An IP address is the address of your device on a network that helps you receive and send Internet traffic on your device. It is required that every IP address should be unique, similar to that of mobile numbers, in order to correctly identify each device connected to the network and transmit the requested information properly.

An IP address is provided to your computer by a router that you are connected through. Many a time, in a peculiar scenario, two devices are allotted the same IP address. Hence, you might receive an alert stating an ‘IP Address conflict’ on your computer.

Fortunately, resolving the issue is extremely simple since it is not hardware-based and is usually a momentary issue. However, this issue can present itself due to several reasons; thus, you might need to try more than one fix listed in this guide.

But, before you jump in to resolve the issue, let’s first take a quick look at how a conflict of IP addresses happens in the first place.

How does IP Address Conflict happen?

There are two ways to assign an IP address to a device. The first is via a router that uses DHCP protocol and automatically assigns unique IP addresses to each and every device connected to it. Another way involves you assigning an IP address statically to your device, that remains the same whenever you try to connect to a network.

The major reason for the IP address conflict is when a static IP is assigned to a particular device and then you connect it to a DHCP-enabled network without first reserving that static address with your router. Sooner or later, the router assigns that address to another device and the conflict occurs. Another reason is when you mistakenly assign the same static IP address to more than one device.

Additionally, there could also be a scenario where the router might malfunction and allot the same IP address to two or more devices. Or, sometimes when a device becomes active after being in standby mode for too long, it can also cause a conflict. Consider this: your computer has been hibernating for a few weeks. During this time, its IP address expired and the router assigned it to another device. But when the computer comes online, it still uses the same IP address, causing the conflict.

But no matter what, the solutions listed in this guide will help you resolve all these issues. Now that you are acquainted with the how of the problem, let’s head on to resolving the issue on your computer.

Method 1: Restart the Router

In case you do not have any computers with a static IP address and are still facing the IP address conflict issue, it is best to first restart the router as it is highly probable that a router malfunction is the root cause of the issue.

Restarting the router will automatically refresh the router system and renew leases on all your devices by assigning them a new IP address. This should resolve the issue almost immediately for you.

To restart the router manually, you can press the ‘Power off’ switch usually situated on the back of the router to turn it off and turn off the mains. Then, wait a couple of minutes and turn on the router again to restart it.

Alternatively, you can also restart the browser using the web interface. To do so, head to 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 web address using your preferred browser. Once the page is loaded, enter your router credentials (usually present at the bottom of the router) to access the system settings.

Then, on the next screen, locate the ‘System Tools/ System’ tab present on the left sidebar and click on it to expand the section.

Now, from the expanded section of the webpage, locate and click on the ‘Reboot’ button to proceed.

Then, from the right section of the page, read the information displayed on the page and click on the ‘Reboot’ button to restart your browser.

Once restarted, the IP address conflict issue should not bother you anymore.

Method 2: Remove Static IP from the Settings

In case you had previously set a Static IP on your computer, all you need to do is just remove it and that would resolve the issue for you. The process is rather straightforward. Simply head to the Control Panel to make sure that is not the case whenever facing this issue.

To do so, first, head to the Start Menu and type Control to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Control Panel’ tile to open it.

After that, on the Control Panel window, click on the dropdown menu present in the top right corner and select the ‘Large icons’ option to switch to the icon view.

Next, locate and click on the ‘Network and Sharing Center’ tile from the grid of options.

Then, click on the ‘Change adapter settings’ option present in the top right section of the window. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Now, from the separately opened window, right-click on the ‘Ethernet’ tile if you are connected through LAN. Otherwise, right-click on the ‘Wi-Fi’ tile and select the ‘Properties’ option from the context menu to proceed. This will again open a separate window on your screen.

Now, from the separately opened window, scroll down the list to locate and double-click on the ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) option to continue.

From the IPv4 properties window that’ll open, click on the radio button preceding the ‘Obtain an IP address automatically’ option. This will remove the statically set IP address on your PC. Similarly, make sure you click on the radio button preceding the ‘Obtain DNS server address automatically’ option to make sure the settings are correct. Lastly, click on the ‘OK’ button to apply the changes and close the window.

Wait for a couple of seconds after changing the adapter properties and the issue should be resolved on your PC and you will be connected to the Internet.

Method 3: Disable and Re-enable your Network Adaptor

If you are using a wireless or USB network adapter, disabling and reenabling it will fix the problem for you as it will reset the network configuration and your router will treat your device as a new connection.

To do so, first, head to the Start Menu and type Control Panel in the search bar. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Control Panel’ tile to open it.

Alternatively, press the Windows+R keys together on your keyboard to bring up the ‘Run’ command utility. Next, type Control and hit Enter on your keyboard to open it.

Now, on the Control Panel window, click on the drop-down menu present in the top right corner and select the ‘Large icons’ options to switch to the icon view.

After that, locate and click on the ‘Network & Sharing center’ option to proceed.

Then, on the next screen, click on the ‘Change adapter settings’ option situated in the top left section of the window to continue. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Now, from the separately opened window, locate the ‘WiFi’/ ‘USB’ adapted from the grid of options and right-click on it to reveal the context menu. Then, click to select the ‘Disable’ option. This will disable the network adapter immediately.

Now, wait for a couple of minutes and right-click on the adapter tile again, and select the ‘Enable’ option from the context menu to enable the adapter on your system.

Now, connect to the network again and check if the IP address conflict issue still persists.

Method 4: Renew your IP Lease

In case disabling and reenabling the network adapter wasn’t able to fix the issue for you, you can manually renew your IP address using the Command Prompt.

Head to the Start Menu and type Terminal in the search bar. Then, from the search results, right-click on the ‘Terminal’ tile to reveal the context menu. Next, click on the ‘Run as administrator option.

Now, a UAC (User Account Control) screen will appear on your screen. In case you are not logged in with an admin account, enter credentials for one. Otherwise, click on the ‘Yes’ button to continue.

On the Terminal window click on the downward arrow present on the top section of the window. Then, click on the ‘Command Prompt’ option to open the command prompt in a separate tab. Alternatively, you can press the Ctrl+Shift+2 keys together on your keyboard to open it.

Now, on the Command Prompt screen, type the below-mentioned command and hit Enter on your keyboard to execute it and release the currently allotted IP address.

ipconfig/release

Then, type the below-mentioned command and again hit Enter on your keyboard to renew the lease.

ipconfig/renew

Once done, the IP address conflict issue should now be resolved.

Method 5: Disable IPv6 on your System

Reportedly, many users have been able to resolve the IP conflict issue on their system by disabling the IPv6 settings on their PC, provided that nothing else was wrong with the system.

Open Control Panel on your PC.

Now, locate and click on the ‘Network & Sharing Center’ tile from the grid of options to continue.

Then, click on the ‘Change adapter settings’ option present in the top right section of the window. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Then, if you are using a wired connection, right-click on the LAN adapter and choose the ‘Properties’ option from the context menu. Otherwise, if you are connected via Wi-Fi, right-click on the Wi-Fi adapter and choose the ‘Properties’ option to continue. This will again open a separate window on your screen.

Now, from the separately opened window, scroll down to locate and click on the checkbox preceding the ‘Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IP)’ option to uncheck it. After that, click on the ‘OK’ button to apply the changes and close the window.

Once closed, wait for a couple of seconds and you should be connected to the Internet without any issues.

Not being able to connect to the internet sucks. Hopefully, this guide will help you in resolving the IP address conflict on your Windows computer fairly easily and get you back on the internet in no time.