How to Find Your IP Address on Mac

The System Settings approach is the most straightforward method for users who prefer a graphical interface. Open System Settings from the Apple menu, click Wi-Fi in the sidebar, and look for your connected network. Click the "Details" button to the right of the network name, then select the TCP/IP tab. Your IPv4 address appears next to the "IP Address" label, typically in the format 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x.

For a quicker method, open Terminal (found in Applications > Utilities) and run ifconfig en0 | grep inet. The en0 interface represents your Wi-Fi adapter on most Macs. The output displays your IPv4 address on the line beginning with "inet" followed by the address. If you are connected via Ethernet, use en1 or en2 instead of en0.

The networksetup -getinfo Wi-Fi command provides a cleaner output that includes your IP address, subnet mask, router address, and DNS servers all in one view. This is especially useful when troubleshooting because it shows the full network configuration without the extra detail that ifconfig includes.

Your public IP address is assigned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and is shared by every device on your home network. When you visit a website, the web server sees your public IP, not the local 192.168.x.x address that your router assigned to your Mac. Understanding this distinction is important for remote access, firewall configuration, and troubleshooting connectivity issues.

The fastest way to check your public IP from Terminal is curl ifconfig.me. This sends a request to an external service that responds with the IP address it received the request from. Alternative services include curl api.ipify.org and curl icanhazip.com. All three return your public IPv4 address as plain text.

If you prefer a browser, navigate to whatismyip.com or search "what is my IP" in Google. The search results page displays your public IP directly. Keep in mind that your public IP can change periodically unless you have a static IP from your ISP. Most residential internet plans use dynamic IP assignment, meaning your public address may differ from one day to the next.

Many modern networks assign both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses to connected devices. IPv6 addresses are longer, written in hexadecimal notation with colons separating groups of four characters (for example, fe80::1a2b:3c4d:5e6f:7890). Your Mac may have multiple IPv6 addresses: a link-local address that starts with fe80::, and one or more global addresses assigned by your router or ISP.

In System Settings, the TCP/IP tab within your Wi-Fi connection details shows the "IPv6 Address" field below the IPv4 information. If your network supports IPv6, you will see one or more addresses listed. If the field is empty or shows "Off," your network is not currently providing IPv6 connectivity.

The Terminal command ifconfig en0 | grep inet6 returns all IPv6 addresses on the en0 interface. The link-local address (starting with fe80::) is always present when the interface is active, even if your router does not support IPv6. Global IPv6 addresses appear only when your ISP and router both provide IPv6 service. You can verify external IPv6 connectivity by running curl -6 ifconfig.me, which forces the request over IPv6.

Every device on your home network receives a unique local (private) IP address from your router via DHCP. These addresses fall within reserved ranges defined by RFC 1918: 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255, 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255, and 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255. Devices on other networks cannot directly reach these addresses because routers do not forward private IP traffic across the internet.

Your public IP address is the single address that represents your entire home network to the outside world. When your Mac sends a request to a web server, your router replaces the local source IP with the public IP before forwarding the packet. This process is called Network Address Translation (NAT). The router keeps a table of active connections so it knows which local device should receive each incoming response.

Understanding this distinction matters for several practical reasons. Port forwarding, remote desktop access, and hosting a local server all require knowledge of both addresses. If someone asks for "your IP address," they usually mean your public IP. When configuring network settings on your Mac or troubleshooting local connectivity, the local IP is the relevant one.

Checking IP addresses through System Settings or Terminal requires multiple steps and only shows a snapshot at the moment you look. MoniThor keeps all three IP addresses visible at a glance: your local IPv4 address, your IPv6 address, and your public IP. The public IP refreshes automatically every 5 minutes, so you always know your current external address without manually running a curl command.

Beyond IP addresses, MoniThor displays the Wi-Fi SSID you are connected to, the connection type (Wi-Fi or Ethernet), and the active network interface name (en0, en1, and so on). This context is valuable when your Mac has multiple network connections active or when you need to confirm which interface is carrying your traffic.

Real-time upload and download speed indicators show exactly how much bandwidth your Mac is consuming at any given moment. If your connection suddenly slows down, you can immediately see whether the throughput has dropped. Combined with the IP and SSID information, this gives you a complete picture of your network status without opening a single settings panel or terminal window.

The arp -a command displays the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table, which maps IP addresses to hardware MAC addresses for every device your Mac has recently communicated with on the local network. The output lists each device with its IP address, MAC address, and the interface through which it was reached. This is the quickest way to see other devices without installing additional software.

For a more complete list, log into your router's admin page. Open a browser and navigate to your router's IP address (typically 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1). After logging in, look for a section labeled "Connected Devices," "DHCP Client List," or "Attached Devices." This page shows every device that has an active DHCP lease from your router, including devices your Mac has not directly communicated with.

System Settings > Network on your Mac shows your own connected interfaces but does not list other devices. For network scanning beyond the ARP table, you can install a tool like nmap through Homebrew. Running nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24 performs a ping scan of all 254 addresses in the subnet and reports which ones respond. This is useful for finding devices that may not appear in the ARP table because your Mac has not communicated with them recently.