On Wi-Fi, your Android phone has two IP addresses at once: a local IP from your router and a public IP that the rest of the internet sees. Most people who want a new IP mean the public one, and the methods for the two are different.
Below are six ways to change your IP address on Android, which IP each one changes, and how to check that it worked. Menu paths are from a Google Pixel and a Samsung Galaxy. Other Android phones have similar menus.
Public IP vs. Local IP: Which One Do You Need to Change?
Your public IP is the address your internet provider or mobile carrier assigns to your connection. Websites use it to estimate where you are, often down to the city, and to link your visits together. To show sites a different address on demand, use a VPN: it routes your connection through one of its servers, and websites read the server’s address rather than yours.
You don’t need to pay for this. A free VPN App like X-VPN covers it on Android: it needs no account, it has no data cap, and the free version lets you pick from 26 locations in 15 countries. It also encrypts the link between your phone and the server with AES-256-GCM, which is useful on public Wi-Fi in airports and coffee shops.
Your local IP only matters inside the Wi-Fi network you’re on. Your router gives each device an address like 192.168.1.20, and no website sees it. You’d change it to fix an IP conflict between two devices or to give your phone a fixed address for router rules such as port forwarding.
How to Check Your Android IP Address Before You Start
Note both addresses now so you have something to compare against:
• Local IP on a Pixel: Go to Settings > Network & internet > Internet. Tap the gear icon next to your Wi-Fi network and look for IP address under Network details.
• Local IP on a Samsung Galaxy: Go to Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi. Tap the gear icon next to your network, tap View more, and scroll to IP address.
• Public IP: Open iplocation.net’s What Is My IP page in Chrome. It shows your public IP, provider and approximate location. Check it on Wi-Fi and again on mobile data, since each network gives your phone a different public IP.
6 Ways to Change Your IP Address on Android
Five of these methods change your public IP. Method 4 changes your local IP only.
| Method | Which IP Changes | Network | Encrypts Traffic |
| Toggle airplane mode | Public | Mobile data | No |
| Switch networks | Public | Any | No |
| Restart your router | Public | Home internet | No |
| Reset or set a local IP | Local | Wi-Fi | No |
| Use a VPN app | Public | Any | Yes |
| Use a proxy or Tor Browser | Public, in one browser or app | Proxy: Wi-Fi only. Tor: any | Tor: yes. Free proxies: rarely |
1. Toggle Airplane Mode on Mobile Data
Changes: Your public IP on mobile data.
Switching airplane mode on, then off, makes your phone leave your carrier’s network and rejoin it. The carrier often assigns a fresh public IP when that happens.
Step 1. Turn off Wi-Fi so your phone uses mobile data.
Step 2. Swipe down from the top of the screen and tap Airplane mode.
Step 3. Wait 10 seconds, tap it again, and check your public IP.
Most carriers share each public IPv4 address among many customers through carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT). If a site flagged your old IP for unusual traffic, it can flag the new one too, because other phones use it.
2. Switch to a Different Network
Changes: Your public IP.
Each network you join comes with a separate public IP, so moving from home Wi-Fi to mobile data, or to another Wi-Fi network, changes yours immediately.
Option 1. Swipe down and turn off Wi-Fi to move to mobile data.
Option 2. Connect to another Wi-Fi network, such as a hotspot from a second phone.
It’s the quickest method, but the new IP still points to your area.
3. Restart Your Router
Changes: Your home internet’s public IP, if your provider uses dynamic IPs.
Your router holds one public IP for your whole home network. When it reconnects, a provider that assigns dynamic IPs can hand it a different one.
Step 1. Unplug your router, and your modem if it’s a separate box.
Step 2. Leave them off for at least 10 minutes. Many providers return the same IP if the router comes back quickly.
Step 3. Plug them back in and, once Wi-Fi is back, check your public IP on your phone.
If the IP stays the same after two or three tries, your provider likely uses a static IP. Its support team can assign a new one.
4. Reset Your Local IP or Set a Static One
Changes: Your local IP only. Websites still see the same public IP.
Android has no button to renew a local IP. The quickest reset is to forget the Wi-Fi network and rejoin it, though many routers hand the same device the same address. To pick the address yourself, set a static IP:
Step 1. On a Pixel, go to Settings > Network & internet > Internet, tap your network, then tap Edit > Advanced options. On a Samsung, tap the gear icon next to your network and tap View more.
Step 2. Change IP settings from DHCP to Static.
Step 3. Enter an unused address in your router’s range, such as 192.168.1.150, plus the gateway, network prefix length and DNS. Tap Save.
If another device already has that address, both devices run into connection problems. Set IP settings back to DHCP to undo it.
5. Use a VPN App
Changes: Your public IP on Wi-Fi and mobile data, for every app on the phone.
A VPN app sends your phone’s traffic to a VPN server you select. Websites see that server’s IP and location, and your provider only sees an encrypted connection to the server. It’s the one method in this list that lets you pick the location and encrypts your traffic.
Step 1. Download X-VPN from Google Play. It runs on Android 9.0 and later.
Step 2. Open the app. The free version doesn’t ask you to create an account.
Step 3. Choose one of the free locations, or let the app pick a server, and connect.
A key icon appears in the status bar while the VPN is on, and your public IP now belongs to the VPN server. The free version shows ads, and the paid plan opens up 10,000+ servers across 250+ locations in 80+ countries.
6. Use a Proxy or Tor Browser
Changes: Your public IP, but only in the browser or app that uses it.
A proxy server relays your requests, so sites see its IP. Android has a proxy setting for each Wi-Fi network: on a Pixel, open your network in Settings > Network & internet > Internet and tap Edit > Advanced options > Proxy > Manual; on a Samsung, go to View more > Proxy. Type in the proxy’s hostname and port. Chrome uses this setting, many apps don’t, and free proxies rarely encrypt your traffic.
Tor Browser for Android, which the Tor Project publishes on Google Play, passes your browsing through a chain of three volunteer relays, and websites only see the exit relay’s address. Pages load slowly, and some sites reject Tor exit addresses. For other apps, Orbot works as a Tor VPN.
Settings That Seem to Change Your IP but Don’t
These three sound related, but none of them changes the IP websites see:
• Private DNS encrypts your DNS lookups. On a Pixel, it’s in Settings > Network & internet. On a Samsung, it’s in Settings > Connections > More connection settings.
• Randomized MAC address gives your phone a different hardware ID on each Wi-Fi network. Switching between a randomized and a device MAC can get you a new local IP, because the router sees a new device. Your public IP stays put.
• Incognito tabs in Chrome stop your history and cookies from being saved on the phone. Sites still see your public IP.
How to Confirm Your IP Address Changed
Check your public IP before and after on the same network, and look at three things:
• The address. Refresh What Is My IP and compare it with the one you noted.
• IPv4 and IPv6. Many carriers give phones an IPv6 address too, and sites that support IPv6 often connect over it. If both show up, check both.
• The location. Geolocation databases update on their own schedules, so a new IP can show an old city for a while. iplocation.net’s IP Lookup puts results from 11 geolocation providers side by side, so you can see whether they agree.
Why Your IP Address Didn’t Change
• You compared two networks. Wi-Fi and mobile data have separate public IPs. Check before and after on the same one.
• Your provider uses a static IP. A router restart won’t change it. Ask your provider for a new address or use a VPN.
• The VPN isn’t connected. Look for the key icon. Android runs one VPN app at a time, so starting Orbot or another VPN app shuts off the one that was running.
• Your browser exposes it. WebRTC can reveal your real IP, and DNS requests can reveal your provider, while a VPN is on. X-VPN includes DNS, IP and WebRTC leak protection, on the free version too.
Conclusion
Knowing how to change IP address on Android comes down to which address you’re dealing with. Airplane mode and network switches are the quickest fixes, a router restart works when your provider uses dynamic IPs, and a VPN app is the method to use when you want to choose the location and encrypt your traffic. Local IP problems stay inside your Wi-Fi settings.
FAQs
Can You Change Your IP Address on an Android Phone?
Yes. A VPN app, airplane mode, a network switch or a router restart changes your public IP, and Wi-Fi settings change your local IP. None of these methods need root access.
Does Airplane Mode Change Your IP Address?
On mobile data, it often does, because your phone rejoins the carrier’s network and gets an address assigned again. On Wi-Fi, it doesn’t. The public IP belongs to your router.
Does a Factory Reset Change Your IP Address?
No. Your public IP comes from your network, not the phone, so a reset leaves it alone.
Does a New IP Address Make You Anonymous?
No. It changes the address websites see, but accounts you’re signed in to, cookies and browser fingerprinting can still identify you. A new IP is one layer of privacy, not a disguise.
