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Before 4 November 2025,IP users wereguest or unregistered users who editedWikipedia without being logged into anaccount. The term "IP user" came from the fact that when such a user edited, Wikipedia annotated the edit with theIP address of the computer from which the edit was made, whereas if the user were logged in, it would instead show the username of the editor who made it. This system was replaced on 4 November 2025 bytemporary accounts so the IP addresses of unregistered users are no longer publicly displayed.
The edits of unregistered users prior to 4 November 2025 still have their IP address publicly displayed, and may have the following general forms:
x.x.x.x where each x is a number between 0 and 255y:y:y:y:y:y:y:y where each y is a number between 0 and 65535, written inhexadecimalIP user edits are estimated to constitute one-half (54% in 2013) of the general username activity levels. So, among the total daily edits, then about one-third are posted by IP users, while 2/3 (~67%) are logged to specific usernames each time.[clarification needed]
While registered editors only occasionally possess one or twolegitimate alternate usernames, IP users frequently contributed from different IP addresses becauseInternet service providers (ISPs) usuallyassign IP addresses dynamically, meaning that the same actual person may have returned to Wikipedia with a different IP address that was re-assigned by the ISP. This often made it difficult to tell whether an IP user was a total newcomer or a returning editor. Another factor was that multiple people could use the same IP address (vianetwork address translation), such as students at a school or employees at a business.
Although IP addresses are no longer automatically visible, they continue to be used behind the scenes.Temporary account IP viewers can see the IP addresses used by temporary accounts.CheckUsers are able to see the IP addresses for any editor. These data are only retained for a limited time, and are covered by theAccess to Temporary Account IP Addresses Policy andAccess to Nonpublic Personal Data Policy respectively. IP addresses (and those using them) can still be restricted from editing byblocks andedit filters.
