tutorials

Commands release and renew IP address Windows, Linux and Mac

  Date Of Publication: June/2025
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We have all heard about IP addresses, both IPv4 and IPv6, which allow us to establish a network communication with other computers worldwide.

We know the numerical structure of an IP address but sometimes it will be necessary for that IP address to be modified either by an administrative, support or some navigation error. The main reasons to change the IP are:

  • Privacy
  • Security
  • Access
  • Tests
There are two types of IP addresses, Static and Dynamic, the process below applies to dynamic IP addresses since the static ones must be modified manually by the network administrator or by the service provider (ISO).

1. How to release and renew an IP address in Windows


For this example we will use Windows 10 but the process is similar in all versions of Windows.

Step 1
For this we must access the command prompt using any of these options:

System symbol

Step 2
The first step to be performed will be to release the IP address so that it is available to another computer, for this we will execute the following command: 

 Ipconfig / release

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Step 3
We can see at the bottom the message “disconnected media”. To renew the IP address we will use the following command: 

 Ipconfig / renew

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We can see that in the Ethernet Adapter section a new IP address has been assigned. In this way we have released and renewed the IP in Windows. We also leave you the video tutorial with which to better understand how to perform this entire process in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

2. How to release and renew an IP address on Mac OS


For this case we will use macOS Sierra.

Step 1
To release the IP address in macOS Sierra it is necessary that we have clear what is the network interface that we must release and renew, to know in detail what it is we will use the following command: 

 networksetup -listallhardwareports

Step 2
We can see the different interfaces both LAN and Wi-Fi with their respective name:

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Step 3
In this case we will use the Wi-Fi interface identified as en1. To release and renew the address, the IP address in macOS Sierra will execute the following command from the terminal. Remember to change the interface according to each case. 

 sudo ipconfig set in1 DHCP

Step 4
Once this process is completed, we can execute the following command to visualize the modified network structure. The result includes renewed IP address, gateway, DNS among other values. 

 ipconfig getpacket en1

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With these methods we can renew and release IP addresses on Windows or Mac OS operating systems.

3. How to release and renew an IP address in Linux


For Linux users, we have not forgotten them, the process of releasing and renewing the IP address is to execute these two commands: 
 sudo dhclient -r (Free IP address) sudo dhclient (Renew IP address)

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