Guide

How to change your IP address

You have two IP addresses and people usually mean the second one. Changing your private address does nothing anyone outside your home can see. Changing your public address is the one that matters — and there are six ways to do it.

Get a new IP in seconds

6 methods How long each lasts What sites still see

First

You have two IP addresses

Your private IP is handed out by your router and usually looks like 192.168.1.x or 10.0.0.x. It identifies your laptop to your own network and nothing more. It never leaves your house, no website has ever seen it, and changing it accomplishes exactly nothing for privacy.

Your public IP is the address your internet provider assigns to your connection. This is what every site you visit reads, what your country and city are inferred from, and what appears in server logs. When someone says “change your IP”, this is the one they mean.

You can see yours on what is my IP — along with the location, provider and browser details that get sent alongside it.

Methods

Six ways, and what each costs you

Method	New IP	Choose country	Encrypted	Lasts
Reboot the router	Maybe	No	No	Until ISP renews
Release / renew DHCP	No	No	No	Local only
Switch to mobile data	Yes	No	No	Per session
Web proxy	Yes	Limited	No	Per session
Tor	Yes	No	Yes	Per circuit
VPN	Yes	Yes	Yes	Until you switch

In detail

What actually happens in each case

Rebooting your router

Works only if your provider hands out dynamic addresses and your lease has expired. Many ISPs will give you back the same address for weeks. Unplugging for several hours improves the odds. You get no choice about what you receive.

Release and renew

The classic ipconfig /release advice changes your private address, not your public one. It resolves local network conflicts and nothing else. If a site has blocked you, this will not help.

Mobile data or hotspot

A genuinely different public address, because you are on a different network. It is your carrier’s address, tied to your phone account, in the same country. Fine for testing whether a block is IP-based; not privacy.

A web proxy

Sites see the proxy’s address instead of yours. Nothing is encrypted, the operator reads everything, and it only covers pages loaded through that one tab. Commercial services detect and block the well-known ones.

Tor

Routes through three volunteer relays and gives you the exit node’s address, which changes periodically. Strong anonymity, free, and slow. A great many sites refuse Tor exit nodes outright.

A VPN

Replaces your public address with the server’s and encrypts everything on the way there. You pick the country, you keep the address until you disconnect, and it covers every app on the device rather than one browser tab.

Changing your IP is not the same as being anonymous. Your browser also hands over screen size, fonts, time zone, language, GPU and dozens of other details that combine into a stable fingerprint. A fresh IP with an unchanged fingerprint is still recognisable. Our browser fingerprint test shows how identifiable yours is.

With a VPN

Changing it in about a minute

Note your current address

Open what is my IP and note the address and country so you have something to compare against.

Install and sign in

LunoVPN runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and TV. Signing up needs no name or email address — see anonymous signup.

Pick a country

Choose a location from the server list. The address you receive belongs to that country, which is what geo-restricted sites read.

Confirm the change

Reload the IP checker. A different address and country means the tunnel is carrying your traffic.

Check for leaks

Run the DNS leak test. If your lookups still go to your provider’s resolver, part of your traffic is bypassing the tunnel and your real location is still visible.

FAQ

Common questions

Does restarting my router change my IP address?

Sometimes. It depends on whether your provider issues dynamic addresses and whether your DHCP lease has expired. Many providers return the same address for weeks regardless of how often you reboot. Leaving the router unplugged for several hours raises the chance, but nothing guarantees it and you cannot choose what you get.

Is changing your IP address legal?

Yes, in almost every country. Using a VPN, a proxy, mobile data or Tor to present a different address is ordinary, legal activity. A small number of countries restrict or license VPN use, and separately, changing your IP does not exempt you from a site’s terms of service or from the law where you are.

Will a new IP address stop websites tracking me?

No, on its own. Cookies, browser fingerprinting and any account you are logged into all survive an IP change. A new address removes one signal out of many. Clearing cookies, using a private window and reducing fingerprint surface all matter alongside it.

How often does my IP address change by itself?

Residential connections are typically dynamic and rotate every few days to a few months, often after a router restart or a provider maintenance window. Business connections frequently have a static address that never changes. Mobile connections change addresses very often, sometimes several times a day.

Can I choose which country my new IP is in?

Only with a VPN or certain paid proxies. Rebooting your router, releasing your DHCP lease or switching to mobile data all keep you inside the same country, because they all still use a local provider. A VPN lets you pick the exit country from its server list.

A different address, in one click

Pick a country, get its address, keep it until you change your mind. No name or email required to start.

Get LunoVPN See server locations