An IP (Internet Protocol) is a unique identity of every device in the world of the internet. Using this identity, your online activities can be monitored and tracked by the ISP, websites, and other online services. As an IP is the virtual address of a device, so, the online platforms can recognize the device using its IP.
If you need to keep your online activities private and hide your location, it can be easily done by changing your IP address. All operating systems such as (Windows, iOS, Linux, and Android) include multiple ways to change their respective IP address. This tutorial is going to discuss how to change the IP address on Windows.
How to Resolve the Issues After Changing Your IP Address?
Before understanding this concept, you must be familiar with the techniques of how to find your IP Address.
What is an IP Address?
An Internet Protocol or IP address represents a unique numeric series that represents the identity of a device connected to a network. It enables the network nodes to communicate with each other. It has format x.x.x.x where x lies between 0 to 255. Each device of a network has a unique IP address which distinguishes it from the other devices.
There are four types of IP addresses:
- Public IP: It is the IP address of a network assigned by an ISP (Internet Service Provider).
- Private IP: It is the IP address of a network’s device assigned by the router of a network.
- Dynamic IP: An IP that automatically alters when the device reconnects with the network.
- Static IP: It is an IP address that keeps itself static and does not alter automatically.
Why We Need to Change IP Address on Windows?
The dynamic IP address is assigned by the DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server which is a router of the network. It changes automatically by reconnecting the device with a network. While a static IP address is provided by an ISP and remains unchanged. So we need to change our static IP for multiple reasons.
As we discussed before, an IP represents the identity of a device, so it can be used to locate the device physically. Also, it can be tracked by ISPs, websites, and online services. The static IP is more vulnerable than the dynamic IP. Due to all these reasons, it is necessary to change static IP manually to secure our Windows devices.
How to Change IP Address on Windows Manually?
Windows operating system by default changes the IP addresses automatically by enabling the DHCP server. However, if you want to change your static IP address, there are several ways to perform this task such as:
- Using Windows Settings
- Using Control Panel
- Using Command Prompt
- Using Powershell
All these methods follow the same steps for all versions of Windows (Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11). In this guide, we performed all these methods on Windows 11.
How to Manually Change IP Address from Windows Settings?
To manually change the IP address from Windows Settings, follow the given steps.
Note: This method only works for Wireless network adapters.
Step 1: Open the Windows Settings from the Start Menu:
Step 2: Click on the option Network & Internet appearing in the left panel:
Step 3: Tap the option Wi-Fi:
Step 4: Click on your connected Wi-Fi option:
Step 5: By scrolling down, click on the Edit button located in front of the IP assignment option:
Step 6: Here, tap the option Manual:
Step 7: Select the button below IPv4 and turn it ON by clicking on it:
Step 8: Here enter the required information:
- A new IP address.
- The subnet mask that is usually 255.255.255.0 for the Local Area Network (LAN).
- The Gateway address is the router’s address.
- The preferred DNS address.
It is a good approach to enter the new IP address having the format as old IP address. For example, if the format of the old IP is 192.168.x.x, the new IP should have the format 192.168.x.x.
After entering all required fields, press the Save button to apply these changes:
How to Manually Change IP Address from Control Panel?
Using a Control Panel is another manual Windows method to change the IP address. This method follows the given steps to perform this task:
Step 1: Open the Control Panel from the Windows search bar by searching it:
Step 2: Click on the option Network & Sharing Center:
Step 3: Click on the option Change adapter settings appearing in the left panel:
Step 4: Click on your Wi-Fi network:
Step 5: Right-click on the Wi-Fi option and click on the option Properties:
Step 6: Select the option Internet Protocol (TCP/IPv4) and hit the Properties button:
Step 7: In the new appearing window, choose the options “Use the following IP address” and “Use the following DNS server address”. After that enter the required information such as:
- New IP address
- Subnet mask.
- Default Gateway;
- Preferred DNS server.
- Alternate DNS server.
And hit the button OK:
How to Manually Change IP Address from Command Prompt?
Another Windows method to change IP address is using a command prompt. This method follows the given-below steps:
Step 1: Press the Windows+X key and click on the Terminal (Admin) option to open the command prompt:
Step 2: Type and run the command “ipconfig /all” to check the current IP address:
Here, you can see your network adapter configuration:
Step 3: Now type and run the following command to change your static IP address:
netsh interface ip set address name="yourNetworkAdapter" static x.x.x.x 255.255.255.0 x.x.x.xHere, the option “yourNetworkAdapter” represents the name of your network adapter name whose IP you want to change i.e. Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
How to Manually Change IP Address from PowerShell?
Windows Powershell also allows you to change the IP address of your network adapter following the below steps:
Step 1: Search Power Shell from the Windows search bar and run it as an administrator by right-clicking on it:
Step 2: Type and run the following command to check the current configuration of your all network adapters:
Get-NetIPConfiguration
Step 3: Now type and run the following command to change the static IP:
New-NetIPAddress -InterfaceIndex 3 -IPAddress x.x.x.x -PrefixLength 24 -DefaultGateway x.x.x.x
How to Change IP Address on Windows Automatically?
All the above-explained methods are manual methods to change the IP address of the network adapter. If you are not comfortable changing your IP using these methods, there are some other methods to change your IP address automatically such as:
- VPN
- Proxy Server
- Tor Browser
How to Automatically Change IP address Using VPN?
The most reliable and convenient method to change your IP address automatically is VPN (Virtual Private Network). It provides good security to your network by changing your geolocation. It is not limited to changing your IP address but also it provides many other features. It makes an encrypted connection between the network and the internet. You can use VPN in two ways:
- Windows Built-in VPN
- VPN Application
How to Automatically Change IP Address Using Windows Built-in VPN?
You can adapt the below-given steps to change your IP address automatically using a Windows built-in VPN.
Step 1: Open Windows settings from the Start Menu by clicking on it:
Step 2: On the left panel, click on the option Network & Internet:
Step 3: Click on the VPN option:
Step 4: Tap the button Add VPN appearing on the top:
Step 5: Enter the required information in the next appearing window and tap the Save button to save changes:
Step 6: Now connect your VPN by clicking on the Connect button appearing in front of the VPN option:
Step 7: Enter your Windows credentials (Username and Password) in the new appearing window and tap the OK button:
How to Automatically Change IP Address Using VPN Application?
This is an alternative method to change an IP address using a VPN application. There are many free and paid VPN tools, however, you can select the best VPN tool that satisfies your requirements. This method follows the given procedure to change your IP address.
Step 1: Select the most reliable and secure VPN such as Proton and download it from its official website:
Step 2: After downloading it, open the exe file and select the language by clicking on the OK button:
Step 3: Select the destination location on your device to install Proton and tap the Next button:
Step 4: Select a destination folder to save the Proton shortcut and click the Next button:
Step 5: Now Proton is ready to install. Confirm your entered details and click on the Install button:
Step 6: Now Proton is installing in the destination folder:
Step 7: Proton VPN has been successfully installed on your device. If you have already created an account for Proton VPN, use those credentials to sign in otherwise, Create an account to connect with Proton VPN:
Step 8: Now you are connected with Proton to change your IP address automatically by entering the location of the server of your own choice:
How to Automatically Change IP Address Using Proxy Server?
The proxy server acts as a VPN to change your IP address automatically but it does not encrypt your connection. In other words, the proxy server is not as secure as VPN. It behaves like a gateway between the network and the website. It provides a fake IP to perform any online activity by hiding your original IP address without any hassle. It works more slowly than a VPN.
You can change your IP address through the proxy server by addopting the following steps.
Step 1: Open the Windows Settings from the Start Menu:
Step 2: Click on the option Network & Internet appearing in the left panel:
Step 3: Select and click on the Option Proxy:
Step 4: Select and tap the option Set up appearing under the Manual proxy set up option:
Step 5: Triggle the button ON appearing under the option Use a proxy server. Enter your Proxy IP and port Number and hit the Save button to apply the proxy server:
How to Automatically Change IP Address Using Tor Browser?
Another third-party application to change your IP address is Tor Browse. It is also called an Onion Router. It is a free tool that establishes a most secure connection between the user and the Internet. It provides a fake IP while communicating with the internet and hides your original IP. It performs three encryptions to protect your connection and web activity. It also prevents targeted and tracking ads and clears all cookies and search history after closing a website.
The Tor browser is popular in the hackers world to perform anonymous activities. It works more slowly as it provides a long route to the packet by using multiple servers as relays to reach its destination.
To change your IP address using the Tor browser, proceed with the below-given steps.
Step 1: Visit Tor’s website and download it from there:
Step 2: Select a language and hit the button OK:
Step 3: Choose the destination folder where you want to install the Tor browser and hit the Install button:
Step 4: Wait for 2-3 minutes to complete the installations:
Step 5: After successful installations, click the Finish button:
Step 6: Now run the Tor browser and click on the Connect button to make a connection with it:
Step 7: Now you can search safely by hiding your IP address and search history using the Tor browser:
How to Resolve the Issues After Changing Your IP Address?
After changing your IP address manually on Windows, you can face connectivity issues for some websites such as:
You can fix this issue by following the given steps:
Step 1: You can diagnose this issue by clicking on the option “Running Windows Network Diagnostics”:
Step 2: As a result, you will find a problem DHCP is not enabled for “Wi-Fi”:
Step 3: After finding the problem, you can fix it by implementing steps 1-6 performed in the section How to Manually Change IP Address from Control Panel. Now select the option “Obtain an IP address automatically” and hit the OK button to save changes:
Step 4: Now you have successfully fixed this issue:
Conclusion
An IP address of a device represents its identity in the world of the internet. Using it, any online platform and ISP can track your device and online activities. To keep your information private, the most suggested method is to change your IP address after a short amount of time.
If your system has dynamic IP, you need not to be worried as its IP changes automatically while reconnecting to the network. But if your device has static IP, you need to change it manually or automatically. In the Windows operating system, you can change your IP manually from Windows Settings, Control Panel, Command Prompt, and Power Shell. You can also automatically change your IP on Windows using VPN (Windows built-in and online tool), proxy server, and Tor browser. This tutorial explained all these methods step by step to change the IP address on Windows. It also described the method to fix the connectivity issue after changing the IP address.