How to Find the IP Address of a Website
Use command-line tools and online services to look up the IP address behind a domain name, and understand what those results mean.
DNS Lookup Basics
Domain names exist to make internet addresses easier for humans to remember. Behind the scenes, the Domain Name System (DNS) translates names like example.com into IP addresses that computers use.
Finding a website’s IP address simply means performing a DNS lookup to see which address the domain currently resolves to.
Using Command-Line Tools to Find IPs
On Windows, the nslookup and ping commands can show the IP associated with a hostname. For example, nslookup example.com returns DNS records, while ping example.com shows the resolved IP address along with latency measurements.
On macOS and Linux, tools such as dig, host, and ping provide similar functionality. These commands are especially useful when troubleshooting DNS or connectivity problems.
Run in Command Prompt or PowerShell.
nslookup example.com
ping example.com
Install dig via tools like BIND or use the built-in host.
host example.com
dig example.com
CDNs, Load Balancers, and Multiple IPs
Large sites often use content delivery networks (CDNs) or load balancers, which can cause a domain to resolve to different IPs based on your location, DNS resolver, or even time of day. This is normal and helps distribute traffic and improve performance.
Keep in mind that IP information alone rarely reveals who owns a website’s content; it typically identifies hosting providers or CDN nodes rather than individual site operators.