What Is My IP Address? Your PC Has Two of Them

You have been asked for your IP address, you have found a number, and whatever you are doing with it is not working.

That is almost always because there are two of them and the one you found is the wrong one for the job. They look alike, they are used for opposite things, and nothing tells you which is which.

I read the address shape on this laptop before writing, and Microsoft's own page turned out not to mention the distinction at all.

The two addresses, and what each is for

Start here, because it decides everything else.

⭐ Your private address is how your router finds you inside your own home. Your printer, your phone and your laptop each have one.

⚡ Your public address is how the internet finds your house. Every device behind your router shares it.

⚠️ Windows shows you the private one. A website that says "your IP address is" shows you the public one.

⛔ They are never the same number, and swapping them is the whole problem. Almost every failed setup on this subject is that swap.

How to tell instantly which one you have

No tools needed for this one, and the test itself is ours.

⚡ A private address starts with 192.168, or 10, or 172 followed by 16 to 31. Those three ranges are reserved and mean nothing outside your house.

⭐ Anything else is a public address. No exceptions worth worrying about at home.

⚠️ This laptop is on a 192.168 address, with a 24 bit prefix, which is the ordinary home setup.

⛔ So the number Windows shows here would be useless to anyone outside the building. That is not a fault. It is the design.

Where Windows keeps the private one

Microsoft's route, and it is two clicks.

⭐ Microsoft documents it plainly on its IP address page: "For Wi-Fi connection, select Wi-Fi, then select the Wi-Fi network you're connected to. Look for your IP address listed next to IPv4 address."

⚡ On a cable it is the same idea: "For an Ethernet connection, select Ethernet. Look for your IP address listed next to IPv4 address."

⚠️ Or one line in Terminal, which changes nothing:

Get-NetIPConfiguration | Select-Object InterfaceAlias, IPv4Address, IPv4DefaultGateway

⛔ That also shows your router's address, which is the other number people are usually looking for.

The gap in Microsoft's own page

We could not find the distinction anywhere in it, and that is worth saying.

⚡ Microsoft's page explains where to look and not what you are looking at. It never uses the words private or public about the address itself.

⭐ It does use public and private about your network profile, which is a different setting entirely and adds to the confusion.

⚠️ So somebody following it exactly can end up with the right number for the wrong job. That is not their mistake.

⛔ Which is why the range test above matters. Read the first numbers and you know what you are holding.

Which one you actually need

Sorted by what you are trying to do.

⭐ Setting up a printer, a network drive or a game console at home: the private one. A printer that Windows cannot find is the classic case.

⚡ Getting into your router: neither. That is the router's own address, which sits next to yours. It is already written down on your PC.

⚠️ Giving a support agent something, or letting someone into a game server: the public one. A website will show it to you.

⛔ Anything involving remote access from outside your home: also the public one, and that is a bigger job than one number.

What not to do with either

Short, and two of these are safety.

⚡ Do not post your public address in a forum or a video. It points at your house rather than your machine.

⭐ Do not change your private address by hand to fix a problem. It is almost never the cause and it breaks other things.

⚠️ Do not expect either to stay the same. Both can change, one when your router restarts and one when your provider decides.

⛔ And if the address is missing entirely, that is a connection fault. Three layers, and one command each.

Status: address shape read from the network adapter on 29 August 2026, running Windows 11 Home version 25H2, against Microsoft's own page on finding an IP address. ⛔ No address of any kind is published, only the reserved range it falls in, nothing was changed, and no network name or identifier appears anywhere on this page.

Why is my IP address different on Google than in Windows?

Because they are two different addresses. Windows shows the private one your router gave you, which only works inside your home. A website shows the public one your whole household shares. Neither is wrong and they are never the same number.

Is 192.168.1.1 my IP address?

Usually not. That is the sort of address a home router gives itself, and it is the one you type to reach the router's settings page. Your own PC would have a nearby number on the same range, and Windows lists both, one as the IPv4 address and one as the gateway.

How do I find my IP address in Windows 11?

Settings, Network and internet, then Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Microsoft's instruction is to look for the number listed next to IPv4 address. One line in Terminal shows the same thing along with the router's address, and it changes nothing on the machine.

Which IP address does a printer setup need?

The private one, from the printer itself rather than from the PC. Home devices find each other by their private addresses, so a printer that Windows cannot see is usually added by typing the printer's own address rather than anything about your computer.

Should I hide my IP address?

Your private one is already hidden. It never leaves your home network. Your public one is visible to every site you visit by design, and the sensible caution is simply not to post it publicly, because it points at your household rather than at your computer.

The Short Version

• Your PC has two addresses. Windows shows one, websites show the other.
• Private addresses start 192.168, or 10, or 172 followed by 16 to 31.
• Anything outside those ranges is a public address.
• This laptop sits on a 192.168 address with a 24 bit prefix.
• Microsoft's own page never explains the private and public distinction.
• Home setups like printers and consoles need the private one.
• Support agents and remote access need the public one.
• Do not post the public one, and do not change the private one by hand.

Where to Next

Read the first two numbers of whatever address you have. That alone tells you which of the two you are holding.

If it starts 192.168, 10, or 172 with 16 to 31, it is private and it only works at home.

For a printer or a console, use the device's own private address rather than anything about your PC.

For the router, use the gateway address that sits next to yours rather than yours.

And if a setup guide asked for your IP address without saying which, tell me which guide in the comments. That ambiguity causes more failed setups than any setting.