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How to Get the Local IP Address in a Batch Script

A script often needs to know the local IP address of the machine it's running on. This is essential for network-aware applications, diagnostic scripts that log machine details, or tools that need to display the current IP address to the user. While there is no simple, built-in %IP_ADDRESS% variable, Windows provides standard command-line utilities that can be easily queried to retrieve this information.

This guide will teach you the most common and classic method for finding the local IPv4 address by parsing the output of the ipconfig command. You will learn how to filter its verbose output and capture the clean IP address into a variable for use in your scripts. We will also cover the more robust PowerShell alternative.

The Challenge: No Direct IP Address Variable​

The command processor does not have a built-in variable that directly holds the computer's IP address. This is because a computer can have multiple network adapters (Ethernet, Wi-Fi, VPN, virtual adapters), and therefore, multiple IP addresses. A script must query the system's network configuration and intelligently parse the output to find the address it needs.

The Core Method (Classic): Parsing ipconfig with FINDSTR​

The ipconfig.exe utility is the standard tool for displaying the network configuration of a Windows machine. By itself, its output is very verbose. The key to using it in a script is to filter this output to find only the line containing the IP address.

Command: ipconfig | findstr "IPv4"

  • ipconfig: Displays all network adapter information.
  • |: The pipe sends the output of ipconfig as input to the next command.
  • findstr "IPv4": This filters the lines, showing only those that contain the string "IPv4".

This command gives us a single, predictable line as Output to work with.

   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100

The Script: Capturing the IPv4 Address​

Once we have isolated the correct line, we can use a FOR /F loop to parse it and extract just the IP address itself.

@ECHO OFF
SET "MyIP="

ECHO --- Getting the local IP address ---
ECHO.

REM The 'tokens=2 delims=:' splits the line by the colon.
REM The second token is the IP address.
FOR /F "tokens=2 delims=:" %%A IN ('ipconfig ^| findstr "IPv4"') DO (
    SET "MyIP=%%A"
)

REM This second FOR loop is a trick to remove the leading space.
FOR /F "tokens=*" %%B IN ("%MyIP%") DO (
    SET "MyIP=%%B"
)

IF DEFINED MyIP (
    ECHO Your IP Address is: %MyIP%
) ELSE (
    ECHO Could not find an active IP Address.
)

How the script works:

  • ipconfig ^| findstr "IPv4": This command is executed, and its output (the IPv4 Address... line) is captured by the FOR loop. The pipe | must be escaped with a ^.
  • FOR /F "tokens=2 delims=:" ...: This is the main parsing logic.
    • delims=:: This tells the FOR loop to treat the colon character (:) as the separator.
    • tokens=2: This tells it to grab the second piece of text after the split.
    • In the string IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100, the first part is before the colon, and the second part is 192.168.1.100. This is assigned to %%A.
  • FOR /F "tokens=*" %%B IN ("%MyIP%"): The value captured in the first loop has a leading space. This second, simple FOR /F loop is a standard trick to trim leading whitespace from a variable.

The ipconfig method has one major weakness: the search string "IPv4 Address" will be different on non-English versions of Windows. A PowerShell command can retrieve this information programmatically, making it far more robust and portable.

Script: PowerShell One-Liner

@ECHO OFF
SET "MyIP="

FOR /F "delims=" %%I IN (
    'powershell -Command "Get-NetIPAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 -InterfaceAlias 'Wi-Fi' | Select-Object -ExpandProperty IPAddress"'
) DO (
    SET "MyIP=%%I"
)

ECHO Your Wi-Fi IP Address is: %MyIP%
note

This is more complex to write, but it is language-independent and can be precisely targeted to a specific adapter (e.g., 'Wi-Fi' or 'Ethernet').

Common Pitfalls and How to Solve Them​

  • Multiple IP Addresses: If you have multiple active network adapters (e.g., you are connected to both Wi-Fi and Ethernet), the ipconfig | findstr command will return multiple lines. The simple FOR /F script will then only store the last IP address it finds.

    • Solution: If you need a specific adapter's IP, you must make your findstr more specific. For example: ipconfig | findstr "Ethernet adapter" /C:"IPv4 Address"

  • Language Dependency: As mentioned, findstr "IPv4 Address" will fail on a German or French version of Windows.

    • Solution: For any script that needs to be portable, the PowerShell method is strongly recommended.

  • Disconnected Media: ipconfig can show adapters with a status of "Media disconnected." The simple findstr "IPv4" filter does not show these, as they don't have an IP address, so this is handled automatically.

Practical Example: A "Show My Info" Script​

This is a simple utility script that could be placed on a user's desktop to help them quickly find their key networking information for a support call.

@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
SET "MyIP="
SET "MyHostname=%COMPUTERNAME%"

ECHO --- Your Network Information ---
ECHO Please provide this information to the help desk.
ECHO =======================================
ECHO.

ECHO Your computer name is: %MyHostname%

REM --- Get the IP Address ---
FOR /F "tokens=2 delims=:" %%A IN ('ipconfig ^| findstr "IPv4"') DO SET "MyIP=%%A"
FOR /F "tokens=*" %%B IN ("%MyIP%") DO SET "MyIP=%%B"

IF DEFINED MyIP (
    ECHO Your IP Address is:    %MyIP%
) ELSE (
    ECHO IP Address:            Not Found / Disconnected
)

ECHO.
ECHO =======================================
PAUSE
ENDLOCAL

Conclusion​

Getting the local IP address is a fundamental networking task for any batch script.

  • The classic and most common method is to parse the output of ipconfig | findstr "IPv4". This is fast and effective for scripts that will be used in a consistent language environment.
  • The PowerShell Get-NetIPAddress method is the modern and more robust solution. It is language-independent and provides more control, making it the recommended choice for professional, portable scripts.

By using a FOR /F loop to capture the output of one of these commands, you can easily retrieve the local IP address and use it in your automation.

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