Quick Links

Key Takeaways

  • Your router's IP address is essential for accessing its setup page and configuring its settings. It serves as the default gateway for all devices on your network.
  • On Windows, you can find your router's IP address through the Command Prompt, Control Panel, or the Settings app. The IP address is listed as the "Default Gateway."
  • Similarly, on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome OS, and Linux, you can access your router's IP address through their respective settings menus under network or internet options. Look for terms like "Router" or "Gateway."

If you've ever needed to access your router's setup page to make some configuration changes, you know you need your router's IP address to gain access. If you've forgotten what that IP address is, here's how to find it on just about every platform.

Why Your Router's IP is Useful

In the networking world, a default gateway is an IP address that traffic gets sent to when it's bound for a destination outside the current network. On most home and small business networks — where you have a single router and several connected devices — the router's private IP address is the default gateway. All devices on your network send traffic to that IP address by default.

Windows devices call this the "default gateway" in the interface. Macs, iPhones, and iPads simply call it "router" in their interfaces. And on other devices, you may just see "gateway" or something similar.

The IP address for your router is important because that's the address you'll have to type into your browser in order to locate your router's web-based setup page where you can configure its settings.

Find Your Router's IP Address on Windows

There are more ways to find your IP Address on Windows than you'll ever likely need. Here are three of the most useful.

Find Your Router's IP Address with Command Prompt, PowerShell, or Windows Terminal

Your router's IP address is the "Default Gateway" in your network connection information on Windows. If you prefer using the Command Prompt, you can find the default gateway for any connection quickly by using the ipconfig command. Open up Command Prompt, PowerShell, or the Windows Terminal, then run:

ipconfig

You'll see something like this:

Locate the Default Gateway by using the "ipconfig" command in the command prompt

Find Your Router's IP through the Control Panel

If you prefer, you can also find the default gateway address through the graphic interface. First, open the Control Panel. Just click Start, type "control panel," and then hit Enter.

Click on the Start button, then search for "Control Panel."

In the "Network and Internet" category, click the "View network status and tasks" link.

Select the "View network status and tasks" link found under the "Network and Internet" heading

In the upper right corner of the "Network and Sharing Center" window, click the name of your network connection.

Select your internet connection type

In the "Ethernet Status" window, click the "Details" button.

Click the "Details" button in the Ethernet Status window

In the "Network Connection Details" window, you'll find your router's IP address listed as "IPv4 Default Gateway."

Locate the "IPv4 Default Gateway" listing

Use the Settings App to Find Your Router's IP on Windows

Press Windows+i (or launch the Settings app any other way you like), then navigate to Network & Internet > View Hardware and Connection Properties.

Click "View hardware and connection properties."

Scroll down until you "Default Gateway" and make note of the number. You may see both an IPv4 and IPv6 address.

You may have multiple adapters listed depending on your PC's hardware. The good news is that the gateway address will be the same for both your Wi-Fi and Ethernet adapters, since they're connecting to the same gateway — your router. If you have a virtual adapter from a VPN, you may see a different number, and you should ignore it unless that is specifically what you're looking for.

The Find Your Router's IP Address on Mac

The easiest way to find your router's IP address on a Mac is through the user interface. Click the "Apple" menu on the bar at the top of your screen and select

Click the Apple icon, then click "System Settings."

Scroll down until you see the section related to your network connections — Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Ethernet (Wired), VPNs, things like that. Select the option you use to connect to the internet (Wi-Fi in our example), then click "Details" next to the network name.

Click on "Wi-Fi" or "Ethernet," then click "Details" next to your network.

Your router's IP address is displayed on the first page after you click on "Details" in the "Router" field.

Your router's IP is displayed on the first page after you click "Details"

More detailed information, including your router's IP address, is also accessible in the TCP/IP tab, though it isn't necesssary if you just want to find your gateway.

Find Your Router's IP Address on iPhone and iPad

On an iPhone or iPad, just head to Settings > Wi-Fi, and then tap the name of your Wi-Fi network. You'll see the router's IP address listed as "Router".

Your router's IP is displayed in the "Router" field.

Find Your Router's IP Address on Android

To view your router's IP address on Android, open up the Settings app, then navigate to Network & Internet > Internet.

Tap the "Internet" button.

Tap the gear icon next to your Wi-Fi network's name.

Tap the gear icon next to your Wi-Fi Network's name.

Then scroll down until you see a section titled "Network Details." Your router's IP is displayed under the "Gateway" label.

The Android OS refers to your router's IP as the "Gateway."

Find Your Router's IP Address on Chrome OS

If you're using a Chromebook, search for "Settings" in the app launch, then navigate to the "Network" tab.

Open the Settings app, then click on the "Network" tab.

Select "Wi-Fi," then click the network you're currently attached to.

Click the Wi-Fi network you're currently attached to.

Once you're there, click the "Network" button and scroll until you see the "Gateway" label.

The Gateway IP on an device running ChromeOS.

Find Your Router's IP Address on Linux

Most Linux desktops have a network icon in their notification area. Typically, you can click this network icon and then click the gear icon to access the Settings menu. You may also see "Connection Information" — or something similar

Click the menu in the top-right corner, then click the gear icon.

Make sure you're on the Network tab, then click the gear icon again.

Make sure the Network tab is selected, then click the gear icon.

Look for the IP address displayed next to "Default Route" or "Gateway." That is the router's IP address.

You may have noticed that our default gateway — 10.0.2.2 — is a little different from most that you'll see. That is just because we're running Ubuntu in a virtual machine.

The address displayed next to "Default Route" is the router's IP address.

How to Find Your Router's IP via the Terminal on Linux

The previous example was in Ubuntu, and you may find there are differences in the user interface between different Linux distros. The Terminal offers more universal options.

If you want to find your router's IP in any Linux distro via the Terminal, just run:

route -n 

Then look for the IP next to "0.0.0.0" — that is your router's IP address.

The router IP displayed via a command-line interface on Linux.

And now that you know generally what to look for and where, you should also be able to find your router's IP address without too much trouble on devices we haven't covered, too. Any device that allows you to connect to the network and view information about the network connection should display it. Just look under the network connection settings for anything listing a gateway, router, or default route address.

Since you're already finding IP addresses, you can also find the IP address of your Windows 10 or Windows 11 PC, including from the Command Prompt, or your iPhone, Roku, printer, Wi-Fi router, or other device. If that wasn't enough, you can find out what is listening on a TCP/IP port or set up a static TCP/IP route on Windows.