Direct answer and scope
Yes—your IP address that websites and services see can change, but “faking your IP address” is not a magical trick that guarantees privacy or prevents all identification. What you can realistically do is alter the path your traffic takes so an external server records a different network endpoint.
A simple model: what a site actually sees
When you connect to a website, that site typically observes an IP address associated with the network route to your request (often called your “public” or “seen” IP). If your connection goes through an intermediate network (for example, another network endpoint that forwards your traffic), the destination server may record the intermediate’s IP instead of your device’s direct IP.
This means “changing the IP address you appear to have” is sometimes possible. However, it’s important to separate three ideas:
- Changing the IP address a website sees.
- Avoiding all forms of tracking.
- Preventing any form of linking across sessions. Those goals are not always equivalent.
Differences that affect privacy expectations
Even if your seen IP changes, other signals may still connect your activity, depending on the service and browser/app behavior. Examples include account identifiers, cookies, authentication history, device fingerprints, and timing patterns. Also, network intermediaries can create new visibility: logs or metadata may exist at multiple points in the chain.
So the key limitation is that changing an IP address changes one observed attribute—not necessarily the entire set of information that a service can use.
Exceptions and limits you should assume
You should assume “faking” an IP address can fail or be partially effective when:
- A service uses more than IP-based checks (behavioral detection, accounts, or fingerprinting).
- The connection setup leaks identifiers through misconfigurations or application behavior.
- You only change IP at one layer while other parts (like certain apps or background connections) continue to use the original network path.
Because there are many environments and implementations, the safest stance is uncertainty about any specific outcome: different setups can produce different results.
Practical checks you can do
You can verify the observable part without relying on promises:
- Check whether your public/seen IP changes from the perspective of an external site or tool.
- Compare how one or more services respond (for example, whether they still recognize the same session state).
- Watch for inconsistent behavior across browsers or apps.
If your goal is privacy, also treat non-IP signals as part of the picture: IP change alone rarely provides full protection.