How to use your browser to find your IP address

What’s an IP address?

“IP” stands for internet protocol, and much like your house has numbers corresponding to positions on a street, your IP address is how people know where to reach your device on the internet and identifies your place in the network. The shared language of IP addresses is how devices communicate, even across continents.

IP addresses look like numbers separated by periods and are produced and regulated by internet authorities, who assign addresses non-randomly to devices when they’re on the internet. Your IP address comes from your internet service provider, or ISP. Different devices sharing the same Internet connection will have different internal IP addresses, but the router creating the connection should have a consistent external IP address throughout the lifetime of that connection. And different locations have different IP addresses — your office IP address is different from your home’s IP address and is different from the IP address of the coffee shop down the street.

Websites and servers will have static IP addresses to reliably get users to the same place, while a consumer may have a dynamic IP address depending on their connection and location. Depending on the connection and traffic needs, businesses and websites may have a shared IP address, or a dedicated one to facilitate security and file-sharing.

Why do I need to know my IP address?

IP addresses help pinpoint where internet activity originates, and this can be important from everything from routine computer communication to tracing the source of a hack. Knowing your IP address can help you set up devices, remotely access a network, or figure out if your network issue is internal or external.

While your IP address isn’t necessarily a secret, if it falls into the wrong hands, it can cause all sorts of issues. Hackers have been known to use an innocent IP address as a front for their illegal activity. Your IP address is often visible to users of the same shared network, but private, secure networks such as VPNs ensure your IP address stays protected from the outside world.

How your browser can help reveal the IP address mystery

Luckily, your browser is a ready-made tool for discovering your current IP address. Here are some IP browser discovery methods to find this important information:

• Use Bing: Simply type in “what is my IP address” into the search bar at the top of the page and watch the answer magically appear.
• Browser add-ons: If you’re using Microsoft Edge, check out some of the browser add-ons and how to add them to find one that can clue you into your IP, such as What Is My IP Address.

Using your browser to find your IP address can open up a whole new realm of internet possibility—and Microsoft Edge can help you get there. Try Microsoft Edge today to access its built-in features.