How to Track an IP Address for Free in 2025
Tracking an Internet Protocol (IP) address is a useful way to check locations, avoid scams, solve connection issues or discover data leaks. If you need to know how to track an IP address for free, read this guide to learn legal and effective ways.
Written by Kate Hawkins (Editor, Writer)
Reviewed by Samuel Chapman (Writer, Editor)
Facts checked by Igor Kurtz (Fact-checking editor)
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You may want to know how to track an IP address for free for various reasons, such as checking the authenticity of a website or email, or getting details about a gaming server. While an IP address doesn’t reveal personal information directly, it can help uncover the real location of an online communication partner.
You can track an IP address in several ways, such as using online IP address lookup tools, checking email data or using your PC’s Command Prompt. These methods can provide a general location as well as the internet service provider (ISP) behind the address. In this guide, we’ll show you how to track IP addresses legally in just a couple of minutes.
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03/20/2025 Facts checked
We’ve updated our article with additional detailed guides and answers to popular IP-tracking questions.
How to Trace Someone’s IP Address for Free
Tracking an IP address is an easy way to verify the legitimacy of a website, account or email sender, which can help you spot potential scams. There are several free ways to track an IP address, including using the Command Prompt and online IP lookup tools, or by checking email headers.
Find Your Own IP Address: What Is My IP Address Location?
The easiest way to find your own IP address is to type “what is my IP” into Google, Yahoo or DuckDuckGo, and hit the “search” button. The search engine will display your public IP address at the top of the results.
For a more detailed breakdown, including your location, IPv4 and IPv6 IP addresses, and ISP information, you can use an IP address lookup tool.
How to Trace IP Addresses Using the Command Prompt
Tracing an IP address using the Windows Command Prompt lets you follow the data’s path across the internet. You can identify the general location of a server from its IP, which makes it easier to notice suspicious routing patterns that could indicate a scam.
- Open the Command Prompt
To open the Command Prompt, right-click the “Windows” icon on the taskbar. Click “run,” then enter “CMD” and click “OK.”
- Ping the Website You Want to Trace
Type “ping” and a space, then enter the website URL. In this example, we’re using Facebook.
- Run the “Tracert” Command
Type “tracert” followed by a space and the IP address of the website’s URL. The command will display the servers that your data passes through to reach the website, along with the website’s IP address.
- Look Up the IPs With an Online Tool
You can use an online tool to search for the IP addresses uncovered by the command. A site like What Is My IP Address will give you an approximate IP location, and it’s free to use.
How to Pull IP Address: Extract IP Addresses From Phone Numbers, Online Games or Social Media
It’s possible to use IP address tracking to verify an email’s origin or learn your online gaming server’s location. However, phone numbers and text messages don’t reveal IP addresses directly, and most social media platforms hide IP addresses for privacy reasons.
Can You Track Someone’s Location by Their Phone Number?
No, you cannot track someone’s exact location with their phone number alone. Phone numbers don’t reveal live locations, although scam websites will claim that they can track a location through a number. Only law enforcement and telecom carriers can legally trace the location of a specific number.
Can You Get an IP Address From a Text Message?
No, typically you cannot get IP addresses from regular text messages (SMS) because they don’t contain network routing data. However, if the message includes a link and the recipient clicks it, the website that opens could then log the user’s IP address. That being said, this information isn’t available to the general public.
How to Extract an IP Address from an Email
You can find the IP address of a received email if you think it’s suspicious or you want to check the sender’s location.
- Find the Options Menu and Open the Raw Email Data
Open the email and find the “options” menu — this is often a three-dot icon. In the menu, look for an option like “show original,” “view original” or “open raw email.”
- Find the IP Addresses
The raw email data will look something like the image shown below. This data will include a few different IP addresses — you can try them all, but you should focus particularly on the entries related to the “received” data.
- Check the IPs Using an Online Tool
You can put these IP addresses into an online IP lookup tool and figure out the email sender’s general IP location.
How to Find a Server IP Address in Online Games
Finding your online gaming server’s IP address information can help you troubleshoot connection issues, check the server location or set up a direct connection to a specific server. Make sure your game is running and connected to the server before you perform the first step.
This guide uses the Task Manager, specifically for Windows devices. For Macs, the Activity Monitor does not display IP address information, but you can use a third-party tool like Wireshark to track IP addresses associated with live connections.
- Open the Task Manager and Select the Performance Tab
Press the “Ctrl,” “Shift” and “Esc” buttons to open the Task Manager, then switch to the “performance” tab. Click the three-dot icon at the top-right corner of the window to open the menu, and then click “Resource Monitor.”
- Open the Resource Monitor and Find Your Game
In the “network” tab, scroll down the “processes with network activity” section to find your game — in this example, it’s Left 4 Dead 2. Mark the checkbox beside the game and open the “TCP connections” tab below. You’ll be able to see the remote IP addresses to which you’re connected.
How to Trace a Fake Facebook Account
Fake Facebook accounts often show suspicious signs, like inconsistent profile information or stolen profile pictures. You can investigate some of these details to check for a fake account, but you cannot track a Facebook account using an IP address. Facebook hides this information for privacy reasons.
Try the following methods to determine whether an account is real or fake:
- Reverse-search the profile pictures to see if they appear anywhere else online, which could indicate that the images are stolen.
- Check for unusual posts or online behaviors, like generic content or mismatched personal details.
- Look at the account creation information. Frequent name changes or a recent sign-up date can suggest that a profile is fake.
How to Check WAN IP Addresses
Your Wide Area Network (WAN) IP address is a public IP address that your ISP assigns to your network. It’s specific to your network and lets your devices communicate with the internet.
When you search “what is my WAN IP” in your browser, you’ll typically see your public IP address. This might be the same as your router’s WAN IP, but it could differ depending on how your ISP has configured your connection.
Checking your specific WAN IP address is simple — you can find it in your router’s settings by logging in to the admin panel, usually in the “status” or “internet” section. You can log in to your router by typing “192.68.1.1” or “192.168.0.1” into your browser, or by locating your router’s specific IP address and login information.
How to Look Up the Location of an IP Address
You can look up an IP address’s geographical location by using an IP lookup tool like What Is My IP Address. Simply enter the IP address into the tool’s search bar, and the IP address lookup tool will provide details like the country, city, ISP, and sometimes even approximate coordinates.
Free tools provide general locations only and won’t give you an exact address. If the IP is for a proxy or virtual private network (VPN) server, the specific user’s real location will be hidden. Instead, the proxy or VPN will substitute its own IP address for the user’s true IP address. You’ll see only the specific server location of the proxy or VPN, not the actual user’s whereabouts.
Can You Track an IP Address’s Exact Location?
No, you cannot track the exact location of IP addresses. An IP lookup tool typically gives only an approximate physical location, like a city or state, based on the data provided by the ISP. Tools like dynamic IPs, VPNs and free proxies can hide IP addresses, making it impossible to pinpoint precise locations without having legal access to ISP records.
Final Thoughts: IP Address Location Lookup
Whether you’re verifying an email sender, checking for unusual web activity or troubleshooting internet traffic issues, knowing how to use an IP address tracker is helpful. However, IP lookup tools provide only general information — you won’t get a specific location, and online privacy tools like VPNs can obscure someone’s real IP address.
Have you used an IP address tracker to check a user’s location or to detect suspicious traffic? Do you think hiding your IP details is essential for online privacy, or does it depend on the situation? What steps do you take to protect your internet connection from being tracked or monitored? Let us know in the comments below, and thank you for reading!
FAQ: How to Find IP Address Location
Yes, you can track IP addresses to general locations, which could include a state, city or region. You can do this using free online tools for looking up IP addresses.
IP addresses are tracked through services that log device IPs when they connect to a website or server. These services can provide details like the internet service provider (ISP), general location, or sometimes even the device type.
No, there are no reliable IP tracking services for phone numbers as a phone number doesn’t inherently link to an IP address.
You can find your Minecraft server IP address by opening the game and choosing your server in the multiplayer menu. Your server’s IP should appear in the “server information” section.
You can trace a fake Facebook account by looking at the account’s activity, friends list and profile inconsistencies. You can also reverse-search profile pictures to see whether they’re authentic or found elsewhere on the web.