Top10VPN is editorially independent. Buying a VPN through our links supports our work.

How to Hide Your IP Address

Updated Sep 1, 2026

Simon Migliano

Simon Migliano is a recognized world expert in VPNs. He's tested hundreds of apps and his research has been featured on the BBC, The New York Times, and more. Read full bio

Fact-checked by JP Jones

How to hide your IP address with or without a VPN.

Guide Summary

The simplest way to hide your IP address is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network). It replaces your real IP with the VPN server’s address, while features like a kill switch and a no-logs policy ensure your identity and activity remain concealed. If you’d rather mask your IP address without a VPN, the Tor Browser is a reliable alternative, though I found its slow speeds incredibly frustrating.

Your IP address is the unique identifier assigned to your network by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). It allows web-connected devices, such as your smartphone and a web server, to find and communicate with each other.

Unfortunately, your IP address reveals a lot of personal information about you, too.

Websites can use it to record your browsing activity and identify your location. Along with cookies and other tracking methods, they can then use this information to monitor your activity, enforce geo-restrictions, or impose personal bans.

Learning how to hide your IP address is therefore essential for protecting your privacy and security online. Fortunately, there are dozens of tools and methods you can use, many of which are completely free.

The best methods, like a VPN, a web proxy, or the Tor Browser, hide your IP address and conceal your online activity by routing your traffic through another server.

Other solutions, like using a mobile hotspot or resetting your router, simply change the IP address that websites see without hiding what you’re doing, which is ideal for quickly getting around an IP-based ban.

Why Trust Us?

We’re fully independent and have been reviewing VPNs since 2016. Our ratings are based on our own testing results and are unaffected by financial incentives. Learn who we are and how we test VPNs.

VPNs Tested	59
Total Hours of Testing	30,000+
Combined Years of Experience	50+

How to Hide Your IP Address & Online Activity

Each of the methods below routes your connection through a separate server, so the websites you visit see that server’s IP address instead of yours.

A VPN and the Tor Browser go further and encrypt your traffic, which also hides your activity from your ISP. A web proxy masks your IP for a single browser window but doesn’t encrypt it, so it gives your activity less cover.

Here’s a quick table comparing these three methods:

1. Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN)

The safest and most effective way to hide your IP address is to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network).

VPNs are easy to use, available on almost any device, and are by far the best option if you’re trying to spoof your location.

Every top VPN service also comes equipped with a kill switch and built-in IP leak protection. Across the dozens of VPNs I’ve tested, these two features are what reliably stop your real IP address from being exposed if the connection ever drops.

Unlike most other methods, including Tor, the best VPN services allow you to select a server in a specific country, letting you choose exactly where you want your temporary IP address to be located instead of having one randomly assigned.

Some VPNs even offer dedicated IPs if you need your IP to stay the same rather than changing with every server connection.

Paid VPNs cost $3.87 per month on average, though there are also good and completely free VPNs available, such as Proton VPN.

How a VPN Hides Your IP Address

A VPN reroutes your internet traffic through a remote server, replacing your actual IP address with the server’s IP.

This process prevents websites and apps from identifying your true location and identity, making it difficult to enforce IP-based bans.

Using a VPN prevents the websites you visit from seeing your public IP address.

The target website only sees the VPN server’s IP address, which is typically shared among multiple users.

However, keep in mind that websites can still track your activity if you’re logged into a personal account, as is often the case with platforms like Google and Facebook.

Benefits & Drawbacks of a VPN

Pros and cons of using a VPN to hide your IP address.
Pros	Cons
Hides your IP address for all traffic	Good VPNs require a subscription fee
Reliably unblocks geo-restricted content	Requires installation of a VPN app
Offers different servers for multiple IP address locations	You’re trusting your VPN service with your online privacy and security
Securely encrypts your web traffic	Slows down your connection speed, though by a negligible amount
Often includes dedicated customer support	Some websites and services block VPN IP addresses
Can include additional measures to hide your location (e.g. GPS and DNS spoofing)	Your WiFi administrator can see that you’re connected to a VPN

How to Use a VPN to Hide Your IP Address

Choose and subscribe to a trustworthy VPN service.I recommend ExpressVPN, my top-rated VPN, though Proton VPN is an excellent free alternative if you’d rather not pay.
Download and install the VPN software onto your device.
Open the VPN app. You’ll typically have to log into your account the first time.
Choose a VPN server location. For the fastest speeds, choose the closest location.
Click Connect.
Browse the internet as usual. Your IP address will now be hidden.

How to Change Your IP Address with a VPN

How to hide your IP address with a VPN.

2. Use a Web Proxy

You can quickly hide your IP address for free by using a web proxy. You simply visit the web proxy in your browser, enter the URL of the website you want to browse, and click Connect.

The proxy then accesses the website on your behalf, thereby concealing your true IP address as you browse.

Hide.me’s web proxy service.

Web proxies are well-suited for quickly accessing censored information, reading articles on sites with metered paywalls, or unblocking websites on restricted networks, like in certain workplaces, where it’s often not possible to download a VPN app or use a proxy browser extension.

It’s important to note that a web proxy only masks the IP address for traffic from that specific browser window.

Your activity in other tabs and apps isn’t routed through the proxy server, leaving your IP address exposed.

How a Web Proxy Hides Your IP Address

Like VPNs, web proxies route your traffic through a remote server, hiding your IP address behind the proxy’s. This allows you to access geographically restricted content.

How a web proxy server works.

However, unlike VPNs, proxies have several limitations:

Free web proxies are often heavily congested, resulting in slow speeds and potential IP blocks by popular websites.
Web proxies typically don’t support multimedia content, making streaming difficult or impossible.
Most free proxies offer a limited selection of server locations, reducing the likelihood of finding an IP address in your desired location.

Though both alter your IP address, the crucial difference between web proxies and VPNs is that proxies generally do not encrypt your traffic.

As a result, your ISP or network administrator can still monitor your browsing activity.

Benefits & Drawbacks of a Web Proxy

Pros and cons of using a web proxy to hide your IP address.
Pros	Cons
Hides your IP address for traffic from that specific browser window	Even the best web proxies only offer a handful of server locations
Usually free and very easy to use	Your connection is usually not encrypted, leaving it open to interception
No software downloads or manual installation necessary	Any traffic outside of the browser window, including other tabs, isn’t protected
Bypasses many IP-based website blocks	Connection speeds are often slowed by server congestion and poor maintenance
Prevents advertising companies from tracking your activity across the web	Doesn’t work for video streaming (e.g. Netflix)
Most web proxies cache web pages to improve download speeds	Many web proxies inject ads into your session or keep records of your activity

How to Use a Web Proxy to Hide Your IP Address

Visit a safe web proxy in your browser. I recommend Hide.me, a free proxy site from a trustworthy VPN service.
Enter the URL of your desired website. Some web proxies also give you a choice of server location.
Click Connect and your chosen website should appear in the browser window. The website will see the IP address of the proxy server instead of your personal IP.

How to unblock websites using a Web Proxy

How to hide your IP address with a web proxy.

3. Use the Tor Browser

The Tor Network is one of the most effective ways to keep your IP address hidden and stay anonymous online.

Tor is a free and open-source system, available on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. There’s also a compatible third-party app for iOS, called the Onion Browser.

Bear in mind, however, that your IP address remains exposed whenever you use external apps like torrent clients or email services.

The Tor Browser is required to access the Tor Network.

The biggest frustration I had when using Tor was its incredibly slow speeds. Routing my traffic through multiple servers significantly increased loading times compared to a VPN.

On top of that, I had minimal control over the final server’s location, which made precise location spoofing incredibly difficult.

How Tor Hides Your IP Address

When you use Tor, your connection is wrapped in multiple layers of encryption and bounced through a global network of servers before it’s sent on to your target website.

From the website’s perspective, this makes it look as though your traffic requests are coming from the IP address of the final server in the network, thereby concealing your true location and identity.

How your data passes through the Tor network.

Tor’s decentralized network is its main strength. It lets you hide your IP address with unparalleled levels of anonymity because, unlike with a VPN or a proxy server, no single entity or individual knows both who you are and what you’re doing.

The servers you’re connected to also refresh every ten minutes, adding an extra layer of privacy and security. For this reason, Tor is popular among journalists, activists, and whistleblowers.

Benefits & Drawbacks of Tor

Pros and cons of using Tor to hide your IP address.
Pros	Cons
Effectively hides your IP address	Difficult to spoof your location precisely
Provides maximum anonymity online	Extremely slow connection speeds
Uses strong encryption methods	Not suitable for streaming or torrenting
Free to use	May attract unwanted attention due to Tor’s reputation
	Not officially available on iOS
	Using Tor is illegal in some countries

How to Use Tor to Hide Your IP Address

Download the Tor Browser. iOS users will need to use the Onion Browser site, everyone else should download from The Tor Project.
Select your operating system of choice and download the appropriate installation software. An .exe file should begin the download.
Open the file once it has downloaded and go through the installation process. You’ll need to click your language from the drop-down menu.
Double-click the Tor Browser icon on your desktop. Click Configure connection to choose your preferred settings.
Press Connect and start to browse freely. Your IP address will be hidden by the Tor network.

How to Hide Your IP Address With The Tor Browser

How to hide your IP address and unblock .onion websites using the Tor Browser.

How to Change Your IP Address without Hiding Your Activity

The next two methods change the IP address that websites see, but unlike a VPN or Tor, they don’t encrypt your traffic or hide what you do online. They’re the right choice when your only goal is a fresh IP, for example to shake off a personal, IP-based ban.

1. Use a Mobile Hotspot

A quick and easy way to simply change your IP address is to connect your device to a mobile data hotspot.

Setting up a mobile hotspot on your smartphone is free and very easy to do. You can then connect to it from any nearby device, including laptops, PCs, smart TVs, game consoles, or even from another smartphone.

Once connected, your device will use your smartphone’s IP address for all of its internet activity.

Setting up a mobile hotspot from your phone doesn’t require any additional software.

How Mobile Hotspot Changes Your IP Address

When you connect to a cellular network, you immediately change your IP address from the one your ISP assigned to your WiFi network to a new one your mobile carrier assigned to your smartphone.

Using a mobile data hotspot is therefore a great option for evading personal IP bans, because these bans typically target your WiFi’s IP address, not your smartphone’s.

NOTE: Connecting to a public WiFi network has the same effect and is a reliable, alternative option. Just be aware that using public WiFi comes with security risks.

Benefits & Drawbacks of Mobile Hotspot

Pros and cons of using a mobile hotspot to change your IP address.
Pros	Cons
Assigns you a completely new IP address instantly	Consumes your mobile data allowance, which can be costly
Easily evades personal IP bans	Won’t let you bypass geo-restrictions
Doesn’t require any downloads or new software	Doesn’t encrypt your traffic or hide your online activity
All traffic from your device is routed through your new IP	Swaps ISP surveillance for mobile carrier surveillance, so your activity can still be traced back to you

How to Use Mobile Hotspot to Change Your IP Address

Find your smartphone’s mobile hotspot settings. On iOS, go to Settings > Personal Hotspot. On Android, go to Settings > Connections > Mobile Hotspot & Tethering.
Turn the hotspot on and choose an appropriate network name and password. Make sure your smartphone isn’t connected to WiFi.
On your other device, open WiFi settings. This is the device you’re trying to change the IP address on.
Find your smartphone’s hotspot and connect to it. It should appear in the list of available WiFi networks.
Browse the internet. Your connection will now be associated with your smartphone’s IP address.

2. Reset Your Router

If you simply want a fresh IP address from your own ISP, you can often force a change by resetting your router.

Most home connections use a dynamic IP address, which your ISP reassigns from time to time. By unplugging your modem and router for a few minutes, you give your ISP the chance to hand your connection a different address when everything powers back on. Here’s how to do it:

Unplug your modem and router from the wall.
Wait roughly 5 to 10 minutes (leaving them off overnight is even more reliable).
Plug them back in and wait for the connection to re-establish.
Check your new IP address with an IP checker tool to confirm it has changed.

This trick is handy for getting around a temporary, IP-based block on your home connection. It does come with two important caveats, though.

First, it only works if your ISP issues dynamic addresses, since some assign a fixed, static IP that won’t change no matter how often you reboot.

Second, it does nothing to hide your location or encrypt your traffic. Your new IP will still point to the same ISP and general area, so for genuine privacy you’ll want one of the methods in the previous section (a VPN, web proxy, or Tor).

How to Check Your IP Address is Hidden

Here’s how to check if your IP address is hidden:

Find your original IP address. Before attempting to hide it, first check what your current IP address is using our in-house IP checker tool.
Connect to a VPN server, proxy, Tor, or a mobile hotspot. Follow my earlier instructions on how to do this.
Check your IP address again. Use the IP checker tool again to verify that your real public IP address from step 1 is no longer visible.

Why You Should Hide Your IP Address

Your IP address can reveal personal information, allowing websites to track your browsing activity and determine your approximate location.

Given that your IP address can be used to track your activity, reveal your location, or restrict your access to content, it’s crucial to know how to protect it.

I tested Proton VPN to confirm it didn’t leak my real IP address.

This is one of the primary reasons people use VPNs. Below are eight key reasons why it’s often a good idea to hide your IP address:

1. Hide Your Physical Location

Your IP address can reveal your country, city, and even your ZIP code to anyone with access to a simple IP lookup tool. Spoofing your IP address will hide this information, preventing third parties from tracking your physical location.

2. Hide Your Identity from Websites

When you visit a website, it will usually log your IP address and location information. This can be used to identify you in the future. It might also be used to impose a personal site ban against you.

3. Evade Online Surveillance

Governments, advertising networks, and cybercriminals use your IP address to collate and track your activity across the web. They can use this to surveil you and build up personalized profiles about your identity and browsing habits.

4. Access Geo-Restricted Content

Streaming services have different content libraries depending on where you are located in the world. By hiding your real IP address, you can spoof your location and access new streaming content.

5. Protect Yourself against Hackers

Hackers can use your IP address to scan your device for open ports. If open inbound ports are detected, your device may be vulnerable to malicious attacks. They can also use your IP address to target you with Denial of Service (DoS) attacks.

6. Avoid Targeted Ads

Advertising companies can send you personalized ads based on the geolocation and activity profile associated with your IP address. Sites might also use this information to change the product prices you see.

7. Prevent Doxing Attacks

A doxing attack occurs when someone exposes your sensitive information online, which may include your physical address. These attacks usually begin with your IP address.

8. Safeguard Your P2P Activity

Copyright trolls and hackers exploit the visibility of your IP address within torrent swarms to carry out legal action and cyberattacks against you. It’s always safest to hide your IP address before torrenting.

FAQs

Does Incognito Mode Hide Your IP Address?

No, Incognito mode on Google Chrome does not hide your IP address.

The only advantage of Incognito Mode or Firefox’s Private Browsing Mode is that the websites you visit aren’t saved in your browsing history.

ISPs, authorities, and the websites you visit are still completely free to track and record your browsing activity. If you’re on someone else’s WiFi network, your incognito history may be visible to the WiFi admin, too.

What’s the Best Way to Hide Your IP Address?

The best way to hide your IP address is to use a VPN. VPNs are by far the most effective and most reliable option for IP hiding on desktop PCs, smartphones, laptops, streaming devices, and routers.

The best VPNs offer a wide selection of server locations, allowing you to change your virtual location and unblock region-restricted content with ease. They also secure your connection with robust encryption, so you can hide from ISP surveillance and stay secure online.

Is Hiding Your IP Address Illegal?

No, hiding your IP address isn’t illegal, but a small handful of countries do outlaw the use of VPNs and the Tor Network.

For example, VPNs are illegal in Belarus, Iraq, North Korea, and Turkmenistan. Their use is restricted in China, Iran, Oman, Russia, Turkey, and the UAE, too.