Windows – Fastest method to determine the PC’s IP address (Windows)

clipboardip addresswindows

This may seem trivial but I'm looking for the quickest method to determine my PC's IP address within my network.

  • This changes regularly as I connect from one network to the next via DHCP
  • The connection changes from wired to wireless
  • Windows 7 PC (although ideally the perfect solution would work on all versions of Windows)
  • Various adapters installed (e.g. VMWare, Tunnels, etc.)

I need to know this as I often run a local web server where I need to access files over the local network… and since it changes regularly I want the fastest method to retrieve the address.

My current flow is:

  1. WindowsKey + R to open the Run dialog
  2. "cmd" + Enter to open a command prompt
  3. "ipconfig" + Enter to get the diagnostics info
  4. Scroll to or resize the window so that I can see the line in my Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection for my ipv4 Address
  5. Remember it to type elsewhere… or
  6. Right click > select Mark > highlight the address > press Enter to copy it to the clipboard

This wasn't so bad with Windows XP when I had no additional adapters, tunnels, wireless connections etc. but the amount of data returned with this command makes it hard to pluck out.

Surely there must be a better, faster way! (bonus points if adding it to the clipboard is easily accomplished)

Best Answer

Type this into a .bat file. You can then create a shortcut to it and place it in the taskbar, start menu, or assign a hotkey.

ipconfig | find "IPv4" | find /V "192.168." | CLIP

What it does: First find returns all the lines that contain IPv4. If you have multiple network adapters, from example from VMWare, you may want to exclude them. That's where find /V comes into play, it finds all lines that do not contain given string. For example, that's what I get after the first find:

>ipconfig | find "IPv4"
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 134.32.72.86
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.229.1
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.230.1

Finally, CLIP copies the output to the clipboard, so you will be left with

>    IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 134.32.72.86

If that's not enough maybe someone else can refine it with fancy search patterns.

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