How to change your IP address
Changing an IP address takes anywhere from ten seconds to one phone call, depending on which address you mean and why you want it changed. This guide covers both the public address websites see and the local one your router assigns, on every platform.
In this guide
To change the public IP address websites see, turn your router off for several minutes and back on (most home connections then receive a new address), connect through a VPN or proxy, or switch to mobile data. To change the local IP address a device has on your home network, renew its DHCP lease or set a manual address in the device's network settings. Check the homepage before and after to confirm the public address actually changed.
Public or local: which address do you want to change?
Every device has two addresses, and people asking "how do I change my IP" usually mean the first without knowing the second exists.
- Your public IP is assigned by your internet provider to your router, shared by everything in the house, and is what websites, games and services log. You change it when you have been blocked or rate-limited, when you want a different location shown, when someone has your address and is attacking it, or simply to break the link between your old address and you.
- Your local IP is assigned by your router to each device and is only used inside your network. You change it to fix an address conflict, to give a device a fixed address for port forwarding or a printer, or to move a device onto a different range. Changing it has no effect on what the internet sees.
If you are not sure which you have in mind: if the goal involves a website, a game or a block, it is the public one. The public vs private IP guide covers the distinction in full.
Check your IP before and after
Open the homepage and write down the public address it shows, along with the provider and city. Do that again after each method below; if the address is identical, the change did not take and you move to the next method. The IP address lookup shows the same data with the network details, which is useful for confirming that a VPN or proxy is presenting a datacenter address rather than your home one.
For the local address, use ipconfig on Windows, the network's Details pane on a Mac or phone, or the instructions on the local IP finder.
Test it now
Cloudflare edgeRead at the Cloudflare edge from this request. The homepage adds your provider, network type and the VPN, DNS and WebRTC checks.
Show detailsHow to change your public IP address
Restart the router (and wait)
Most home connections use a dynamic address with a lease. If the router stays off long enough for the ISP's lease to expire, it gets a new address when it reconnects. Power off the modem and router, wait at least five minutes, ideally longer, and power on. Check the homepage. If the address is the same, the lease was renewed; leave it off overnight, or try the next method. On cable connections, changing the router's WAN MAC address (a MAC clone setting on many routers) makes the ISP treat it as a new device and almost always issues a fresh address immediately.
Use a VPN
A VPN app routes everything through a server elsewhere, so websites see that server's address and location instead of yours. It is the only method that lets you choose the country shown and change the address again at will. After connecting, run the VPN leak test: a VPN whose DNS, WebRTC or IPv6 handling leaks will still expose the old address to some sites even though the homepage shows the new one. Our guide explains what a VPN does and does not do.
Use a proxy
A proxy changes the address for one application, typically the browser, rather than the whole device. It is enough for getting past a block on a single site and is what browser extensions marketed as "VPNs" actually are. Traffic from other apps, and anything the browser sends outside the proxy, still carries your real address. The proxy check shows whether an address is recognized as a proxy, which matters because many sites treat proxy traffic with suspicion. See the proxy server guide for the trade-offs.
Switch to mobile data or a hotspot
Your phone's cellular connection has a completely different address from your home line, and usually a different one each session. On a phone, turn Wi-Fi off; on a laptop, join the phone's hotspot. This is the fastest way to confirm whether a problem follows your home address or your account. Note that mobile addresses are shared by many customers behind carrier-grade NAT, so a site that blocked "your" mobile IP may have blocked someone else's behavior.
Ask your ISP
Support can release and reassign a dynamic address on request, and that is the right route if you are being attacked and a restart did not change it. If you have a static IP add-on, only the ISP can change it. The static vs dynamic guide explains which you have.
How to change your local IP address
The quick version on every platform is to renew the DHCP lease; the router usually gives back the same address, so to force a different one you either set a DHCP reservation on the router or type a manual address on the device. A manual address must be in the same range as the router, use the router's address as the gateway, and sit outside the range the router hands out automatically so nothing else collides with it.
Windows 11
- Open a terminal and run
ipconfig /releasethenipconfig /renewto ask the router for a fresh lease. - For a manual address, open Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi (or Ethernet), select your connection and click Edit next to IP assignment.
- Choose Manual, turn on IPv4, and fill in IP address (for example
192.168.1.200), Subnet mask (255.255.255.0on most home networks), Default gateway (the router's address) and Preferred DNS. Click Save.
macOS
- Open System Settings > Network, select Wi-Fi or Ethernet, click Details… and open TCP/IP.
- Click Renew DHCP Lease for a fresh lease, or set Configure IPv4 to Manually and enter the IP address, Subnet mask and Router. Click OK.
iPhone and iPad
- Open Settings > Wi-Fi and tap the i next to your network.
- Tap Renew Lease and confirm, or tap Configure IP, choose Manual, enter IP Address, Subnet Mask and Router, and tap Save.
Android
- Open Settings > Network & internet > Internet, tap the gear next to your network, then the edit (pencil) icon. On Samsung: Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi, the gear next to the network, then View more.
- Under Advanced options, change IP settings from DHCP to Static, enter the IP address, Gateway and Network prefix length (
24for a255.255.255.0network), and save. Forgetting and rejoining the network is the quickest way to get a new DHCP address instead.
The cleaner alternative to any of these is a DHCP reservation in the router's admin page, which assigns the device a fixed address by its MAC without touching the device at all; the router IP guide shows how to get into the router.
Changing the location your IP shows
Websites place you by looking your public address up in a geolocation database, so the only way to change the location shown is to change the address to one registered elsewhere: a VPN server or proxy in the country you want. Restarting your router gives you another address from the same provider in the same area, which may move the city shown but not the country. The my location page shows the city your current address maps to and compares it with your device's own location, and the IP location guide explains why the two often disagree even without a VPN. Changing DNS servers, clearing cookies or editing the local IP has no effect on location.
Questions
Is it possible to change my IP address?
Yes, both of them. Your public IP changes when your ISP assigns a new one, which a long router restart usually triggers, or when you route traffic through a VPN, proxy or a different network such as mobile data. Your local IP changes when you renew the DHCP lease, set a manual address on the device or create a DHCP reservation on the router. The only address you cannot change yourself is a static public IP from your ISP.
How do you reset your IP address?
On Windows, run ipconfig /release and then ipconfig /renew in a terminal; on a Mac, click Renew DHCP Lease in the network's TCP/IP settings; on iPhone, tap Renew Lease in the Wi-Fi network's details; on Android, forget and rejoin the network. That resets the local address. To reset the public one, power the router off for several minutes or longer and back on, then check the homepage to see whether it changed.
What is the 192.168.1.1 IP address?
It is a private address, and on many home networks it belongs to the router itself, which is why entering it in a browser opens the router's login page. Addresses starting 192.168, 10 or 172.16 through 172.31 exist only inside local networks and are reused in millions of homes. Your devices get addresses in the same range, such as 192.168.1.23; the public address the internet sees is entirely separate.
What does ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 mean?
It is the command that sets a default route on Cisco routers and similar equipment: destination 0.0.0.0 with mask 0.0.0.0 matches every address, so the line tells the router where to send any traffic it has no more specific route for, usually the ISP's gateway. Your home router has the same concept, labeled default gateway in its settings, and your devices have one too, pointing at the router.
Can you provide an example of a static IP address?
A static local address might be 192.168.1.200 with subnet mask 255.255.255.0 and gateway 192.168.1.1: an address inside the router's network but outside the range it hands out automatically, typed into a printer or server so it never changes. A static public address looks like any other public IP, for example 203.0.113.42, but is tied permanently to one customer's connection by the ISP.
How do I change my IP address on Instagram?
Instagram has no setting for it, because the app simply uses whatever address your connection has. Switch from Wi-Fi to mobile data or back, connect through a VPN, or restart your router and wait for a new lease, then open the app again. Note that logging into many accounts from one address is what usually triggers Instagram's restrictions, and switching addresses repeatedly can look more suspicious rather than less.