How to Refresh Your IP Address on a Windows Computer

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How to change your IP address and resolve network issues

Co-authored by Yaffet Meshesha and Travis Boylls

Last Updated: October 4, 2024 Fact Checked

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Using the Command Prompt

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Rebooting your Home Network

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Expert Q&A

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Tips

Refreshing the IP address can resolve network errors and connection problems when switching to a new router or network. If refreshing the IP address isn't enough to fix a connection issue, you can also perform a network reboot on your home network. This wikiHow article teaches you how to update your Windows computer's local (IP) address, with expert advice from computer specialist Yaffet Meshesha.

Quick Steps

Open Command Prompt.
Type ipconfig /release and press Enter.
Type ipconfig /renew and press Enter.
Type ipconfig and press Enter to check your current IP address.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using the Command Prompt

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1
Open the Command Prompt
. To open Command Prompt:
- Click the Windows Start menu.
- Type cmd.
- Click Command Prompt
2
Type in ipconfig and press ↵ Enter. This command finds and displays your computer's IP information. You should see some information appear in the Command Prompt window after a brief delay.
- If you're connected to the internet at home, IP addresses are usually automatically assigned by the ISP's DHCP server. Resetting your IP address will not always give you a brand-new public IP address that's visible to the world. However, this method should give you a new back-end (private) IP address on your local network, depending on your home router configuration.
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3
Review your current IP address. To the right of the "IPv4 Address" heading, you should see a number (e.g., "123.456.7.8"). This is your computer's current IP address; the final number in the address represents the spot on the network that the computer occupies.
- Keep in mind that this is your computer's private IP address—other people on the internet cannot see this IP address. This IP address identifies your computer on your local network.
- When you refresh your computer's IP address, only the last number is liable to change—and even then, the number might not change.
Computer specialist Yaffet Meshesha explains, "to get a new IP address, you can use a method called release and renew".^{[1]
X
Expert Source

Yaffet Meshesha
Computer Specialist

Expert Interview. 22 September 2020.} After typing this command, your current IP address will be released.
To maximize the chance of your router assigning you a different IP address, wait for at least five minutes before continuing on to renew your computer's IP address.
6
Type in ipconfig /renew and ↵ Enter. After a few seconds, Meshesha tells us, a new IP address will be assigned and your connection, to the internet will be restored.^{[2]
X
Expert Source

Yaffet Meshesha
Computer Specialist

Expert Interview. 22 September 2020.}
- Don't panic if your IP address is the same as it was before—that just means that the best possible IP address for your computer was determined to be the one that you had before.
- You can exit Command Prompt at this point. You can do so by typing "exit" and pressing Enter, or by clicking the "X" icon.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Rebooting your Home Network

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If you want to get a new public IP address from your ISP, or you're having a tough time getting a new local IP address, you may be able to do so by disconnecting your modem and router from the internet for several minutes.
Be sure to completely disconnect the power cable from both the modem and the router if they are separate devices.
This will often be enough time for the server that assigns you an IP address automatically to choose a new one from the pool.
4
Plug your modem and/or router back in. It may take a several minutes for your modem and router to reconnect to the internet, so be patient.^{[3]
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Research source}
- If you have a modem and a router, plug your modem back in first and wait about 3 minutes, and then plug your router in.
Once you've rebooted your computer, you can reconnect to Wi-Fi. If you have a wired connection, your computer should reconnect to the network automatically. Once you connect, your computer should be assigned a new local IP address, and possibly (depending on your ISP), a new public IP address.

Expert Q&A

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Question

How do I refresh my IP address on a Windows computer?

Yaffet Meshesha
Computer Specialist
Yaffet Meshesha is a Computer Specialist and the Founder of Techy, a full-service computer pickup, repair, and delivery service. With over eight years of experience, Yaffet specializes in computer repairs and technical support. Techy has been featured on TechCrunch and Time.

Yaffet Meshesha

Computer Specialist

Expert Answer

Open Command Prompt and type "ipconfig /release," then press Enter. This will release the current IP address so that a new IP address can be assigned. Next, type in "ipconfig /renew" and press Enter A new IP address will then be assigned.

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Question

When I try to add IP address to ipconfig, the message "no adapter is in the state permissible for this operation" comes up. What do I do?

Daniele Caruana

Community Answer

Open up cmd. Write netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt. Write ipconfig /renew. Check if you see the error.

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Tips

In most cases, these methods will only change your local IP address. The rest of the world cannot see your local address, as it is assigned by your router or gateway. Changing the address that the outside world sees requires a specific configuration from your ISP. If you are trying to access a blocked website, you’ll need to use a VPN or a proxy server.

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Some ISPs assign static IP addresses based on your MAC address. If you want to change your static IP address, you’ll need to contact your ISP.

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Refreshing your IP address won't always fix a network problem. If you're still encountering network issues, you should contact your ISP.

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