There are many reasons you may want to know how to get an IP address from a phone number. Finding someone’s IP address can be beneficial for a variety of reasons. Perhaps, you want to verify a suspicious online connection or troubleshoot your connectivity issues. Here we’ll talk about different ways to find anyone’s IP address. Keep reading to also discover steps you can take to protect your IP address from hackers and malicious agents.
What Is an IP Address?
An IP (Internet Protocol) address created by the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) is a unique string of numbers that every device has when connected to the Internet. Typically when you try connecting to the internet, you often connect to a network connected to the Internet. In this network, your ISP ( Internet Service Provider) assigns an IP address to your device. So you can send and receive data requests and information via that address. Hence, it’s the gateway to browsing websites, connecting with others online, and sending and receiving emails.
Types of IP Addresses
There are two types of IP addresses
- Public IP addresses identify your network to the internet. Thus it is the IP your ISP assigns to your network router. Your entire network has this one public IP address that acts like your house number. It is this address websites and other online services often see when you connect.
- Private IP addresses distinguish your devices from your home network. Hence, every device you own has a unique private IP address assigned to it by your network router. This enables your router to send information specifically to each device.
5 Ways to Find People’s IP Address
Since we cannot find an IP address via phone number, let’s explore the other ways you can find someone’s IP address and other information. But first, make sure you are aware of the legal implications and privacy laws that may apply. Most countries state always to respect someone’s privacy and avoid infringing on it without cause. Always obtain explicit consent unless you have legal grounds such as protecting against harmful actions or network troubleshooting.
Find People IP Address by IP Lookup Tools
IP lookup tools are websites or services that help retrieve information about IP addresses. Often they get this information from databases Internet Service Providers, public IP blacklists, and proprietary databases. Here are three IP lookup tools you can try:
WhatIsMyIPAddress
The WhatsIsMyIPAddress Lookup tool finds basic information about an IP address such as IP’s hostname, area code, country, city, latitude, and longitude, and known services running on that IP.
To use this tool:
- Go to WhatIsMyIPAddress Lookup and enter the IP address. Next, tap “Get IP Details”
- This tool will return all kinds of information about their IP address.
WolframAlpha
WolframAlpha is also a great IPlookup tool that works directly from your browser. You can use it to find information about an IP address. It can even find a Skype user’s IP address if necessary. Once you search WolframAlpha will return with details like the IP address’s registered city, country, internet service provider, and many more.
To use this tool:
- Go to the search bar at the top of the website and type in the IP address. Tap “enter”.
- This tool will automatically return with different information for that IP address.
Advanced IP Scanner
Advanced IP Scanner (Radmin) is a free network scanner that also doubles as an IP lookup tool. It won’t locate the IP address of others but help you analyze the IP addresses of all computers available on your wired or wireless local network.
With its help, you can remotely access all PCs on your network to share files and data and even turn off the systems remotely.
- Download the Advanced IP Scanner (or Radmin) to your computer (works with Windows 11, 10,8, 7)
- Extract to your computer and run Radmin Server to install
- Follow the on-screen instructions to select an installation directory and then transfer all the files from the Radmin folder you downloaded.
- Right-click on the Radmin tray icon and select “Settings for Radmin Server”. Select the “Permissions” button and set a password for network access.
- Now from your Start Menu, you can view all IPs, connect, and remotely operate your network.
Find People IP Address by Email Headers
If you only have the header of an email sent to you, you can also find information about their IP address. However, also note that using an email header to find an IP address isn’t always reliable. Often, only marketing emails contain an IP because of the sender policy framework (SPF) that their domains implement. In contrast, emails from friends and families do not usually have an IP address. Using a Gmail platform, here’s how to check for an IP address:
Open the email and then go over to the three dots in the top right corner and click on it. Next, tap original
- This opens a new page containing the email header and rows for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
- Next to SPF, you’ll find a string of numbers formatted like: 159.183.73.44. This is the email address used by the email server that the company uses in sending emails to you
- Now you can copy that address and paste it into an IP lookup tool to find more information.
Find People IP Address by CMD
Command Prompt on Windows or Terminal for Mac are also great tools to find the IP address of a domain name. Here’s what you can do on a Windows device:
- In the search box at the bottom left corner, type “cmd” and click “enter”.
- Next type “ipconfig” into the command prompt.
- Now you can see numerous lines showing your IPv4 address, Subnet Mask, IPV6 address, and default gateway.
- Scroll down and after the results, type “ping” followed by the name of the domain you want to check into the command prompt. For example, ping [website_url] which means replacing with the [website_url] This will return with the IP address next to the domain name.
Find People IP Address by Analyze Social Media Connections
It’s also possible to find someone’s IP address on social media. However, most social media platforms often protect their user privacy making it a bit tricky. You can mostly do this when you are engaged in conversation with them via direct messaging. While they are online and talking to you, you can try finding information about their IP address. Using Facebook messenger/chat to find someone’s IP is a fine tool. Here’s how:
- First, you need to be connected with them, and that they are online.
- Next, open your command prompt by typing “cmd” in the search box.
- Type in “netstat-an” and press enter.
- Ensure you’ve closed other windows and browsers and that the user is online. That way you’ll only get results from that connection.
Website Visitor Tracking to Get IP Address
If you have a website, tracking the IP addresses of your visitors can help you learn better how to serve them. You can tell their geographic location, and browsing activities on your website which in turn gives you pointers on how to personalize your content, improve user experience, and even put the proper security measures when necessary. Depending on your website’s domain and hosting service there are different tools you can use to monitor, and record IP addresses alongside other data like the pages viewed, location, duration on your site, and visiting time. Some such tools and techniques you can try include:
Server logs analytics
Your server side (accessed via the hosting control panel) often provides logs of every visit and stores them as log files. You can examine these server logs and extract IP addresses to get to know your traffic patterns. Beyond doing this manually, you can also use command-line tools like grep to filter records for IP-specific data. Plus, server size may help you figure out traffic spikes that indicate security threats or bots.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a popular tool integrated into millions of websites to help provide insights on user behavior. However, Google Analytics anonymizes IP addresses to ensure the privacy of your users.
Specialized IP tracking software
You can also use dedicated IP tracking solutions to access granular insights about your website visitors’ IPs. Popular website IP solutions include AbstractAPI, IP Locator, and Smart Insights.
What an IP Address Can Tell About You?
Whenever you use the internet, such as sending an email, browsing a website, gaming, live-streaming, or shopping, you are sharing your IP address. Hackers and malicious actors can prey on unsuspecting internet users who are unknowingly sharing their IP addresses as they surf the internet. They can hack your device using your IP address which enables them to steal private information. Hence, from your IP address, they can hack your device to learn details such as:
- Home and work addresses
- Previous employers
- Your real name if used in your email address
- Email addresses
- Domains registered to your email addresses
- Online passwords
- Internet documents or activities that contain the email address and were indexed by search engines
- Friends on social network services
- Media files on your smartphone, tablet, or computer
- Confidential files on your internet-enabled devices.
- Browsing habits that reveal your interests and shopping habits.
They can use the information they gather to blackmail you, steal your identity, or even sell it on the dark web.
Tips on Securing Your IP Address
Seeing the number of security issues you can be dealing with if there’s a risk of your IP address revealing your private information, you may wonder how to safeguard it. Here are some tips that can help.
Use a VPN
A VPN helps protect your IP address by giving you a new one. It also allows you to change your VPN location, thereby keeping your IP address anonymous. VPNs often offer a wide range of server locations around the world from which you can choose. They might also increase your browsing and internet speed. Do note that VPN providers can spy on you. So you should always use a reputable VPN service.
Consider the Tor network
Tor is a free, open-source network that can route your traffic through multiple relays. Hence, it can make it harder to track your IP address. That said, Tor can be slow and sometimes associated with illegal activity.
Disable IP tracking in your browser
Your browser may allow you to disable features that reveal your IP address. Check your browser settings for options like “Do Not Track”. Alternatively, you can also disable your location services.
Use a Firewall
A firewall can offer a barrier between your device and the internet. Hence, it filters incoming and outgoing traffic, alongside masking your IP address. It may also help prevent unauthorized access to your device.
Use a proxy server
A proxy server safeguards your personal information by only revealing its IP addresses to internet servers in place of yours. Hence, your internet traffic and data would be first routed through the Proxy servers before they reach you. Advanced users also employ proxy chains. This means layering how your requests and internet traffic appear. Hence, this makes it more complicated for hackers to access your data.
FAQ
📌 Is it illegal to track someone’s IP address?
Depending on your location and intent, it can be illegal to track someone’s IP address. Always make sure you obtain explicit consent from that person or have legally-backed reasons such as network troubleshooting or protecting your device against harmful activities. Also, ensure to document that consent.
📌 How to get an IP address from a phone number?
Basically, you cannot get an IP address from a phone number. But a phone number can help find the location of that device using phone tracking tools like MLocator. Mlocator is the perfect tool that tracks any phone by triangulating its Wi-Fi technology, GPS signals, and cell service providers to find the precise location of that phone.
📌 Can someone get your information from your IP address?
Someone can get information about you from your IP address such as your possible location, browsing habits, real name, home/work addresses, and if intent on harm access media files on your computer and devices.
📌 Does the IP address reveal location?
Yes, IP addresses can sometimes reveal information like city and country as well as estimated latitude and longitude. So, it can provide insights on the possible location of its device.
Wrap Up
So, it isn’t possible to find someone’s IP address by their phone number. But there are other notable ways such as using an IP lookup service, command prompt, or advanced website tracking tools. Overall, you should consider measures that can also safeguard your IP address to deter hackers and other malicious people.
