Device instructions · Reviewed 7 October 2026

Find Your IP Address and Router Address on Mac

On a Mac, the address in Network settings belongs to a selected connection. Wi-Fi, Ethernet and VPN services can show different values. A public web checker answers a different question: which address did this web request use?

Read the active connection's TCP/IP details

Open Apple menu → System Settings → Network.
Select the connection you are using and open Details.
Open TCP/IP. Read the IP address, subnet mask and Router fields that are available for that service.
Leave the configuration unchanged. If you use Terminal, identify the interface before querying it.

Read-only commands

networksetup -listallhardwareports

Lists hardware ports and their device names. Identify the entry for the connection you want; Wi-Fi is not always en0.

ipconfig getifaddr en0

Shows the IPv4 address for en0 when available. Replace en0 with the device name you identified above. Empty output does not establish that every interface or IPv6 is unavailable.

ifconfig en0

Shows the selected interface's addresses, including inet and inet6 entries. Replace en0 as needed. Ignore loopback or a different adapter when investigating your active connection.

Read the local address and router separately

If Wi-Fi reports 192.168.1.42 and Router reports 192.168.1.1, the first is your Mac's local address and the second is its next-hop router. The router's WAN address is on the router's own Internet/status page.

Your device's address is used on a selected interface. The default gateway or Router field identifies a next hop. To find the router's WAN address, open its own Internet/status page using the manufacturer's instructions. This website cannot read your router settings automatically.

Find the public address websites see

Open the public IP checker on the same device and connection. The result is the address used for that web request. With IPv4, several devices may share an exit address; with IPv6, a device can have its own global address. Compare the same version and record results at the same time.

Common reasons the values differ

IPv6 may show both link-local and global addresses. A fe80 address is limited to a local link, while a temporary global address can rotate. A suffix such as %en0 identifies an interface scope; do not paste that suffix into a public IP lookup.

A VPN can change the public result without changing the Wi-Fi address. Checking only the local address will therefore miss a VPN route change.

If a command returns no value, verify the interface and connection state first. The Network settings panel is a useful cross-check, especially for USB Ethernet adapters and several active services.

Choose the next check

Classify an address to distinguish private, public and special-use space.
Calculate an IPv4 subnet or inspect an IPv6 prefix when you have a mask or prefix.
Compare router WAN and public IP when you are investigating upstream NAT.
Compare before and after IP results for a deliberate connection change.

Apple's Mac TCP/IP settings guide. Menu names and available fields can vary by software version and device. Read values before deciding whether a configuration change is needed.