If you only knew how easy some things are, such as tracing an IP address. Hollywood has made it look like an elitist feat that a Harvard dropout does in his dorm room or a genius hacker does in an espionage thriller.

Either way, it is not as tricky as it looks on film, once you get the hang of it. Agreed, that is true for practically anything, but it is truly as easy as typing a few words on the keyboard. You just have to remember them in the hour of need.

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The need to trace an IP usually arises when you want to know the approximate location of the origin of an email from an unknown sender or some URL that is filling up your spam.

To give credit where it’s due, those film geniuses can track individuals down to their living rooms. This method will locate only the IP address and location of the hosting server, which is like a general post office that collects the mail from local post offices to deliver them wherever required.

Method 1: Using Command Prompt in Windows

You can obtain the IP address of a website using Command Prompt in Windows. Then, you can use an online tool to trace that IP address.

Step 1. Open Command Prompt

Open run window

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Press "Windows logo key + R" to open the Run window. Type “cmd.exe” and press the “OK” button or the Enter key to open the Command Prompt window.

Win x click on cmd

Windows 8 users can press “Windows logo key + X” and select “Command Prompt” from the menu. Type “cmd.exe” in the Run window and press Enter.

Step 2. Type the command for tracing the IP

Tracert Command

Type tracert command

In the Command Prompt window, type "tracert www.websitename.com" and press Enter.

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IP displayed after TRACERT

The IP address will appear beside the website name in square braces.

Ping Command

Type ping command

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Type "ping www.websiteNAME.com" and press Enter.

IP displayed after PING

The IP address will appear beside the website name in square braces.

Step 3. Trace the IP

What is my IP website

Open www.whatismyipaddress.com

Click on IP lookup

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Click on the option “IP LOOKUP”.

Type ip address and sear

Copy the IP address obtained in the previous steps, paste it in the IP address search bar on the website and click on the “Lookup IP Address” button.

IP information of websit

Now, you have both the general information and Geolocation of the host server.

Method 2: Using Terminal in a Mac

In a Mac, you can use the Terminal application to find out the approximate location of the origin of a website by using simple command lines.

Step 1. Open Terminal application

Go to utilities

Click on “Go” in the menu bar, and select “Utilities”from the drop-down menu.

Open Terminal

Within the Utilities folder, you will find the Terminal application.

Step 2. Type the command to find IP address

Type traceroute command

In the Terminal application, type "traceroute www.websiteNAME.com" and press Enter.

IP displayed in terminal

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The IP address will be displayed beside the name of the website.

Step 3. Trace the IP

What is my IP site

Open www.whatismyipaddress.com.

Click IP lookup

Click on the option “IP LOOKUP”.

Search ip address

Copy the IP address obtained in the previous step, paste it in the IP address search bar on the website and click on the “Lookup IP Address” button.

IP information

You will receive the general information about the host name and the country or region of the website.

Method 3: Trace the IP Address of an Email

There are times when you wish to find out the origin of an email. Tracing its IP address can provide an approximate idea of the location of the hosting server for their email ID.

Step 1. Open the email

Open email in gmail

Open the email whose IP address you want to trace.

Step 2. Open the source or email header

Open email header

Click on the drop-down button. In Gmail as well as Outlook, it appears as a down arrow button in the top right corner of the email. From the drop-down menu, select "Show original" in Gmail or "View message source" in Outlook.

Gmail email header

A new window will open with a lot of data that seems a bit hard to sift through. It is called the email header.

Step 3. Trace the IP of the email host

Look for IP in Gmail header

Usually, the IP is in the header information, under the “from” section, but looking for an IP address in a huge pile of data can be cumbersome.

Paste header

It is simpler to find the IP by opening "Trace Email" tab on the whatismyipadress website. Scroll down a bit and you’ll find a Trace Email Analyzer window.

3c-Copy-the-entire-header

3d-Click-on-Get-Source

Now, copy the entire contents of the header file, paste it in the Trace Email Analyzer window and click on the “Get Source" button to trace the IP.

3e-email-analysis

3f-gmail-email-IP

It will automatically rummage through the email header and, along with a detailed email analysis (which doesn’t concern you right now) it will identify the IP address and its location.

Additional Tips

  • You cannot trace a private IP using the above method. So, the part of an email that originates from private IPs would not be traced.
  • You won’t have much luck tracing emails from known service providers as they act as the host to a large number of emails using their domain name.
  • Tracing the location of the origin of an email from a lesser known email company is fairly easy.
  • The tools mentioned above will give you an approximate idea of the location of the user but not the exact address or the zip code. That would be a clear violation of the privacy of the users.
  • The info that you’ll receive will contain the ISP and company name, host’s name for that IP and the country or region.
  • Never use the above method to stalk an individual.
  • Some hosts may use hiding services, so you might not be able to track down everything.
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