which will determine what IP addresses the VPN software will use to identify you.  

If all else fails, contact your ISP and ask them to change your IP address. They might not be able to do it, but there's no harm in asking.

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How to change your local IP address in Windows

1. Click the Start button and then click "Settings."

2. Click "Network & Internet."

You can change your local IP address in Settings. Dave Johnson/Insider

3. In the navigation pane on the left, click "Wi-Fi" and then click the name of your Wi-Fi network. If you're connected with an Ethernet cable, select "Ethernet."

Select your network to change the IP address. Dave Johnson/Insider

4. On the details page for your Wi-Fi network, scroll down to the IP settings section and click "Edit." With Ethernet, click "Properties."

5. Finally, in the Edit IP settings dialog box, click "Automatic (DHCP)" and choose "Manual." Then turn on IPv4 by swiping the button to the right and enter the details of the new IP address. Click "Save."

Change the IP setting from automatic to manual. Dave Johnson/Insider

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How to change your local IP address on a Mac

1. In the Apple menu, click "System Preferences."

2. Click "Network."

Open the network settings in System Preferences. Dave Johnson/Insider

3. In the pane on the left, select the network you're connected to, and then click "Advanced" at the bottom right of the window. 

After selecting your network, go to the Advanced settings. Dave Johnson/Insider

4. Click the "TCP/IP" tab at the top. 

5. In the Configure using IPv4 section, click "Using DHCP" and then choose "Manually."

You need to switch from DHCP (which is the automatic mode) to select the IP address manually. Dave Johnson/Insider

6. Finally, enter the details of the new IP address. Click "OK."

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How to change the local IP address on a mobile device

Like any internet-connected device, your phone has its own IP address. If you have a compelling reason to, you can change your IP address for your phone as well.

For both iPhone and Android, you can customize the IP address from the Wi-Fi settings page. For step-by-step details on how to do this, see our articles "How to change the IP address on your iPhone" and "How to change the IP address on an Android phone."

Your phone's internet works just the same as your laptop's. Kittichai Boonpong;EyeEm/Getty Images

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