How to hide your IP address
True anonymity online is rare. Sites already stitch together browsing signals. You can still hide your IP address, reduce tracking, and stop sharing your home network’s public number with every page you open.
The simplest, most reliable way to hide my IP from websites is a virtual private network (VPN). Other methods exist. Some only change a private LAN address. Some are slow or leaky. Below is a clear map of what each one actually does — then a way to verify it on Know Your IP Address.
How a VPN helps you hide your IP
A VPN sends your traffic through an encrypted tunnel to a server somewhere else. Sites see that server’s IP, not your ISP’s. To the web, you appear to browse from another city or country. That can unlock region-locked pages and stop casual IP lookup from pointing at your home network.
Think of your device as the start and the website as the end. The VPN wraps the path in between. Your ISP sees a connection to the VPN, not a list of every site. The site sees the VPN address, not yours.
People in heavily filtered networks use VPNs to reach blocked services. Everyone else uses them to hide IP while streaming, to reduce ISP throttling, or to keep a hotel Wi-Fi from watching traffic in the clear.
Free VPNs are often a bad trade. If you are not paying, the product may be your logs, your bandwidth, or both. Prefer a provider with a clear policy, kill switch, and modern protocols. Names people commonly compare include NordVPN, ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, Surfshark, Proton VPN, and IPVanish — judge them on independent audits, not ads.
A VPN on one laptop is not a VPN on your phone. To hide your IP everywhere, run it on each internet-capable device you care about.
Check if your IP is hiddenConnect your VPN, then open Know Your IP Address. If the number changed, the mask is working.
Hide IP explained
Hiding your IP means borrowing another public address so the internet does not see the one your ISP assigned. Typical reasons: hide a geographic region, cut down on web tracking, keep a smaller digital footprint, or get around a content filter or IP ban aimed at your current number — not to erase you from the network entirely.
9 ways to hide your IP address
Use a VPN — usually the best way
Sign in, connect, and the world sees the VPN’s IP. You can change IP address by region, hide IP while gaming, and hide IP while streaming if the service allows it. Compared with a bare proxy you typically get encryption, a kill switch, and a server list instead of a single leaky hop.
Proxy
A proxy can change the IP a browser shows. Many are slow. Many leak, including through WebRTC. A proxy is not a full VPN. Treat free web proxies as untrusted.
Public Wi-Fi
A café network uses a different public IP than your home. It also puts you on a shared, often open LAN. You left the house and you still have a city-level location. Pair public Wi-Fi with a VPN if you use it at all.
Tor
Tor (The Onion Router) bounces traffic through volunteer relays so the exit IP is not yours. It is strong for secrecy and weak for speed, streaming, and many sites that block Tor exits.
Dedicated IP
Some VPNs and hosts sell a dedicated IP — a number not shared with a pool of strangers. That can reduce “shared IP” blocks. It still hides your ISP address only while you are using that service.
Mobile network
Tethering or cellular data uses the carrier’s IP, not your home broadband. Useful as a temporary different address. Location still follows the tower region.
Unplug the modem
Many ISPs hand out dynamic IPs. Power-cycling the modem can request a new lease after the old one expires. You may wait. You may get the same number. You still look like the same ISP in the same city.
NAT firewall
NAT on a router hides private LAN addresses (192.168.x.x) behind one public IP. That does not hide my IP from websites. They still see the router’s public address.
Ask your ISP
Support can sometimes rotate your public IP. It will still be their network. It will not mimic a VPN in another country.
How to check if your actual IP is hidden
Whatever method you pick, verify it. Open knowyouripaddress.com before you connect, note the public IP, then connect the VPN or other tool and refresh. If the address, city, or country changed, the internet now sees the mask. If it did not, you still have a leak — browser WebRTC, a split-tunnel app, or a VPN that never connected.
Use the tools menu on the home page for IPv4 / IPv6 detection and WebRTC diagnostics. A hidden IPv4 with a leaking IPv6 or ICE candidate is not hidden.
In conclusion
To hide your IP address with the fewest surprises, use a reputable VPN on every device, skip free mystery proxies, and confirm the new number here. Named free tiers — with the usual caps — are on free VPNs. Know Your IP Address will not hide you. It will tell you, honestly, what the web currently sees.
See my public IP