Symptom
You need to find the IP address of your Mac for troubleshooting, network configuration or device sharing.
- A Mac has two kinds of IP address: a private address on your local network and a public address seen by the internet.
- The private address is found in System Settings > Network. The public address is found through a web-based lookup service.
- Terminal's ifconfig command provides detailed network interface information for more technical contexts.
Private IP address versus public IP address
Your Mac's IP address is not a single thing — it depends on what context you need it for:
- Private IP address: assigned by your router to your Mac on your local network. Typically starts with 192.168, 10., or 172.16–31. This is what other devices on the same Wi-Fi use to connect to your Mac.
- Public IP address: the address your internet connection appears to use to the outside world. Shared by all devices on your home network. This is what websites, remote services and other external parties see.
Which one do you need?
For most local troubleshooting and file sharing tasks, you need the private IP address. For understanding how your connection appears externally, or for setting up remote access, you need the public IP address.
Finding your private IP address via System Settings
Open System Settings
Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner and choose System Settings.
Go to Network
Click Network in the left sidebar.
Select your active connection
Click on Wi-Fi (if connected wirelessly) or Ethernet (if connected by cable). Then click Details next to your network.
Find the IP Address field
On the TCP/IP tab, you will see your IP Address listed. It is your private IP address on this network.
Older macOS versions
On macOS Monterey and earlier, the path is System Preferences > Network. Select your connection on the left, and the IP address appears in the main panel or in the Advanced > TCP/IP tab.
Finding IP addresses via Terminal
Terminal provides more detailed network information and is useful when you need to see all active interfaces at once.
Open Terminal
Go to Applications > Utilities > Terminal, or search for it with Spotlight (Command-Space).
Type ipconfig getifaddr en0
This command returns the IP address of your main Wi-Fi interface. If you are on Ethernet, try en1 instead. Press Return.
For all interfaces, type ifconfig
This shows all network interfaces. Look for entries with 'inet' followed by an IP address — that is the IPv4 address for that interface.
Finding your public IP address
Your public IP address is assigned by your ISP and is shared across all devices on your home network. The easiest way to find it is to open a browser and search for 'what is my IP address' — many search engines display it directly in the results.
Alternatively, visit a plain-text lookup service in your browser. These sites display the IP address your connection appears to be using from their servers' perspective.
Public IP addresses change
Most home internet connections use a dynamic public IP address that your ISP can change. Do not rely on your public IP address being stable over time unless you have paid for a static IP from your ISP.
Frequently asked questions
Sources and further reading
- Connect to the internet on Mac — Apple Support
Priya Menon
Consumer technology researcher
Consumer technology researcher focused on networking, browsers and connectivity problems on Apple devices.
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