What you can find out, and what you cannot
An IP address is a number assigned to a device on the internet — like a mailing address for data packets. If someone is on your home network, you can see their IP address using your router's settings or free tools on your computer. If someone is on the internet but not your network, you cannot find their IP address through normal means, no matter what you have seen in movies.
The confusion comes from two different situations. On your own network, you have legitimate reasons to see what devices are connected — to troubleshoot problems, to set up parental controls, or to spot an unauthorized device. On the wider internet, IP addresses belong to internet service providers and are tied to accounts, not to individual people. A website or app cannot tell you someone's IP address unless they are directly connecting to a server you control.
This guide covers what you can actually do on your own network, what the limits are, and why trying to find someone's IP address outside your network usually does not work the way people think it does.
Key Takeaways
- You can see the IP addresses of devices on your own home network by logging into your router or using your computer's built-in network tools.
- Finding someone's IP address on the public internet requires them to connect directly to a server you control, which most people do not have.
- Even if you find an IP address, it identifies an internet connection, not a person — the connection belongs to whoever pays the bill.
- Attempting to find someone's IP address to track them, harass them, or access their device is illegal in most places.
Finding IP addresses on your own home network
If you want to know what devices are connected to your WiFi or ethernet, log into your router. Open a web browser and type 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 into the address bar — one of these is usually your router's address. You will be asked for a username and password, which is often printed on the router itself or on a sticker underneath it. If you changed it and forgot it, you can reset the router to factory settings by holding the reset button for ten seconds, though this erases your WiFi password too.
Once you are logged in, look for a section called "Connected Devices," "DHCP Clients," "Device List," or "Attached Devices." This page shows every device currently on your network, its IP address, its name (if it has one), and sometimes its MAC address — a unique identifier for the device's network card. Write down the IP address of the device you are looking for.
If you use a mesh network system like Eero, Netgear Orbi, or Google Nest WiFi, the process is similar but happens in an app instead of a browser. Open the app, find the section for devices or network status, and you will see the same list.
Finding IP addresses using your computer or phone
On Windows, open Command Prompt by pressing the Windows key and typing cmd, then press Enter. Type ipconfig /all and press Enter. This shows your own device's IP address and network information, but not other devices on the network.
To see other devices, type arp -a in Command Prompt. This shows devices that your computer has recently communicated with, along with their IP addresses and MAC addresses. It will not show every device on your network, only the ones your computer has talked to.
On Mac, open Terminal (search for it in Spotlight) and type arp -a to see the same list. On iPhone or Android, you can see your own IP address in Settings > WiFi > the network name > IP Address, but finding other devices requires a third-party app like Fing or Network Analyzer, which scan your network and show connected devices.
Why you cannot find someone's IP address on the public internet
If someone is not on your network — they are at home, at work, at a coffee shop, or anywhere else — you cannot find their IP address by normal means. Their IP address belongs to their internet service provider, not to them. It changes when they restart their modem, when they move to a different location, or when their provider reassigns it. Even if you somehow found it, it would tell you which internet connection they use, not who they are or where they are.
Websites and apps cannot see your IP address unless you are directly connecting to a server they control. If you visit a website, the website's server sees your IP address in the connection log. If you use an app, the app's servers see your IP address. But if you are messaging someone through Facebook, or texting through iMessage, or talking through Discord, those companies' servers see your IP address — not the person you are talking to. The other person's device never connects to your computer directly.
This is why the common claim "I can find your IP address from your email" or "I can find your IP address from a Discord message" is false. The email server or Discord server sees the sender's IP address, not the recipient's. And even then, only the company that runs the server can see it — you cannot.
What you can do if you suspect an unauthorized device on your network
If you see a device on your router's connected devices list that you do not recognize, you have a few options. First, note its IP address and MAC address. Then, look at the device name — sometimes it will tell you what it is. A device named "iPhone-of-Sarah" or "Living-Room-Alexa" is probably yours or a family member's. A device named something generic like "Android-Device" or "Unknown" might be unfamiliar.
You can disconnect it from your router by finding a "disconnect" or "block" button in your router's settings, or by changing your WiFi password, which forces all devices to reconnect and requires the password to rejoin. If you want to know more about the device, you can search the MAC address online — the first part of a MAC address identifies the manufacturer, so you can at least tell if it is an Apple device, a Samsung device, and so on.
If you believe someone has hacked your network, change your WiFi password to something long and random, update your router's admin password, and check your router's settings for any changes you did not make — like a second WiFi network, port forwarding rules, or DNS changes. If you are still concerned, restart your router and check again.
Why finding someone's IP address to track or contact them is not legal
Attempting to find someone's IP address in order to track them, contact them, harass them, or access their device is illegal in most places. In the United States, unauthorized computer access is a federal crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In the UK, it violates the Computer Misuse Act. In Canada, it is covered under the Criminal Code. Even if you succeed in finding an IP address, using it to do any of those things can result in criminal charges.
If you are trying to find someone because of a legitimate reason — you are a parent concerned about your child's online activity, you are an administrator managing a network, or you are investigating a crime — there are legal ways to do it. Parents can use parental control software on devices they own. Network administrators can use their router's tools. Law enforcement can obtain IP address information through proper legal channels with a warrant.
The difference between an IP address and identifying a person
Even if you find someone's IP address, you have not identified them. An IP address is assigned to an internet connection, which is usually tied to a household or a business, not to a person. If you find the IP address of someone on a shared WiFi network — a family home, a dorm, an office, a coffee shop — you know which network they are on, but not which person they are.
To connect an IP address to a person, you need access to the internet service provider's records, which only law enforcement can obtain with a warrant. Even then, the ISP can only tell you who pays the bill for that connection, not who was actually using it at a specific time.
This is why IP addresses alone are not useful for identifying people, and why websites and apps that claim to "find someone's location" from an IP address are either selling you fake information or selling your data to someone else.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I find someone's IP address from their email address?
No. The email server sees the sender's IP address when they send a message, but the recipient cannot see it. Only the email provider — Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo — can see it, and they do not share it with other users. Some email headers show routing information, but not the sender's actual IP address.
What if someone is using a VPN or proxy?
If someone is using a VPN or proxy, you will see the VPN or proxy server's IP address, not theirs. This is why people use VPNs — to hide their real IP address. You cannot see through it without access to the VPN company's logs, which they do not have (if they are a reputable VPN) or will not share.
Can I find someone's IP address from a Discord message or online game?
Discord and most online games do not expose IP addresses to other players. The game or app's servers see your IP address, but other players do not. Some older games or peer-to-peer applications do expose IP addresses, but modern platforms deliberately hide them for security and privacy.
Is it illegal to find someone's IP address?
Finding an IP address itself is not illegal if you have legitimate access to it — like seeing devices on your own network. Using that IP address to track, contact, or access someone without permission is illegal. The legality depends on what you do with the information, not on finding it.
What should I do if I think someone hacked my network?
Change your WiFi password when ready, update your router's admin password, and restart your router. Check the connected devices list for anything unfamiliar. If you see suspicious activity, take a photo of the device list and contact your internet service provider. Do not try to "hack back" — that is illegal and will make things worse.