Finding your MAC address

Your MAC address distinguishes your device from all other devices on the network, so it is often requested by IT Support when investigating Wi-Fi connection issues. It is also referred to as the "Ethernet address" or "Physical address" of your network card.

Linux

To find the MAC address on Linux, open Terminal and run:

ip address

The result is a list of all network interfaces and various technical details. Wired devices typically start with en or eth; Wi-Fi devices typically start with wl. The MAC address is the value following link/ether. It will be displayed as 12 hexadecimal digits separated by colons, e.g. 0a:b3:2f:9e:3a:20.

On older machines, you may need to use the command ifconfig -a instead, and look for the "HWaddr" or "ether" field.

If in doubt, take a screenshot or copy-paste the full output and send it to IT Support.

Windows

Click Start, then search for "Command Prompt" and click it. This starts a new command prompt window. Maximise it so you can see more information at once.

At the prompt, type ipconfig /all and press enter. The resulting list is all your network interfaces. You may need to scroll up to see the full list.

Look at the "Description" fields to identify the correct adapter. The MAC address is the value labelled "Physical Address". It will be displayed as 12 hexadecimal digits separated by hyphens, e.g. 0A-B3-2F-9E-3A-20.

If in doubt, take a screenshot or copy-paste the full output and send it to IT Support.

macOS

Select System Preferences from the Apple menu.

Inside the preferences folder, select the Network icon.

From the Configure combo box, select the Ethernet adaptor you wish to find the address for.

Select the TCP/IP tab.

Look for the field that contains a 6 hexadecimal digits separated by spaces, entitled Ethernet Address, e.g. 0A B3 2F 9E 3A 20.