How to Find Out Your MAC Address on Any Device

Every device that connects to a network has a MAC address — a unique identifier burned into its network hardware. Whether you're setting up parental controls, configuring a router's access list, or troubleshooting a connection issue, knowing how to find this address is a fundamental networking skill. The method varies depending on your operating system, so here's how it works across the most common platforms.

What Is a MAC Address?

A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a 12-character identifier assigned to a network interface card (NIC) at the hardware level. It's typically written in one of two formats:

• 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E (colon-separated)
• 00-1A-2B-3C-4D-5E (hyphen-separated)

The first six characters identify the manufacturer (called the OUI — Organizationally Unique Identifier). The last six are unique to the specific device. Unlike an IP address, which can change depending on the network you're on, a MAC address is generally fixed to the hardware itself.

One important distinction: if your device has both Wi-Fi and Ethernet capabilities, it has a separate MAC address for each interface. Make sure you're looking up the right one for your situation.

How to Find Your MAC Address on Windows 🖥️

Method 1: Command Prompt

1. Press Windows + R, type cmd, and hit Enter
2. Type ipconfig /all and press Enter
3. Look for your active adapter (Wi-Fi or Ethernet)
4. Find the line labeled Physical Address — that's your MAC address

Method 2: Settings

1. Go to Settings → Network & Internet
2. Click your active connection (Wi-Fi or Ethernet)
3. Scroll down to Properties
4. Look for Physical address (MAC)

The Settings method is more beginner-friendly; the ipconfig /all route is faster once you know where to look and shows all adapters at once.

How to Find Your MAC Address on macOS

1. Open System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions)
2. Go to Network
3. Select your active connection from the left panel
4. Click Details (or Advanced in older versions)
5. Go to the Hardware tab
6. Your MAC address is listed at the top

Alternatively, open Terminal and type:

ifconfig en0 | grep ether 

en0 is typically Wi-Fi. Use en1 for Ethernet or ifconfig -a to list all interfaces.

How to Find Your MAC Address on iPhone or iPad 📱

1. Go to Settings → General → About
2. Scroll down to Wi-Fi Address

That's your Wi-Fi MAC address. Note that since iOS 14, Apple enables Private Wi-Fi Address by default, which means your iPhone may use a randomized MAC address on each network rather than the hardware one. If you need the real hardware MAC for router-level configuration, you'll find it in the same About screen — but be aware which address your router is actually seeing.

How to Find Your MAC Address on Android

The location varies slightly by manufacturer and Android version, but the general path is:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone (or About Device)
2. Tap Status or Phone Information
3. Look for Wi-Fi MAC address

On some Android versions, you may need to go to Settings → Network & Internet → Wi-Fi → [your network] → Advanced to find it. Like iOS, Android 10 and later also supports MAC address randomization by default, so the address your router sees may differ from the hardware address shown in settings.

How to Find a MAC Address on a Router or From Another Device

If you need to find the MAC address of a device already connected to your network — for example, to set up a DHCP reservation — your router's admin panel is often the easiest place to look.

1. Log into your router (typically at 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1)
2. Look for a Connected Devices, DHCP Client List, or ARP Table section
3. Each connected device will show its IP address alongside its MAC address

On Windows, you can also run arp -a in Command Prompt to see a list of recently communicated devices and their associated MAC addresses on your local network.

Variables That Affect Which MAC Address You're Working With

Why MAC Randomization Changes Things

Modern mobile operating systems randomize MAC addresses per network by default as a privacy feature — it prevents third parties from tracking your device as you move between networks. This is helpful for general browsing but can cause problems when your router uses MAC-based access controls or DHCP reservations.

If you're configuring your router to always assign the same IP to a device, you'll need to either disable MAC randomization for that specific network on your device, or use the randomized address your device is already presenting to that network — not the hardware MAC shown in the About screen.

Whether that tradeoff matters depends entirely on what you're trying to accomplish, how your network is configured, and how much control you need over individual device behavior on your setup.