Wi-Fi: Find a MAC Address on Your Computer

A device's wireless (Wi-Fi) MAC address, also known as hardware or physical address, is used for connecting to the network. 

A MAC address is a 12-character string usually formatted as XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX (or sometimes with hyphens or no punctuation) consisting of numbers and letters. Please be sure to record the full address.

In this article:

Finding MAC for Windows 11

Through Settings

  1. Open Control Panel, then Network and Internet, then Network and Sharing Center
  2. Select your network connection 
  3. Click the Details button
  4. The MAC address will be listed as Physical Address

Through Command Prompt

  1. Search for Command Prompt in the lower left corner and open it
  2. Type in ipconfig /all and press Enter (the network configurations will display) 
  3. If connected to Wi-Fi scroll down to the Wireless section, if connected to Ethernet (wired) scroll to the Ethernet section
    • Note: If not connected to a network, use the section that should be connected
  4. The MAC address will be listed as Physical Address

Finding MAC for MacOS

Through Settings

  1. Open System Settings
  2. Select Network
  3. If you're connected to Wi-Fi:
    • Select Wi-Fi
    • Select the Details button Details...
    • The MAC Address will be listed in the Wi-Fi address section. 
  1. If you're connected to wired (Ethernet):
    • Select your ethernet connection
    • Select the Details button Details...
    • The MAC Address will be listed in the Hardware section. 

Through Terminal

  1. Open the Terminal window by searching with Spotlight Search (Command + Space) or using the magnifying glass icon in the top right corner 
  2. Type Bash and press return
  3. If you're on Wi-Fi, type networksetup -getmacaddress en0 and press return. 
    • This is your Wi-Fi MAC address. Note, it will say Ethernet Address, but this is your Wi-Fi address. 
  1. If you're on ethernet (wired), type networksetup -listallhardwareports and press return. This is your ethernet MAC address.
    • Find the Hardware Port: Ethernet section.
      • If you are using an USB-C or Thunderbolt adapter, it will be named after the adapter. Look for something like Hardware Port: Thunderbolt Ethernet or Hardware Port: USB 10/100/1000 LAN or Hardware Port: Belkin USB-C LAN
    • In that section, the Ethernet Address is your MAC Address.

Finding MAC for Chromebook

(Recommended) Through Quick Settings When Logged In

This is the fastest method if you are already using your Chromebook.

  1. Click on the Time in the bottom-right corner of your screen to open the Quick Settings panel.
  2. Click on the Wi-Fi icon (the name of your network).
  3. At the top of the network list that appears, look for a small  icon (Information icon) in a circle.
  4. Click that icon. A small window will pop up showing your Wi-Fi MAC address.

Through the Settings Menu

Use this method if you need to see more details, like the MAC address for an Ethernet adapter.

  1. Open Settings (click the gear icon  in the Quick Settings panel).
  2. Select Network on the left-hand sidebar.
  3. Click on Wi-Fi (or Ethernet if you are using a wired connection).
  4. Click on the name of the network you are currently connected to.
  5. Scroll down to the bottom of the Network section. Your MAC address will be listed under Hardware address.

Finding MAC for Linux

Note: OIT does not support Linux devices. 

  1. Open your terminal
  2. Run Bash
  3. Run iw dev | grep Interface and note the name after Interface for the next step.
  4. Run ip link show [insert the name name from the previous step]
    • Example, if the name in step 3 was wlp2s0, then in step 4 you'd run ip link show wlp2s0
  5. The result is your MAC address.

Additional Resources

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