Networking · 9 min read · May 25, 2026 · IPLocatorTools

How to Find the IP Address of Any Website (5 Methods)

Finding the IP address behind a domain name is useful for network troubleshooting, security research, and understanding how websites are hosted. Here are 5 reliable methods.

Every website on the internet is hosted on a server that has an IP address. The domain name (like google.com) is just a human-readable label that maps to that IP address through DNS. Finding the actual IP address behind a domain is useful for network troubleshooting, understanding CDN configurations, security research, and verifying DNS changes have propagated.

Here are five reliable methods, from the simplest online tool to command-line options for each operating system.

Why Find a Website's IP Address?

Before the methods, it helps to understand when this is actually useful:

Verify DNS changes have propagated — After changing your DNS records (updating A records when migrating a website to a new server), checking the IP confirms whether the change has propagated to your location yet.

Diagnose connectivity issues — If a website is unreachable, pinging its IP directly (bypassing DNS) can tell you whether it is a DNS problem or a server problem.

Security research — Finding the real IP behind a CDN-protected site, investigating suspicious domains, or mapping the infrastructure of a network.

Block or whitelist specific IPs — Firewall rules often work with IP addresses rather than domain names. Finding the IP of a service lets you create precise firewall rules.

Understand hosting and CDN setup — The IP reveals which hosting provider, CDN, or cloud platform a website uses.

Check if multiple domains share a server — If two domains resolve to the same IP, they are likely on the same server (relevant for shared hosting environments).

Method 1: Use the DNS Lookup Tool (Easiest)

The simplest method requiring no technical knowledge is to use the DNS Lookup tool at IPLocatorTools.

Steps:

1. Go to iplocatortools.com/dns-lookup
2. Enter the domain name (e.g., google.com)
3. Select A as the record type (for IPv4) or AAAA for IPv6
4. Click Lookup DNS

The result shows the IP address(es) the domain resolves to, along with the TTL (how long the record is cached).

Why this is useful: The DNS lookup tool queries Cloudflare's DNS-over-HTTPS resolver, which typically has up-to-date records. If you are checking DNS propagation after a change, you can also use the Domain Tools section to check from different perspectives.

Method 2: Use Ping (Works on Windows, Mac, Linux)

The ping command is built into every operating system and shows the IP address of any domain it resolves.

On Windows:

1. Press Windows + R, type cmd, press Enter
2. Type: ping google.com
3. The first line shows the resolved IP: Pinging google.com [142.250.80.46]

On Mac or Linux:

1. Open Terminal
2. Type: ping -c 1 google.com
3. Look for the IP in brackets on the first line

Important note: Some websites block ICMP ping requests (the packets will time out), but the domain still resolves and the IP is shown in the first line before any timeout occurs. The IP appears regardless of whether ping packets get a response.

Complete guide to using ping →

Method 3: Use nslookup (Built into All Operating Systems)

nslookup is a dedicated DNS query tool built into Windows, Mac, and Linux. It provides more detailed DNS information than ping.

On Windows (Command Prompt):

nslookup google.com

Output:

Server:  dns.google
Address:  8.8.8.8

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    google.com
Addresses:  2607:f8b0:4004:c09::64
          142.250.80.46

The "Addresses" section shows all IP addresses the domain resolves to, including both IPv4 and IPv6 if available.

Query a specific DNS server (useful for testing propagation from different resolvers):

nslookup google.com 1.1.1.1

This queries Cloudflare's DNS (1.1.1.1) instead of your default resolver.

On Mac or Linux: Same syntax:

nslookup google.com
nslookup google.com 8.8.8.8

Method 4: Use dig (Mac and Linux)

dig (Domain Information Groper) is a more powerful DNS query tool available on Mac and Linux. It gives detailed output about DNS responses.

Basic A record lookup:

dig google.com A

Short output (just the IP):

dig +short google.com A

Query a specific DNS server:

dig @1.1.1.1 google.com A

Get all record types:

dig google.com ANY

dig is preferred by network administrators and developers because of its detailed output including response time, TTL values, and the specific DNS server that responded.

Installing dig on Windows: dig is not included by default on Windows. You can install it by downloading BIND tools from ISC, or use the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), or simply use nslookup which is built in.

Method 5: Use Domain Tools on IPLocatorTools

The Domain Tools section at IPLocatorTools includes a Domain to IP lookup that resolves any domain to its IP addresses and then displays full geolocation information about that IP.

Steps:

1. Go to iplocatortools.com/domain-tools
2. Select the "Domain to IP" tab
3. Enter the domain name
4. Click Lookup

This not only shows the IP address but also the hosting provider, geographic location, and ASN — useful for understanding where a website is physically hosted and by whom.

Understanding the Results: Multiple IP Addresses

Many large websites return multiple IP addresses for the same domain. When you look up google.com, you might get five or six different IPs. This is not an error — it is intentional load balancing.

DNS round-robin — The DNS server returns different IPs in different orders to distribute traffic across multiple servers.

Anycast routing — Large CDNs like Cloudflare and Google use anycast, where the same IP address is assigned to multiple servers in different locations worldwide. The network automatically routes your request to the nearest server. When you look up a Cloudflare-protected site, everyone worldwide may see the same IP, but they connect to different physical servers.

GeoDNS — Some services return different IPs based on the geographic origin of the DNS query. A user in the US might resolve example.com to a US server IP, while a user in Europe resolves it to a European server IP.

Why a Website's IP May Show the CDN, Not the Origin Server

Most major websites use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) like Cloudflare, Akamai, or Fastly. When you look up their domain, you get the CDN's IP address — not the IP of the actual origin server hosting the website's content.

The CDN acts as an intermediary: your browser connects to the nearest CDN edge server, which retrieves content from the origin server on your behalf. This provides:

• Faster load times (content served from geographically nearby servers)
• DDoS protection (the CDN absorbs attack traffic)
• Origin server privacy (the real server IP is hidden behind the CDN)

This means the IP you find for a CDN-protected website is a CDN IP, not the website's hosting server. Connecting directly to that IP will reach a CDN server but may not serve the website content (CDN servers use the domain name from the HTTP request header to determine which website to serve).

Checking IP Information After Finding It

Once you have a website's IP address, you can use IPLocatorTools to look it up and see:

• Which hosting provider or CDN it belongs to
• Geographic location of the server
• ASN (Autonomous System Number) of the network
• Whether it is listed on any blacklists

This gives you a complete picture of where a website is hosted and by whom.

Common Scenarios

"I changed my website's DNS to point to a new server — has it propagated?" Look up your domain's A record using the DNS Lookup tool or nslookup. If it shows your new server's IP, propagation has reached your local DNS resolver. Different parts of the world may still be seeing the old IP until their cached records expire.

"I want to access a website but it is blocked by domain name — can I use the IP directly?" Sometimes, but modern websites hosted on shared hosting or behind CDNs may not serve content when accessed by IP address directly. The server needs the domain name in the HTTP Host header to know which website to serve. Accessing by IP may return a default page or an error rather than the site you want.

"I think this domain might be a phishing site — how do I investigate?" Look up the IP using IPLocatorTools to see who is hosting it. Check it against blacklists with the IP Blacklist Checker. Check the domain registration date with the Domain Tools WHOIS lookup — very recently registered domains are often phishing sites.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a website have different IPs for different users? Yes, through GeoDNS. Large services serve different IP addresses to users in different geographic regions, routing them to the nearest server infrastructure. This is why running nslookup google.com from different countries can return different IPs.

Does the IP address change when a website moves servers? Yes. When a website moves to a new hosting provider, the administrator updates the DNS A record to point to the new server's IP. There is a propagation period (based on the TTL of the old record) during which some users still reach the old server while others reach the new one.

Can I host a website on my home IP address? Technically yes, if your ISP allows incoming connections on port 80/443. However, most residential ISPs block these ports, and home IP addresses frequently change (dynamic IPs). For reliable website hosting, a VPS or dedicated server with a static IP is the standard approach.

Why does pinging a website show a different IP than the one I expect? CDNs, load balancers, and GeoDNS all result in different IPs being returned depending on your location and the timing of the query. This is normal.

Related Tools

Use the DNS Lookup tool to query A, AAAA, MX, NS, TXT, and other record types for any domain. Use Domain Tools for WHOIS lookup, reverse DNS, and domain-to-IP resolution with full IP geolocation. Look up any IP address at IPLocatorTools to see hosting provider, location, and ASN details. Use the IP Blacklist Checker to check if a suspicious IP is flagged for malicious activity.