How to check your IP address and network settings in Windows
When reporting a problem to IT, it helps to give more than "the internet doesn't work" — your IP address, gateway, and DNS server too. It takes one command and genuinely speeds up diagnosis.
Two ways — through Settings or the command line
Windows lets you check the same information two ways: clicking through Settings (slower, but no typing commands) or a single command in Command Prompt (faster, and shows more at once). Neither method requires administrator rights.
Method 1: through Windows Settings
Open Settings → Network & internet
Click Start, choose Settings, then the "Network & internet" section. You'll see your active connection there — WiFi or Ethernet (cable).
Open the active network's properties
Click the name of the connected WiFi network (or Ethernet), then "Properties." Toward the bottom of the list you'll see the IPv4 address, default gateway, and DNS servers.
Method 2: through the command line (faster, more data)
Open Command Prompt
Press the Windows key, type "cmd" or "Command Prompt," and press Enter. You don't need to run it as administrator — checking your IP address only requires standard permissions.
Type ipconfig /all
Type ipconfig /all and press Enter. You'll get a full listing for every network adapter — WiFi and Ethernet listed separately.
Find the adapter that's actually in use
You want the section for your active connection (for WiFi, that's usually "Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi") — other adapters may be unused and show blank data, which is normal.
What each field actually means
- IPv4 address — your computer's unique "home address" on the local network. If it starts with "169.254.", your computer never got an address from the router — that's the problem to report right there.
- Subnet mask — defines which IP addresses are "neighbors" on the same local network.
- Default gateway — your router's IP address. All traffic leaving the local network to the internet goes through it.
- DNS servers — the services that translate website names into server IP addresses.
Why it's worth knowing this before reporting an outage
Including the ipconfig /all output in your report immediately shows whether your computer got a valid address at all, whether the problem is on one device or the whole network, and lets remote diagnosis start without extra back-and-forth — often shaving several minutes off the fix.
Want us to check it for you?
Report the issue — it goes straight into our ticketing system, and our AI assistant assesses priority right away.