How to Find Your IP Address on Mac

Rick Akura on
In this guide, we highlight different methods on how to find your IP address on Mac. Click here to get started.

When you connect to the internet using your Mac, you automatically get assigned a unique number called an Internet Protocol (IP) address. This is similar to an address you’d use for sending mail to another person. 

find Ip addres on mac

Each device connected to the internet has a unique IP. Without having an IP address, you can’t send or receive information packets, making it impossible to browse the internet.

Typically, your IP address is made up of 4 sets of digits, separated by periods, with up to three digits per set. It’s important to know that your IP address should never be public knowledge. Using tools and proper understanding of what an IP is, others can track your approximate location just by looking at your IP address.

In this article, we’ll learn how to find your IP address on a Mac computer.

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How to find your external (public) IP address on Mac

Your external IP address is a public address assigned to your device by your internet service provider (ISP) when you first go online. This is most likely the address you’re looking for. There are two ways to check it which are displayed below.

Method 1: Use the System Preferences

If you want to quickly check your public IP address on a Mac without having to use third-party tools, simply check it from your System Preferences. This is an easy method which requires nothing but your computer. Follow these steps to quickly get a hold of your external IP address within seconds.

  1. Power your Mac on and log into your local user account.
  2. Click on the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen. From here, select the System Preferences option. Alternatively, you can click on System Preferences in your Dock as well, displayed at the bottom of your screen.
    system preferences
  3. Inside the System Preferences window, click on the Network icon.
    network icon
  4. On the left, you should see all of your networks listed. Click on the one with a green dot next to its name. This will usually be called something like Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Doing so will select a network that’s currently connected and online.
  5. Look to the right. Under the “Status: Connected” section, you’ll see a text displaying your external (public) IP address.
    public IP address

Method 2: Check your external (public) IP address online

If you’re already browsing the internet, you can easily use your web browser to look up what IP address has been assigned to your device. This is known as Public IP Address. The web browsers can only display this address and not your local (internal) IP.

To get your Public IP address, follow the steps below:

  1. Open any web browser of your preference.
  2. On your browser, type in “What’s my IP address?” and hit then enter key.
  3. Google should display your public IP address for you as shown.
    how to find your public Ip address on Mac

If you can’t see your public IP address on the Google website, we recommend using another third-party site such as What Is My IP Address or What Is My IP?.

How to find your local (internal) IP address on Mac

Your local, also known as an internal IP address is a private way for your home network to recognize a singular device. 

For instance, if a group of computers is connected to the same network, they will always communicate with each other through internal IP addresses. These always have the IPv4 format. More often than not, you only need this address for troubleshooting.

Method 1: How to find your IP address on OS X 10.5 and newer

  1. Power your Mac on and log into your local user account.
  2. Click on the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen. From here, select the System Preferences option. Alternatively, you can click on System Preferences in your Dock as well, displayed at the bottom of your screen.
  3. Inside the System Preferences window, click on the Network icon.
    System preference network icon
  4. On the left, you should see all of your networks listed. Click on the one with a green dot next to its name. This will usually be called something like Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Doing so will select a network that’s currently connected and online.
  5. Click on the Advanced... button.
    advanced button
  6. Switch to the TCP/IP tab. You should see all the information you need about your IP address, both internal and external.
    TC IP

Method 2: Finding your internal IP using the Terminal

Similarly to Windows computers, you can use the ipconfig command on Mac to find your internal IP. To do this, you’ll have to use the Terminal utility. You can perform these steps if you’re using a wireless network to connect to the internet.

  1. First, you’ll need to open the Terminal. There are several ways to do this:
    • Press the command (⌘) and Space keys at the same time. You should see the Spotlight Search feature pop up on your screen. Simply type in Terminal and launch the utility from the results.
    • Click on the Launchpad in your Dock and locate the Terminal utility. To open it, simply click on it once.
    • Open a Finder window and click on Applications on the left-side panel. Here, scroll until you see Terminal.
  2. After opening the Terminal, type in the following command and hit enter:
    ipconfig getifaddr en0
  3. The command will display your IP address immediately.

We hope this article helped you learn how to find your IP address using a Mac computer. Feel free to return to our site if you have any remaining questions, or need assistance when operating your Mac.

Tags: How To