Your IP address reveals your approximate location, your ISP, and can be used to track your browsing activity across websites. There are many legitimate reasons you might want to hide it:
A VPN is the most popular and practical way to hide your IP. It creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and a VPN server. All your internet traffic goes through this tunnel, and websites see the VPN server's IP instead of yours.
Pros: Easy to use, encrypts all traffic, fast speeds, many server locations
Cons: Costs money (free VPNs often sell your data), requires trust in the VPN provider
Best for: Daily browsing, streaming, general privacy
Tor routes your traffic through multiple volunteer-operated nodes around the world, encrypting it at each step. It's the gold standard for anonymity.
Pros: Free, extremely high anonymity, no single point of trust
Cons: Very slow, some websites block Tor, not suitable for streaming or large downloads
Best for: Maximum anonymity, sensitive research, whistleblowing
A proxy acts as an intermediary between you and the internet. Your requests go to the proxy first, which then forwards them to the destination using its own IP address.
Pros: Simple to set up, can be free, works for specific apps
Cons: Usually doesn't encrypt traffic, slower, less reliable than VPNs
Best for: Quick IP changes, bypassing simple geo-blocks
Switching from Wi-Fi to mobile data gives you a different IP address from your mobile carrier. It's the simplest "change" though not true hiding.
Pros: Instant, no software needed
Cons: Still traceable to you via your carrier, uses mobile data
Best for: Quick IP change in a pinch
Connecting to a café or library Wi-Fi gives you that network's IP address. However, this comes with its own security risks — always use a VPN on public Wi-Fi.
After enabling your VPN, Tor, or proxy, visit MyIP to confirm your IP has changed. You should see a different IP address and location than your real one. If not, your protection isn't working correctly.
Verify your VPN or proxy is working.