How to Find Your Computer’s IP Address

To novice users, terms relating to some techie and network related stuff like “IP Address”sounds a bit confusing especially if your system and its network access requires you to identify it. IP Address or Internet Protocol Address is a set of numbers used to tag each device and identify its location on a network. Devices that are interconnected on a given network like computers, printers, smartphones and other gadgets all need to have a unique IP address.

Learning the IP address of any given device is useful so you can setup your home network on a wireless router or you want to connect to a device that generates WiFi signal and access the Internet through it. How can you find a computer’s IP address? There are various means and ways that different people feel comfortable with but this tutorial will focus on four steps of doing it on a Windows 7 and a Windows 8 computer.

Note:

If you want to know some deeper technical aspects of an IP Address, you can search and read its Wikepedia entry by typing “IP Address” on any search engine (Google, Yahoo or Bing) then click on the Wikipedia link from the search results.

1. Know Your IP Address Through the Command Prompt

One simple way of finding the IP Address of a Windows machine is by using the command prompt. To do this, just follow the steps below:

  • Open Command Prompt by clicking on the “Start” button and typing “command prompt” on the search box then press “Enter” on your keyboard (Windows 7) or clicking/tapping on the “Command Prompt” link (Windows 8).

  • Once the command prompt Window appears, type “ipconfig” then press “Enter”. A list of all your network adapters and all its details will appear.

  • You will notice that each adapter on your computer displays the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses on designated fields.

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You can also learn more of commands and parameters accepted on command prompt by typing “ipconfig /?” (excluding the quotations marks) then press “Enter” to reveal some command codes.

2. Learn More by Using the Network and Sharing Center

An easier way which is fit for new users is by using the” Network and Sharing Center” on your computer’s “Control Panel”. To go to this area on your computer, read on and go through each of the steps described below:

  • Press the Windows key and type “network and sharing center”on the search box then press “Enter” on your keyboard.

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  • Alternatively, you can also click on the “Start” button then click “Control Panel| View network status and tasks” to get to the Network and Sharing Center.

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  • Once you’re on the Network and Sharing Center Window, you need to click (Windows 7) or Tap (Windows 8) on the link labeled “Change adapter settings” located on the left pane.

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  • This will open the Network Connections Window which lists all the network adapters installed on your machine.

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  • To find out the IP address of a given network adapter, just double click on it or tap on it twice (Windows 8). After doing this the “Ethernet Status” Window will appear.

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  • Click on the “Details” button or tap on it to reveal more details of the network adapter including its IPv4 and IPv6 address.

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Once you’re done identifying your machine’s IP address, you can close all the Windows you opened.

3. Using the PowerShell Tool

Windows PowerShell works like Command Prompt but it has more powerful capabilities that gives you the freedom of controlling a bunch of elements that composes the Windows system. This tool has two major commands that you can use in identifying both the IPv4 and IPv6 address of your computer.

  • The first one which is also the shortest is the “gip” command but before you can access this, you need to click on the Windows key or the “Start” button then type “windows powershell” on the searchbox. Once a list of search results appears, press the “Enter” key on your keyboard to open the PowerShell Tool.
  • On the PowerShell Window, type “gip” then press ” Enter”. This will display a listing of each network adapters installed on your computer which includes all the IP addresses (IPv4 and IPv6).

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  • The other command that shows the same result is “Get-NetIPConfiguration”. All you need to do is type it on the Powershell Window then press the “Enter” key. Once the details are displayed, you can look for the information which you want to learn.

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4. Learning the IP Address Through the Network Map (Windows 7)

This unique feature is only available on Windows 7. Windows 8 does not have this valuable feature on any of its versions. It is called the “Network Map” which shows a map of the network/s you are connected to.

To access this feature, just follow the steps below:

  • Press on the Windows key or click on the “Start” button and type “network and sharing center” on the search box then press “Enter” on your keyboard.
  • Another way of accessing the Network and Sharing Center section is by clicking on “Control Panel| View network status and tasks”.
  • Once you are on the Network and Sharing Center Window, you need to click on the “See full map” link.

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  • When you hover the mouse pointer over the computer icon which is labeled with your machine’s name, some information related to networking will display on a pop up box which includes the IPv4 and IPv6 address.

Other Scenarios That Requires the IP Address

Another networking scenario where you need some IP addresses is when you try to connect a WiFi router to a wired modem. It is important that you know your modem’s IP address and as well as the router’s IP address. Most of the time, your modem’s IP address is set on default. This means that your router’s IP address is the same as your modem’s and no matter how many times you reset it and plug/unplug the network cable, you will still not be able to set it up to generate a signal that allows Internet access.

To fix this. you need to connect the network cable from your modem to router router,  access the user management interface of your router (by typing in 192.168.1.1 on a browser) and change its IP address so that it will be different from that of your modem’s. For instance, if your modem’s IP address is 192.168.1.1, you need to assign 192.168.1.2 as your router’s IP address for it to generate a WiFi signal that allows Internet access.

Note:

Pressing the “Reset” button again and again on a router or a modem may cause its firmware to permanently be chipped. This means that your device will not work even if you upgrade its firmware to the latest version. If you are not adept with networking, it is best to ask the help of an expert to setup everything and avoid any complicated problems that can spread from one device to another.

That’s it! You can now identify the IP address of your computer or any device connected to a network. If you know another way of identifying an IP address on Windows, please feel free to share it as a comment below.