How to Track an IP Address (2024)

This guide will walk you through how to track someone’s IP address and prevent someone else from tracking yours. Read on and find out the answer.

How to Check My IP Address

An IP address is simply a special number used to identify your device on the internet or local network. It allows your computer to be identified by other computers connected on the web via the Internet protocol.

There’re many tools and resources that help you check your IP address. Just Google “my IP address” and you’re good to go.

If you prefer more details about your IP address, you can go to a third-party tool, such as NordVPN IP Address Lookup. It can provide detailed information associated with your IP address, including the city, state, zip code, country name, timezone, and ISP. Depending on which tool you use, the results might be different.

How to Hide Your IP Address (And Why You Should Do It)

When you’re browsing through the internet, that website you visited and the server it’s on know your IP address, and your internet service provider (ISP) also keeps a record of your IP address activity. If you want to enjoy more privacy and not have websites and random people track it, you would definitely need a VPN (which stands for ‘virtual private server’).

A VPN hides your IP address from prying eyes. It encrypts all your internet activity, masks your IP address, and ensures your personal data stays secure. When you connect to a VPN server, all your online activity will be associated with that IP address instead of yours. Our favorite VPN is NordVPN. It’s fast and cheap, and – most importantly – it will keep your IP address hidden.

Keeping your IP address private is especially useful if you do a lot of torrenting. All the major studios actively track the IP addresses of the computers illegally downloading their works. They then contact the associated internet service providers (ISPs) and get them to trace that IP address back to you. In many countries, ISPs are legally obligated to tell the studios who you are. And even in countries where they’re not legally obligated, many ISPs will share your details anyway, simply because it’s easier.

If you plan to download copyrighted material, you should definitely use a VPN so you can’t be tracked and prosecuted. So if you haven’t chosen a VPN service yet, try NordVPN. It’s one of the top VPN services available and it’s easy to use!

1. Download and install NordVPN.
2. Choose your plan and log into your account.
3. Click the Quick connect button at the bottom of the map, then the app will automatically choose a server that suits you best.
   Or you can manually select a server to evade the block.
   

Now you can surf anonymously and securely!

Can I find Someone’s Exact Location with an IP Address?

So you might expect that you can get someone’s physical address from an IP address. Well, it’s possible, but only in certain circumstances.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign the IP addresses to each individual user and they usually keep logs of that. This means ISPs can provide an exact physical address based on an IP. However, without a police warrant or any legal document, they won’t turn over any information.

So if you received an offensive email, don’t expect that ISP will give you the physical address behind that IP address. Instead, report it to the police for help.

What about the IP address lookup tools? Well, most IP address lookup tools you can find online simply don’t work the way you expect them to work. There is no IP address database that can provide the exact location based on an IP address. What you can expect from an IP address lookup is – getting the name of the city where the person lives. But that’s it.

Sure, you might run into sites claiming that they can get you that exact location, such as iplocation.net. After you enter the IP address, you get some GPS coordinates. However, it’s actually pointed to the place where the ISP’s servers are kept. That’s the deal – the IP address belonged to the ISP and was helpful in locating their servers.

By Ellie Zhuang

Ellie has been writing about technology since 2019. Her early passion for adventure novels, games, and videos fueled a deep curiosity for solving real-world puzzles.

Writing gives her a chance to nourish this curiosity, allowing her to delve deep into the vast depths of the internet, emerging with treasure troves of information and then sharing her findings with people who need the information to solve their everyday challenges.

Her innate problem-solving nature keeps her on a perpetual quest for tech solutions, online shopping tips, and life hacks that sprinkle a bit of magic into our daily routines. At Super Easy, she has been crafting how-tos, guides, and product roundups, making both our professional and personal lives a whole lot simpler.

Apart from writing, she's also a talent scout, on a mission to unearth hidden gems of creativity by recruiting new writers for the team. On top of that, she takes on the role of managing communications with our valued partners.

When she's not weaving words, you'll find her enjoying sitcom marathons, exploring virtual reality adventures on her Quest 2, and unleashing her culinary creativity in the kitchen. It's all part of her quest to make life more enjoyable, both on and offline.

Certificate(s):

View all of Ellie Zhuang's posts.