To ensure your online security and privacy, you can hide your IP address on your smartphones and PC to stay anonymous online.
When you go online, your IP address is visible to everyone, and anyone can trace you online and even hack your device using your IP address.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to hide your IP and get a fake IP address for security.
The best way to hide your IP address on a PC and smartphone is by using a VPN. A Virtual Private Network is a tool that masks your actual IP address and assigns you a new IP address of another location.
It is done by rerouting your traffic through a different server location. For example, if you are connected to a server in the United Kingdom, you will be given a British IP address.
There are multiple VPNs in the market that you can use to hide your IP address.
There are free providers as well that you can use to mask your actual IP address without having to spend a penny.
If you are an Android user, you can use a free fast vpn for Android and hide your IP address within minutes. The same goes for iPhone and PC users.
How to Hide your IP address on Android with a VPN
Follow these steps to hide your IP address on an Android smartphone with a VPN:
- Choose a VPN and subscribe.
- Go to Google Play Store and download the VPN app on your device.
- Launch the VPN app and sign in.
- Connect to any server of your choice.
- Go to ipleak.net and check your IP address.
How to Hide your IP address on iPhone with a VPN
Follow these steps to hide your IP address on your iPhone using a VPN:
- Choose a VPN and subscribe
- Download the VPN app on your iPhone from the App Store
- Open the app once downloaded and sign in with your credentials
- Choose any server location you want to connect to e.g. US, Canada, etc.
- Go to ipleak.net and check your IP address.
How to Hide your IP address on a PC with a VPN
Here’s how you can hide your IP address on a Windows PC using a VPN:
- Go to Google and check your current IP address by typing “what’s my IP?”
- Choose a VPN and sign up for it.
- Download the VPN app on your PC. You can get the app from the VPN provider’s official website.
- Install the VPN app on your PC.
- Once the app is installed, open it and sign in to your account.
- Select a server you want to connect to. You can choose any location you want.
- Click the connect button.
- Once the connection is established, you will be assigned a new IP address. You can also confirm by going to Google and typing “what’s my IP?” and now it will be different as shown in the first step.
Other Ways to Hide your IP address
Even Though using a VPN is the most effective way to hide your IP address, there are other ways as well that you can use.
Hide your IP Address with A Proxy
Another way to hide your IP address on PC and smartphone is by using a proxy server. A proxy acts as an intermediate between you and the websites you visit online.
Using a proxy, you can use its IP address to access the site which masks your actual IP address.
Instead of sending direct traffic, your internet connection passes through the proxy you are connected to and then to the website you are trying to visit. In this process, it changes your IP address.
In short, a proxy hides your real IP address and assigns you a new one.
However, do keep in mind that using a proxy server, you can mask your IP address, but it does not protect as a VPN does.
Unlike VPNs, a proxy server does not encrypt your online traffic, so your internet service provider (ISP) and third parties can see your can trace you online and see your complete online activity, which is dangerous.
Use Tor to Hide Your Ip Address on Pc and Smartphones
Another way to hide your IP address on smartphones and PCs is by using Tor.
Tor is a free browser that reroutes your traffic and encapsulates your online traffic, breaking it into packets that are encrypted and passed through multiple nodes.
Each part of the network peels off a layer of encryption one by one to reveal the next destination of the data packet.
Once the data reaches its final destination, the final layer of encryption is peeled off.
With encryption at each stage, your online traffic does not leave a trace on the Tor network, granting your anonymity online.
Owing to a high level of data encryption, the Tor browser is used by privacy experts and journalists for secure communication.
Tor is a great way to hide your IP address online, however, its speeds are quite slow, so you cannot use it for data-intensive tasks like streaming, gaming, torrenting, and more.