IP Address: How to Trace?
Your IP address is a way of locating your device on the big, busy internet, so if you want your traffic to get to the right place, your device needs to know where to send it.
You can use it to get a lot of information, including where your data is actually going.
In this article, we will show you how to track an IP address so that you can track its information to any specific location in the world.
Basic Fundamentals
Computers use an IP address to figure out where to send information. Most websites use a fixed IP address, which any device can ping or track.
Emails contain the IP address of the sender at the time the message was sent. You can find out the IP addresses of proxies and other servers through the “tracert” command.
Data can go through multiple “hops”, so you may need to track down an IP address to find out where your data is going.
When you have the specific address where your information is sent, you can find that location through an online database.
Tracking an IP address not only tells you where your data is going, but it also tells you the location of another internet user and also tells you if the data is going somewhere it shouldn’t.
Tracing the IP can even help you resolve bad connection issues with a host.
Tracing an IP will show most proxies, but keep in mind that even a free VPN can hide the IP address and host location.
What is IP?
IP is short for “Internet Protocol” and an IP address is a number assigned to your device. This allows any internet traffic to find your device and is a vital part of all online communications.
As long as the device is turned on, connected to yours, and doesn’t have a proxy server or VPN obscuring it, you can track any address.
If you want to find the IP of a device you are connected to, you can use the command “netstat -an” in the command prompt. This will give you a list of all devices that communicate with yours.
In the same way that you can track other people’s IP addresses, they can track the IP addresses of your devices.
Obviously, this is a privacy concern for some people; so if you want to hide your information, you should use a virtual private network (VPN). Read our guide to learn what someone can do with your IP address.
Tracing an unprotected IP address is as simple as a single line at the command prompt.
However, if someone has hidden or hidden the IP with a decent VPN service, you will get an error and not get any information. In that case, the only reasonable option you have is to wait until they turn off the VPN.
The best way to track IP addresses is to use the command prompt, as we demonstrate below. You can also track the IP address via email.
How to Trace IP Address Using Command Prompt
Tracking an address is a good way to find out where your data packets are going.
The tracking will give you the IP addresses of each device connected to your computer, which you can use to get information such as approximate longitude and latitude or the target’s internet provider.
The easiest way to do this is with the “tracert” command at the command prompt. You can also find the IP address of any website while you are there.
To open the command prompt, press the Windows key and the “R” button. Then type “cmd” in the text box that appears and click “OK.”
To ping the website you want to track, type “ping” followed by the website URL to get its IP in Command Prompt.
Typing the command “tracert” in the Command Prompt window allows you to see which locations your data is passing through.
To top it off, use sites like What Is My IP Address, which allows you to look up the approximate location of any IP address, so you can track it for free.
How to Trace IP Address By Email
If you want to track an individual’s IP address or just want to check where any questionable email comes from, you may want to track their email IP address.
Find the email you are going to track and open the drop-down menu. Typically this will be three dots at the top or bottom of the email.
Choose the option that says something like “open raw email” or “view original”. In the raw email data, there will be multiple IP addresses. You must check each of them.
Then you can put these addresses into any search tool to find the sender’s country.
Final Thoughts: How to Trace an IP
While you probably don’t need to track an IP address on a daily basis, it’s helpful to know the tools that other people can access.
It is very possible that without a good VPN, someone could get information such as a rough estimate of your location and internet service provider.
Tracking an address can also be a great tool if you’re concerned about your privacy online or are having trouble connecting to a website.
After all, being able to find out where your data is actually going is the first step to hiding your IP and controlling where your data goes in the future.
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