Angry IP Scanner

Angry IP Scanner is a free, open source network scanner that detects active devices across IP address ranges, checks open ports, and resolves hostnames. It is a portable Java application that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux without installation.

What it does

You enter an IP range (for example 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.255), click Start, and Angry IP Scanner pings every address in that range. Active hosts appear in a table with their IP address, hostname, MAC address, and the status of any ports you configured. The scanning is multithreaded, so even large ranges with thousands of addresses finish in seconds. Results can be exported to CSV, TXT, or XML for further analysis.

Port scanning is configured in Tools > Preferences > Ports tab, where you list the ports to check (80, 443, 22, 3389, or any combination). The program also supports custom data fetchers like NetBIOS info, web server detection, and TTL values, which appear as additional columns in the results table. You can filter the view to show only alive hosts, hiding addresses that did not respond.

For larger tasks, you can load a text file with a list of IP addresses instead of scanning a continuous range. This is useful when you need to monitor specific servers or devices scattered across different subnets.

Who it is for

I recommend Angry IP Scanner to anyone who needs a quick overview of devices on a local network. It works well for small office admins checking what is connected, home users troubleshooting IP conflicts, and IT staff doing inventory. If you need deep vulnerability scanning or packet inspection, look at Nmap or Wireshark instead. But for a fast "what is alive on this subnet" check, Angry IP Scanner does exactly what you need with no setup.