How to hide an IP address

What is an IP address, and why should you protect it?

An IP address is a numerical identifier assigned to a device or network when they connect to the internet. Your public IP is visible to the websites and online services you visit and can reveal information such as your approximate location and internet service provider (ISP).

Two types of IP addresses are a public and a private IP address. A public IP identifies your network on the internet and is typically assigned by your ISP, while a private IP identifies individual devices within your local network. When we talk about hiding your IP address online, we generally mean hiding your public IP address from the websites and services you connect to.

You can protect your public IP from unnecessary exposure by hiding it, which means changing the IP address visible to the destination. In this sense, hiding and changing your IP address aren’t separate actions — hiding your usual IP requires another IP to take its place. When people talk about hiding their IP, they’re often specifically interested in keeping the public IP they normally use from being exposed online.

Tracking your approximate location and using your IP for targeted attacks are only a couple of examples of what someone can do with your IP address. You may want to hide your IP address to:

• Reduce IP-based tracking. Hiding your IP makes it harder for websites and other third parties to track your IP address and use it to link your online activity to the same connection.
• Keep your virtual location more private. An IP address can indicate your general geographic area, although it doesn’t typically reveal your exact home address.
• Limit the exposure of your usual public IP. When you use another IP, websites and online services no longer interact directly with the public IP they would normally see.
• Get extra privacy protection. Some methods that hide your IP provide additional privacy or security features, such as traffic encryption. 

Hiding your IP is only one part of protecting your privacy online. Cookies, account logins, browser fingerprinting, GPS permissions, and other information may still be used to recognize or track you.

5 ways to hide your IP address

You can hide your IP address in several ways — all of them make the destination see a different IP. What sets them apart is what else they do for your traffic and connection.

Before you start, learn how to find your IP address so you can check whether it has changed afterward.

Disclaimer: Hiding your IP address can serve legitimate privacy and security purposes. It does not, however, make unlawful activity legal or exempt users from applicable laws and regulations. You remain responsible for how you use these tools.

1. Use a VPN

A VPN is one of the best ways to hide your IP address across a device. What a VPN hides is your IP address by changing it to the IP address provided by a VPN server. As a result, websites and apps see the server’s IP rather than the public IP you would normally expose.

A VPN routes your internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel between your device and the VPN server. So the real benefit is that the IP change comes with encryption and broad device coverage.

Some of the best VPN service providers combine IP protection with strong encryption, fast connections, and clear privacy practices. NordVPN, for example, uses top-grade encryption and doesn’t track what you do online. It also offers NordLynx, NordVPN’s proprietary implementation of WireGuard®, which is designed for fast VPN connections.

To hide your IP with NordVPN:

1. 1.Download and install the NordVPN app.
2. 2.Sign in to your account.
3. 3.Connect to a VPN server.
4. 4.Check your IP address again — it should now show the server’s IP.

Keep in mind that hiding your IP doesn’t make you anonymous online. Whether you can be tracked with a VPN depends on other identifiers, such as cookies, account logins, and browser fingerprinting.

Be cautious with free VPN services, though. Some may collect user data, display intrusive advertising, or share information with third parties. If privacy is your reason for hiding your IP, check how a provider handles your data before using its service.

2. Use a proxy server

A proxy server acts as an intermediary between your device and the destination. Your request goes to the proxy first, and the proxy then communicates with the website or service on your behalf.

As a result, an anonymous proxy hides your IP from the destination by changing the address it sees to the proxy server’s IP.

However, proxies often only cover a specific browser or app rather than your whole device. While many proxies also encrypt traffic these days, the level and scope of encryption can vary. The important difference between a standard proxy and a VPN is how the traffic is routed and protected, and whether the method covers your whole device. Free public proxies can also be unreliable and may log your activity. 

3. Use Tor Browser

Tor Browser can hide your IP from the websites you visit by replacing it with the IP of a Tor exit node.

Instead of connecting directly to a website, Tor routes your browser traffic through several volunteer-operated nodes. The traffic receives multiple layers of encryption as it moves through the Tor network, and the destination sees the exit node’s IP rather than your usual public one.

Tor is free and offers strong privacy for browsing, but it comes with trade-offs. Sending traffic through multiple nodes can noticeably slow your connection. Tor also only covers traffic inside Tor Browser, so other apps on your device may continue using your regular IP address.

4. Connect to a different Wi-Fi network

Connecting to a different Wi-Fi network can also change the public IP visible to websites, which technically hides your usual network’s IP. Because your traffic now exits through another network, websites see the public IP assigned to that network instead of your previous one. Switching from Wi-Fi to mobile data can work similarly.

However, while most websites use HTTPS to encrypt traffic between your browser and the website, simply changing your IP address doesn’t add another layer of encryption or provide the additional privacy features offered by tools such as a VPN or Tor. Public Wi-Fi networks can also carry security risks of their own.

So switching networks can be useful when you simply need a different public IP, but it shouldn’t be treated as a complete privacy or security solution.

5. Use iCloud Private Relay on Apple devices

Apple’s iCloud Private Relay can hide your IP address for supported Safari browsing if you have an iCloud+ subscription.

Private Relay routes supported traffic through two separate internet relays. Websites see an IP associated with the relay rather than your original public IP, while the system is designed so that no single party involved can see either who you are or the websites you’re visiting.

To enable Private Relay on an iPhone, go to “Settings” > [Your name] > “iCloud” > “Private Relay” and turn it on.

The main limitation is coverage. Private Relay isn’t a device-wide VPN and primarily protects supported Safari traffic rather than internet traffic from every browser and standalone app.

How to hide your IP address on your computer

If you’re wondering how to hide your IP address on your computer or laptop, you have several options. You can use one of the tools listed above, such as a VPN or, on a Mac, iCloud Private Relay. You can also manually configure a proxy or switch to a different network to change the IP address visible online. The best option depends on how much of your traffic you want covered and whether you need extras like traffic encryption.

How to hide your IP address on Windows 11

One of the simplest ways to hide your IP address on a Windows 11 PC is to use a VPN. It changes the IP visible to websites and apps to one provided by the VPN server while encrypting your internet traffic.

To hide your IP on Windows 11:

1. 1.Download and install a reputable VPN app.
2. 2.Open the app and sign in.
3. 3.Connect to a VPN server.
4. 4.Check your public IP to confirm that the visible address has changed.

Windows 11 also lets you configure a proxy. To set one up, go to “Settings” > “Network & Internet” > “Proxy” and enter the required proxy information. Keep in mind that the exact traffic covered depends on how the proxy is configured, and a standard proxy doesn’t provide the same traffic encryption as a VPN.

How to hide your IP address on a Mac

You can hide your IP address on a Mac with a VPN by replacing the IP visible online with the VPN server’s address:

1. 1.Download and install a VPN app.
2. 2.Sign in to your account.
3. 3.Connect to a VPN server.
4. 4.Check your public IP to confirm the change.

You can also configure a proxy on your Mac. Go to “System Settings” > “Network” > Select your network > “Details” > “Proxies” and enter the required proxy information.

If you have iCloud+, you can enable iCloud Private Relay. Go to “System Settings” > [Your name] > “iCloud” > “Private Relay” and turn it on to hide your IP address for supported Safari browsing. Keep in mind that iCloud Private Relay primarily protects supported Safari browsing, while a VPN can change your IP for traffic across your entire device.

How to hide your IP address on your phone

Your phone may use several different public IP addresses throughout the day as it moves between Wi-Fi networks and mobile data. If you want to protect your IP by hiding the address your current connection would normally expose, both iPhone and Android offer several options.

How to hide your IP address on iPhone

A device-wide VPN is the most straightforward choice when you want the new IP and encrypted connection to apply across your whole phone.

To change your IP address on an iPhone with a VPN:

1. 1.Download a reputable VPN app from the App Store.
2. 2.Open the app and sign in.
3. 3.Connect to a VPN server.
4. 4.Check your IP address to verify that it now shows the server’s IP.

The steps apply to recent iPhone models, including the iPhone 13, iPhone 14, iPhone 15, and iPhone 16.

If you’re looking for how to hide your IP address on an iPhone for free, you have other options. Switching from Wi-Fi to mobile data, for example, typically changes your public IP, which means websites no longer see the IP associated with the Wi-Fi network you were using. However, switching networks doesn’t encrypt your traffic.

If you’re already subscribed to iCloud+, you can also enable Private Relay under “Settings” > [Your name] > “iCloud” > “Private Relay.” It hides your IP for supported Safari traffic but doesn’t offer the same device-wide coverage as a VPN.

How to hide your IP address on Android

You can hide your IP on Android by changing it using a VPN:

1. 1.Download a reputable VPN app from Google Play.
2. 2.Open the app and sign in.
3. 3.Connect to a VPN server.
4. 4.Check your IP to confirm that the visible address has changed.

A VPN will give you the address provided by its server while also encrypting your internet connection.

You can also switch between Wi-Fi and mobile data for a quick IP change. Doing so means websites will see the public IP of your new network rather than the one you were previously using. However, switching networks alone doesn’t add encryption or other VPN protections.

How to hide your router’s IP address

Your router generally uses two types of IP addresses: a private IP for communication within your local network and a public IP associated with your internet connection.

When someone asks how to hide their router’s IP address or how to hide their public IP address, they usually mean keeping that public IP hidden from websites and other internet services.

One way to do so is to configure a VPN on a compatible router. That way, devices connected to that router no longer use your network’s usual public IP. Their traffic goes through the VPN server, which assigns its own IP.

This setup can hide your usual public IP for multiple devices connected to the router at once.

Your public IP may also change naturally depending on whether your ISP gives you a static or dynamic address. Read our article if you’d like to learn more about the differences between a static vs. a dynamic IP address.

How to hide your IP address from specific sites and apps

You can’t make an IP address disappear entirely from an internet connection because websites and apps need an IP to send data back to you. What you can do is hide your usual IP by changing which IP the service sees.

For example, if you want to hide your IP address from Facebook, connecting to a device-wide VPN before opening the app means the service should see the VPN server’s IP for that connection rather than your usual public IP.

The scope of the method matters. A browser-only proxy may change the IP a website sees in that browser, but a standalone app can continue connecting through your regular internet connection. A device-wide VPN, by comparison, can change the visible IP for supported traffic from both browsers and apps.

Remember that hiding your IP doesn’t stop a service from identifying you in other ways. If you’re signed in to an account, for example, the service already knows which account you’re using.

How to check that your IP address is protected

After you’ve used one of the methods above to protect your IP, check your public IP again. If the displayed IP has changed, websites should now see the new address rather than the one your device was previously using.

For example, after connecting to a VPN, the displayed IP and approximate location should correspond to the VPN server rather than your regular connection. In this sense, the server’s address acts as a fake IP address — another IP is presented to websites in place of your usual one.

You can also check for DNS, WebRTC, and IPv6 leaks, which may reveal network information even when your visible IP has changed. A reliable VPN may include a kill switch that stops internet traffic if your VPN connection unexpectedly drops, helping prevent your usual IP from becoming visible during the interruption.

Keep in mind that hiding your IP by changing the address visible online can reduce further exposure, but it can’t undo previous exposure or misuse. If you suspect someone has already obtained or misused your IP, learn how to know if your IP address has been hacked and what steps you can take next.