Find MAC address of your network card

Have you ever wondered how to find MAC address of a computers network adapter? MAC addresses (Medium Access Control)
are used by a computer as the source and destination addresses for the transfer of data packets on a network.

You've probably arrived at this page because your interested in finding or locating the MAC address of an ethernet adapter or NIC (Network Interface Card) within your computer. In the following segments, I cover how to reveal the MAC address of a network card on your Windows PC or Linux computer. The process of locating your computers MAC address is simple but first let's explain what a MAC address is.

What is a MAC Address?

Medium Access Control addresses are used by a computer as the source and destination address for the transfer of data packets on a network. A MAC address is a unique 12 digit number. The first 6 digits are assigned to each individual Network Interface Card by it's manufacturer. The MAC address acts as the name or means of identifying the internet adapter, much like your home address is unique in identifying where you live. Every NIC (Network Interface Card) has a unique MAC address.

Locate or find MAC address in Windows 9X and ME

  1. Click Start -> Run, type winipcfg and press Enter
  2. From the drop down menu, select the network interface of your choice. Look for the line Adapter Address

How to find MAC address from Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, XP

  1. Click Start -> Run
  2. Type cmd in the run box
  3. From the command window that appears type ipconfig /all
  4. Your MAC address is listed as your physical address

finding mac address ipconfig

How to find or locate your MAC address from LINUX

  1. Open a terminal and become root by typing su
  2. Type ifconfig -a
  3. The MAC address is listed as the HWaddr