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How to hide your IP address (viii ways, half dozen are free)
Your IP accost tin exist used to track your device and location over the internet. Nosotros explicate how to change or hide your IP accost for free so you tin can protect your privacy online.
@pabischoff UPDATED: January 18, 2022
An IP accost is a string of numbers and decimals that identifies your device and location. If you're connected to the cyberspace, and then yous take an IP address.
Your public IP address is unique and visible to anybody on the internet, so it tin be used to runway yous and wall you lot off from region-locked content.
Because I similar privacy and dislike censorship, I prefer to hibernate my IP address from internet providers, hackers, governments, advertisers and others. In this article, I'll explain a few costless and paid methods you can employ to hide your IP address, equally well equally a few means to modify your IP address.
What's my IP accost?
In order to hide your IP address, you lot first have to know what it is. This is like shooting fish in a barrel; just become to Google and enter "what's my IP accost?"
You'll see something like this:
123.45.67.89
Specifically, that'southward an IPv4 address. Some of you might have IPv6 connectivity, although information technology hasn't been adopted everywhere withal. If your cyberspace provider offers IPv6 on its network, you tin look up your IPv6 address as well.
It'll look something more like this:
2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334
For the most function, these two addresses serve the same purpose. If you want to hide your IPv4 address, then you'll probably want to hide your IPv6 address too, if you have one.
You tin can larn more near the differences between IPv4 and IPv6 here, but I won't get too deep into that in this article.
Your IP address probably changes once in a while due to how the internet works, just you are the only one with your current IP accost on the entire net. Similar to physical addresses, IP addresses allow computers on the internet to find each other and communicate. IP addresses are an integral part of the IP protocol, the foundation on which the internet is built. Over again, I'll sidestep the nitty gritty details on how the IP protocol works.
8 ways to hide your IP address
#1. Use a VPN to hide your IP accost
A VPN, or Fiveirtual Private Network is a software service that encrypts all of the information sent to and from the internet and routes it through a VPN server in another location. The VPN server acts as a middleman between your device and the net, and then websites and online apps only see the server's IP address and not your own.
Most VPNs are subscription services that cost a few dollars per month for access to hundreds or even thousands of servers around the globe. You just need to sign upwards and download the apps for your devices. After that, hiding your IP address just takes a couple of clicks. Information technology's really easy.
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Hither's how to hibernate your IP address:
- First off, cheque your current IP address past Googling, "what's my IP?"
- Sign up for a VPN. We recommend NordVPN.
- Download the VPN app onto your device. Windows and Mac users usually become their app from the provider'south website. iOS and Android users get their app from the App Store and Google Play, respectively.
- Install the VPN app and run it.
- Sign in using the business relationship credentials you lot created in step two.
- Select a server or server location. Your new IP accost will be that of this server.
- Click the Connect push button or double-tap the server to initiate a connection.
- One time the connection has been established, y'all will take a new IP address. To confirm, Google "what's my IP?" Your new IP accost should be dissimilar than in step i.
Here's a video of how to hide your IP address with a VPN
Most commercial VPN providers, including NordVPN, use shared IP addresses, meaning that all VPN users continued to the same server are hidden behind the same IP address–that of the VPN server.
A VPN that uses shared IP addresses not only hides your existent IP accost, information technology makes you indistinguishable from all the other users. Your online activeness cannot be traced back to a single user, adding a significant layer of anonymity.
If you're serious near hiding your IP accost, it'due south vital to become a VPN with these features:
- Private DNS servers – DNS works like a phone book for the internet past translating domain names like "comparitech.com" into IP addresses that your device can utilise to communicate. By default, you probably apply DNS servers operated by your Internet service provider (Internet access provider) or Google, which can see your IP address when you request a website, even when connected to a VPN. For this reason, it's important to use a VPN that operates its ain DNS servers so you never betrayal your IP address to a 3rd party.
- Leak protection – VPNs are meant to protect all the cyberspace data traveling to and from your device, but sometimes they leak. When they leak, they betrayal your IP address. Go yourself a VPN that has DNS, IPv6, and WebRTC leak prevention.
- Kill switch – A kill switch or network lock cuts off your entire device from the internet if the VPN connection drops for some reason, preventing anything from being sent from your real IP address without the VPN'southward protection.
- No-logs policy – The VPN provider should non record or store logs of your internet activity or whatsoever connection details that could exist used to place you.
2. Use a proxy to hibernate your IP address
Like a VPN, a proxy acts equally a middleman between your device and the internet. Websites and apps see the IP address of the proxy server and not your real IP address.
In fact, a VPN is technically a type of proxy. Merely when I say "proxy," I'm usually referring to either an SSL, SSH, or SOCKS proxy. These types of proxies typically lack the encryption and other security features offered by VPNs, only they exercise hibernate your IP address from websites. They can be configured in existing apps like your browser or, like a VPN, use a third-party app.
Proxies unremarkably don't usually include DNS traffic, and then your website requests still go to a 3rd-party DNS server that can see your real IP address. VPNs with leak protection don't have this trouble. Furthermore, your real IP could be exposed if the proxy connectedness drops for some reason.
Because proxies lack the authentication of VPNs, they are also more susceptible to human-in-the-centre attacks, in which an attacker tin pose as the proxy server to steal your information.
Some VPNs offer HTTPS (SSL) proxies as browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. These do a decent job of protecting your browser, but other apps and DNS requests can all the same expose your IP accost.
3. Utilise Tor to hide your IP address for free
Tor, short for The Onion Router, is a decentralized worldwide anonymity network operated by thousands of volunteers. When you connect to Tor, your internet traffic is encrypted and routed through a random sequence of these volunteer "nodes," which are sort of like proxy servers. Websites can only see the IP address of the last server in the sequence, called the exit node.
Each time yous visit a website, the sequence of nodes changes. This makes it practically impossible to trace activity back to the original IP accost.
The easiest manner to use Tor is to download and install the Tor Browser. It works just like a barebones version of whatsoever other browser similar Chrome and Firefox, and it'south completely free.
There are drawbacks, nevertheless. Tor is slow and not suitable for torrenting or streaming–stick to web browsing. Furthermore, Tor is often associated with criminal activity considering information technology tin be used to access the darknet and illicit websites. Some websites cake connections from known Tor nodes, and your ISP might pout upon its use.
See also: How to set up a hidden Tor service
4. Connect to a different network to change your IP accost
Whenever you modify networks, your IP address changes as well. So if you think the IP address you lot've been using has been compromised, blocked, or tracked, then you can modify networks to get a new one.
You can connect to a public or private wifi network, or use your smartphone's mobile data connexion. Notation that public wifi hotspots and open up networks tin be hunting grounds for hackers that can take advantage of the lack of encryption and authentication. Opt for networks that require a password, if possible.
5. Ask your Isp to alter your IP address
Your ISP is the entity that decides who gets what IP address. So if y'all want to change your IP address for some reason, try giving them a phone call. You'll need your business relationship information on paw, also equally your electric current IP address.
It shouldn't exist likewise hard to get a dissimilar IP accost, but don't wait it to stay the aforementioned forever. Because IP addresses are constantly being recycled in society to preserve the express number of available IP addresses, your IP address will probably alter once in a while. These are called dynamic IP addresses.
You could request a static IP accost that never changes, only there might be an application process and an extra fee.
6. Unplug your modem to change your IP address
This isn't guaranteed to work, but you can often get a new IP address by unplugging your internet modem and plugging it dorsum in again. When you lose the connexion to your ISP, your one-time IP accost will get recycled. When you re-establish a connection, you'll exist assigned a new IP address.
The longer you leave the modem unplugged, the more likely this tactic will work. Endeavor leaving it unplugged overnight if you lot have to.
Your Internet access provider must apply dynamic IP addresses for this to piece of work. Nearly exercise.
7. Use a NAT Firewall to hide your private IP address
If you lot use a wireless router to connect to the net, it'southward likely that you're behind a NAT firewall. In simplest terms, a NAT firewall allows multiple devices on the same network to use the same public IP address just unique private IP addresses. Network Address Translation (NAT) forward requests and data from the private IP addresses of individual devices to their online destination under the router's public IP address. This conserves address space (the number of available IP addresses) and prevents unsolicited entering communication with potentially unsafe computers on the cyberspace.
A NAT firewall doesn't hide your public IP address, but your private IP accost. All devices connected to a NAT-enabled router will share a public IP address. The NAT firewall will prevent any online advice that isn't in response to a request yous sent from a private IP accost. All other requests and data packets are discarded because they don't have a private IP address to which they can be forwarded.
viii. Renew your IP address to change your private IP address
Equally mentioned higher up, if you're continued to an net router by wifi or ethernet cablevision, then you lot've probably got a private, or local, IP address as well. It'southward not as of import to keep this IP accost a clandestine while online, but in that location might be instances in which you lot need to alter it.
Y'all can practice this by entering a few simple commands into your Windows Command Prompt or Mac Terminal.
How to renew your IP accost on Windows:
- Search for the Command Prompt and right click it to Run as administrator
- Enter ipconfig /release
- Enter ipconfig /renew
You should now encounter a new local IP address.
How to renew your IP on MacOS:
- Click the Apple menu and open System Preferences
- Select Network
- Highlight the network that you lot're continued to in the left pane
- Click Advanced…
- Select the TCP/IP tab
- Click Renew DHCP Lease
Your Mac will now have a different private IP address.
You can never hide your IP accost from your ISP
It's not possible to hide your IP address from your Isp. It makes sense: my Internet access provider provides me with internet service and therefore an IP accost. Without an IP accost, I tin can't connect to the cyberspace.
VPNs and proxies don't literally replace your existing IP address. They just mask your IP address with ane of their own so that other computers and servers on the net can't meet yours. But your existent IP address is nonetheless there, communicating through the proxy or VPN server as an intermediary.
Even though you can never hibernate your existent IP address from your Internet service provider, you tin hibernate the content and destination of your internet activity with a VPN. The encryption prevents your Isp from seeing what information yous send and receive, and the Internet access provider can merely see that you're connected to a VPN server—non the websites or apps you utilize. Conversely, the VPN hides your real IP accost from websites and apps, merely they nevertheless run into the contents and destination of your cyberspace communications.
The just parties that can see all three—your real IP address, the websites you lot visit, and what data is transmitted between the 2—are y'all and your VPN provider. For this reason, I only recommend VPNs that don't store any logs of your online activity.
Hiding your IP address FAQ
Can my IP address leak my identity?
Your IP address doesn't straight requite away sensitive information such as your contact details or exact location. As such, an IP address on its own does not leak your identity. However, cybercriminals could use your IP address equally a starting bespeak to detect out more than information nigh you. Piecing this together could atomic number 82 to a cybercriminal hacking your device or impersonating you. Using a VPN ensures your IP address is hidden.
How do I hide my IP address on iPhone?
The easiest way to hide your IP address on your iPhone is to use a VPN. This requires signing up with a VPN service that offers an app for iOS (all major providers do). In one case you've signed upwards, you'll exist able to download and install the iOS app on your iPhone. You lot can and so log in to the app and connect to a server in your preferred location. This assigns you a new IP address, effectively hiding your true IP accost and location on iPhone.
How do I hide my IP address on Android devices?
To hide your IP address on your Android device you should sign upwardly with a VPN provider before downloading its Android app. You can then download and install the Android app on your device (this should only have a minute). Open the app and so connect to a server. Any server will do although the closer a server to your location, the faster the connection is probable to be. You'll now have a new IP accost while your bodily IP accost is hidden.
Is hiding your IP accost legal?
Yep, it's perfectly legal to hide your IP accost. Using a VPN hides your IP address and the good news is that VPNs are legal in the vast bulk of countries. A few exceptions include Communist china, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates. Notwithstanding, information technology should exist noted that whatever illegal online activities such as torrenting copyrighted material remain illegal, regardless of whether yous're using a VPN to hide your IP address.
How can I bank check if my IP accost is hidden?
It's really very easy to check if your IP accost is hidden. First, brand sure you're continued to a VPN server. This is how you are assigned a different IP address. It may exist that the VPN app you're using displays the new IP address. Nonetheless, you can brand sure past using our IP address checker tool. Not simply does this show your current IP address, it provides an approximate location so you can see if it matches the VPN server to which you're continued.
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