In this article, you'll learn how to change your public and private IP addresses on a computer running Windows. Your public IP address is the address your computer shows to other networks. Your private IP address, on the other hand, is the specific address of your computer within your own wireless network. Sometimes, changing your public and/or private IP address can resolve some connectivity issues.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Your public IP address
Step 1. Disconnect your router and your modem
Most service providers assign dynamic IP addresses, which change every so often. If your modem hasn't been plugged in for an extended period of time, chances are you'll be assigned a new email address when you plug it back in.
- If you want you can look up your current IP address before doing this.
- You can simply unplug your router and modem.
Step 2. Turn off your computer's Wi-Fi
This prevents the network from reconnecting to the router when you reconnect it. Here's how to turn off your Wi-Fi network:
- click on
bottom right corner of the screen.
- click on wifi in the window that opens.
Step #3. Wait five minutes
Some service providers will give you a new IP address within five minutes. If that doesn't work, you may need to leave your router unplugged overnight (or for an eight-hour period).
Step 4. Plug in your router again
If you have another device (such as a smartphone, game console or other computer) connected to the Wi-Fi network, the router and the second device will ask for the old IP address.
Step 5. Reactivate the Wi-Fi on your computer
Doing this after the other devices have had a chance to reconnect will most likely change your computer's public IP address.
If you want, you can check your IP address again to make sure it has indeed changed
Step 6. Contact your service provider
In some rare cases, your service provider will assign you a static IP address. To change this, you will need to contact your service provider's customer service or technical support directly. You can often only change a static IP address once.
Step 7. Use a proxy server
You will then see a different IP address for your connection; often this is an address that comes from somewhere else from the country where you live or from around the world. For a reliable proxy server or VPN service, you often have to pay a monthly fee.
Method 2 of 2: Your private IP address
Refresh the address
Step 1. Open Start
This option is located at the bottom left of the screen. If you want to try changing your IP address to fix a problem with your connection, it's often easier to renew the address than to change it manually.
Step 2. In the Start menu, type command line
This will make your computer look for the command line app.
Step 3. Right Click on Command Line
It should be at the top of the Start window.
Step #4. Click Run as administrator
This is one of the last options in the drop-down menu.
If you are not an administrator on the computer you are working on, you will not have this option and unfortunately you will not be able to renew your computer's IP address
Step 5. Click Yes when prompted
This will open the Command Line.
Step 6. Type in ip settings /release and press ↵ Enter
This command 'forgets' your current IP address.
Step 7. Type ip settings /refresh and press ↵ Enter
This is how you refresh your IP address. Doing this alone can often fix some connection issues, but it won't always change your computer's actual IP address.
Change the address
Step #1. Open Settings
Click Start
and select settings gear
Step 2. Choose the Network & Internet category
Step 3. Make sure the Status section is selected
It's the first tab on the panel on the left.
Step 4. Click on the 'Change connection properties' link
Step 5. Click Change under 'Assign IP address'
Scroll down to access this section.
Step 6. Switch to manually assigning an IP address
Click on the drop-down menu from the dialog that opens and choose the 'Manual' option.
Step 7. Put
IPv4 on.
Several boxes will then appear.
Step 8. Fill in the text boxes
They have the following meanings:
- IP address – Usually your device's IP address is '192.168.1.X' (or a similar set of numbers), where 'X' is specific to your device. Replace the value 'X' with a number between 1 and 100. Make sure you use the same IP address as that of another device that is part of your network (such as your smartphone).
- Subnet Prefix Length – This depends on your IP address, but is usually '255.255.255.X'.
- Gateway – This is the IP address of your router.
- Preferred DNS Server – The address of your preferred DNS server (for example: '208.67.222.222' for Open's DNS server, or '8.8.8.8' for Google's server).
- Alternative DNS server – A second address of your DNS server (for example: '208.67.220.220' for the OpenDNS server, or '8.8.4.4' for the Google server).
Step 9. Click on Save
Your new network settings are now saved and applied.
Tips
- For example, you would change your public IP address if you were banned from a game service (such as Steam). You would change your private IP address to, for example, fix errors when opening websites.
- Using a proxy server will not change your actual IP address, but it will change the IP address visible to others.
- You can also use an internet browser like Tor to hide your IP address. However, such browsers can be dangerous, and they are often slower than average.