An IP address, short for “Internet Protocol” address, is how individual computers on the internet are identified. Every Googlesearch, or other internet-based activity, is sent out using your IP address.
It’s sort of like the return address on your activities, and is often based on your physical, real-world location. It appears as a string of numbers — for example, “172.15.254.1.”
And although it may sound like it’s a single address, you can actually have two types of IP addresses — an internal (or local) one, and an external (or public) one — if your computer is connected to a network as well as the internet. Either way, Macs are built to make it easy to access that information.
Here are two methods for finding your Mac computer’s internal and external IP addresses:
How to find your internal IP address
For those with OS X 10.5 or newer, this is how to find your internal IP address:
1. Click the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen.
2. Select “System Preferences.”
3. Click “Network.”
4. Select your main connection (if it isn’t already your default, which it likely will be.) Your IP address will appear on the right under the “status” section in smaller print.
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