Don’t let someone else find your IP address.
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Updated November 9, 2023
You might know how to look up your own IP address, but what about other people’s? Did you know that there are ways you can find someone’s IP address, too?
There are a few different reasons why you might want to find someone’s IP address. Maybe you want to blacklist a device that keeps connecting to your Wi-Fi network. Or perhaps you’re hoping to verify a person’s location by tracing back the source of their IP address. Whatever the reason, there are a few IP lookup methods you should know about. Here’s everything you should know about how to find someone’s ip address.
Use an IP lookup tool
Difficulty: Easy
Starting with the simplest way to find someone’s IP address is to use one of the many IP lookup tools available online. This is possible in part because internet service providers, or ISPs, assign public IP addresses to their customers’ routers. Resources such as WhatIsMyIPAddress.com or WhatIsMyIP.com offer tools to enter an IP address and search for its free public registry results.
Keep in mind that these public-facing registries are generally accurate, but may provide outdated information. Instead of identifying live, real-time data, the geolocation information associated with an IP address is provided from massive databases that are maintained by third parties. So, when you look up an IP address, the information returned is sourced from a IP geolocation database provider instead of a responding server or device.
Be sure to double-check the IP address information you find with another lookup tool to verify its accuracy.
Check an incoming email’s full header
Incoming email is another quick method to find someone’s IP address. This of course requires you to have already received a message from the sender whose IP you want to search.
Email delivers more than just the contents of its message; it comes along with metadata compacted into email headers. Headers contain key information that tells us where an email comes from, including an IP address. But where are the email headers even located?
This specific location varies depending on the email service you’re using.
In Gmail, for instance, you’ll find them within an email by clicking the “More” icon and then selecting “Show original” from the expanded menu. A new window will open containing the sender’s IP, time stamp, and other contextual data about the message.
How to find someone’s IP address using incoming email headers
Use the guides below to find the full headers of your email provider.
It’s critical to remember that information in email headings can’t always be trusted. Not only can scammers falsify their headers, advanced email privacy settings like those in iOS 15 and iOS 16 mean anyone can hide their IPs too.
So, the next time you find an IP address using this method, be sure to run an IP check to verify its authenticity.
Open a command prompt
Difficulty: Intermediate
With a computer, you can find someone’s IP address straight from a command prompt. Not only is this helpful for identifying a website IP address, but it can help to locate an individual person’s IP address. Plus, the tool is pre-installed on most computers.
On Windows PCs, a command prompt can be launched from the search box of the Start menu. For Mac computers, the application called ‘Terminal’ (found in the Utilities folder or launched from the spotlight search) is where you can open a command prompt.
When you first open a command prompt, you’ll see a black screen appear. From here you’ll be able to test the reachability of an IP with a ping. A ping will attempt to establish a connection between your device and the one with the IP address you’re looking for.
How to find a website’s IP address
Through the command prompt (or terminal window), type the word “ping” followed by a space and the website URL you’re looking to trace; then submit your command by using the Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) key on your keyboard.
For example, if you wanted to know the IP address for Google, type ping www.google.com and press enter.
Now, your computer will try to find the server for that site. If you’re successful, the IP address you’re searching for will appear, otherwise, a failure is indicated by an error reply.
How to find someone’s IP address through chat
If you’re using a peer-to-peer platform like Skype, TorChat, Trillian, or any browser-based communications facilitated by WebRTC, you can find out someone’s individual IP address. This requires you to not only have previous correspondence with the user whose IP you want to trace, but to be in an active live chat session, video call, or VoIP call. This way, you will establish the direct connection that enables you to track their IP.
To find someone’s IP address, you’ll use the “netstat” command which will ping every real-time connection to your device through the call or chat session.
If you’re not already in an active chat or call with the person you want to trace, start by initiating one. Then type the command netstat –an and hit the ‘Enter’ or ‘Return’ key. You will gain the IP address of every established TCP connection.
Note that this method only works with direct peer-to-peer communications. When you use chat clients facilitated by larger platforms like Slack, at least one server is usually between you and the person on the other side, it’s not a direct peer-to-peer connection.
So, the IP you’ll see using the netstat command on Facebook Messenger, for example, would be from a chat server that you established a connection with.
Frequently Asked Questions
Now that we’ve walked through multiple methods of finding someone’s IP address, let’s recap with some FAQs.
How do you find out someone’s IP address?
If you’re trying to find someone’s IP address, you can use multiple methods to do so. They include using an IP lookup tool, checking an email’s full header for its sender’s IP, and running various command prompts. Keep in mind that just as you can use these methods to find someone else’s IP,other people have the same general methods and tools available to find yours, maybe even for nefarious purposes. For this reason, it’s crucial to remain discerning about who you communicate with online.
What does an IP address tell you?
An IP address will not reveal its assignee’s exact location, but it will still reveal a lot of data. This includes zip code, city, state, country, ISP, device, and browser. When paired with other online data, such as internet cookies, trackers, and metadata, IP address data reveals even more.
Can you track an IP address to a house?
While you find out a fair amount of information from someone’s IP address, the truth is it’s essentially impossible to directly track an IP address to a specific house. IP addresses are assigned by ISPs and are associated with general locations rather than precise physical addresses. So while it is possible to identify an IP geolocation, you won’t be able to hone in on a specific physical address.
Is it legal to trace an IP address?
Yes, tracing an IP address is legal, so long as it’s not used for criminal purposes. Keep in mind that IP addresses used on the internet are public. In fact, your IP address is traced every time you use the internet – any time you click on a link or access a website, your IP address is traced by that website.
Can you hide your IP address?
Absolutely. One of the best ways to hide your IP address is by using a reliable VPN, like IPVanish. When you use a VPN, it routes your internet connection through a private, remote server. As a result of this process, your VPN will mask your normal IP address with the server’s IP address. The rest of the internet, and anyone trying to trace your IP address, will see the VPN server’s IP address instead of your normal IP address.
You now have all the tools to find someone’s IP address or perform a reliable IP trace whenever you need to. However, you also know the tools other people can use to find you.
If you want to protect your privacy and keep people from tracing your IP address when you connect to the internet, we can help. IPVanish VPN tunnels your internet traffic through secure servers and conceals your IP address so you can browse anonymously.
