The Internet Protocol (IP) address is a number that your internet service provider gives to your device so that it can be found among billions of others. In a way, an IP address is like a home address online, because devices use IP addresses to find each other and talk to each other.
Here's how an IP address sends information where it needs to go. First, you type a website's name into the browser (example.com). But your computer doesn't understand words. It only knows how to work with numbers. So it looks up the website's IP address (example.com's IP address is 103.86.98.1), finds it on the web, and then loads it on your screen.