A MAC address is a hardware identification number that uniquely identifies each device on a network. The MAC address is manufactured into every network card, such as an Ethernet card or Wi-Fi card, and therefore cannot be changed.


To Find the MAC Address:

Open in this order:

the Apple Menu -> System Preference -> Network -> Wi-Fi -> Advanced -> The MAC address is the Wi-Fi Address or Airport Address.

  1. Open the Apple Menu.
  2. Open System Preferences or System Settings.

  3. Open Network.

      4. Select the networking interface you'd like to view the MAC address for. In this example, Wi-Fi is selected, for Ethernet, select Ethernet or the type of Ethernet adapter you are using. In this example on the right an Ethernet adapter is chosen. Press the Advanced or Details button, whichever you see on your screen, depending on your current OS build.

      5. Select the Hardware tab. The MAC will be a series of numbers and letters for ex: 00:a1:b2:c3:88:01.

To Find the MAC Address:

Open a Command Prompt -> type ipconfig /all and press Enter-> The Physical Address is the MAC address.

  1. Click on the Start menu or click on the search box and type cmd.
  2. Press Enter, or click on the Command Prompt shortcut.

  3. In the Command Prompt window, type ipconfig /all and press enter (Note the space between ipconfig and /all).
  4. Multiple adapters may be listed.  Each adapter should have a Physical Address.  The Physical Address is the adapter’s MAC address which will be a series of 12 digits (22:3B:C3:7A:00:47, for example). Generally Ethernet adapter Ethernet is the correct MAC for the Ethernet port located on your device.


5. Select all the information by highlighting the text with your mouse and then tap the Enter key on your keyboard. This will copy the information to your clipboard. You can then paste it somewhere else using Control + V.


To Find the MAC Address:

Open a terminal -> type ifconfig –a and press Enter.  The MAC address is often listed as HWaddr or ether or lladdr

  1. Open a terminal.

  2. Type ifconfig -a and press Enter.  ->  HWaddr or ether or lladdr is the device’s MAC address.

    If this does not work or if you are not able to find the MAC address, please consult the vendor’s documentation or man pages for assistance.  On many systems, this command must be run with root privileges, or run using sudo. If you require assistance with this process, please contact the ITS Service Desk.



Please contact CNS OIT at http://cns.utexas.edu/help to get additional assistance.




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