What is a MAC address?
Every Wi-Fi and Ethernet chip ships with a MAC address burned in at the factory. It never leaves your local network, yet it shows up in router settings, printer menus and phone privacy options, so it is worth knowing what it is and what it is not.
In this guide
A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a 48-bit hardware identifier assigned to a network interface, written as six pairs of hex digits such as 00:1B:63:84:45:E6. The first three pairs identify the manufacturer; the rest identify the specific chip. It is used to deliver data between devices on the same local network, unlike an IP address, which routes data across the internet. Websites never see it, and modern phones and laptops randomize it per Wi-Fi network to prevent tracking.
What a MAC address is
A MAC address is the identifier of a network interface at the hardware level, the Ethernet or Wi-Fi layer. The name stands for Media Access Control, the part of the networking stack that decides who may transmit on a shared medium. A device with Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Bluetooth has three MAC addresses, one per interface.
The address is 48 bits long, written as twelve hexadecimal digits grouped in pairs, separated by colons or hyphens depending on the operating system (00:1B:63:84:45:E6 on macOS and Linux, 00-1B-63-84-45-E6 on Windows). The first three pairs are the OUI, the organizationally unique identifier, which a manufacturer buys from the IEEE; the last three are assigned by that manufacturer. The MAC address lookup resolves the OUI against the IEEE registry, which is how a router can label an unknown device "Apple" or "Raspberry Pi Foundation" before it has any other information.
Its job is local delivery. When your laptop sends a packet to the router, the IP address says where the packet is going, and the router's MAC address is what the laptop writes on the Wi-Fi frame so that the router, and only the router, picks it up off the air. At every hop across the internet the MAC addresses are stripped and replaced with the next pair's. The MAC that leaves your laptop never gets further than your router.
MAC address vs IP address
| MAC address | IP address | |
|---|---|---|
| Layer | Link layer (Ethernet, Wi-Fi) | Network layer (internet) |
| Assigned by | The manufacturer, at the factory (or randomized by the OS) | The network: your router (private) or your ISP (public) |
| Format | 48 bits, 12 hex digits: 00:1B:63:84:45:E6 | IPv4 203.0.113.42 or IPv6 2001:db8::1 |
| Scope | One local network segment; rewritten at every router | End to end, across the whole internet |
| Changes when you move networks? | No (unless randomization is on) | Yes, always |
| Visible to websites? | No | Yes, the public one |
| Used for | Delivering frames to the right device on the LAN, DHCP reservations, Wi-Fi access lists | Routing, geolocation, servers, everything beyond the router |
The two work together through ARP (on IPv4) and Neighbor Discovery (on IPv6): a device that knows the IP address of something on the same network asks "who has 192.168.1.1?" and the owner replies with its MAC address. That table is what arp -a prints, and it is why a local IP and a MAC always appear together in router device lists. Our guide to IP addresses covers the other half of the pair.
How to find your MAC address
Windows 11
- Open Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi (or Ethernet) and click your connection's properties.
- Scroll to the bottom: Physical address (MAC) is listed with the IP details.
From a terminal, getmac /v or ipconfig /all (the Physical Address line under each adapter) shows every interface at once.
macOS
- Open System Settings > Network, select Wi-Fi or Ethernet and click Details….
- Open the Hardware tab; the MAC address is the first line.
In Terminal, ifconfig en0 | grep ether prints the Wi-Fi interface's address on most Macs.
iPhone and iPad
Open Settings > General > About and read Wi-Fi Address (the hardware address) and Bluetooth. For the address a particular network actually sees, open Settings > Wi-Fi, tap the i next to the network, and look under Private Wi-Fi Address, which shows the randomized address in use.
Android
Open Settings > About phone and look for Wi-Fi MAC address (Pixel lists it under the device details; Samsung under Status information). Because Android randomizes per network, the address your router sees is under Settings > Network & internet > Internet, the gear next to the connected network, then Randomized MAC address.
Game consoles
- Xbox: Settings > General > Network settings > Advanced settings shows the wired and wireless MAC addresses.
- PlayStation 5: Settings > System > System Software > Console Information lists the LAN and Wi-Fi MAC addresses.
- Nintendo Switch: System Settings > Internet shows the System MAC Address.
Any device, from the router
The router's connected-devices page lists every MAC with its IP and hostname, which is the easiest way to find the address of a printer, camera or smart plug that has no screen. Our guide shows how to reach the router's admin page.
Look up a vendor from a MAC address
Paste any full address or just its first six digits into the MAC address lookup and it returns the company that registered that block, using the IEEE's public OUI assignments. This is the quickest way to make sense of a router's device list: a row showing only B8:27:EB:… and an IP becomes "Raspberry Pi Foundation", and an unfamiliar entry that resolves to a camera or smart-plug maker tells you which gadget it is.
Two limits to keep in mind. A randomized address (second hex digit 2, 6, A or E) does not belong to any manufacturer's block, so the lookup correctly reports it as locally administered rather than naming a vendor; that is your phone or laptop protecting its privacy. And an OUI identifies the maker of the network chip, not necessarily the brand on the box, so a laptop may resolve to Intel or a TV to a chipset supplier.
Randomized and private MAC addresses
Because the hardware address never changes, it used to be a perfect tracking identifier for anyone running a Wi-Fi network you joined, and for retail analytics systems that logged the probe requests phones send while searching for networks. Since 2020 every major operating system has generated a random address per network instead:
- iOS, iPadOS and macOS: Private Wi-Fi Address, per network, with three settings since iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia: Off (hardware address), Fixed (one random address kept for that network) and Rotating (a new random address every two weeks). New networks default to Fixed, or Rotating when the network has weak or no security.
- Android: Use randomized MAC is the default for every new network; Use device MAC is the alternative under the network's privacy setting.
- Windows 11: Random hardware addresses under Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi, off by default, with a per-network choice of Off, On or Change daily under Manage known networks.
Randomization has one practical side effect: anything that keys on the hardware address breaks. A DHCP reservation, a parental-control profile or a MAC-filter allow-list on your home router stops recognizing the phone after a rotation. The fix is to set that one network to the fixed or device address and leave randomization on everywhere else, especially on public Wi-Fi.
Can someone track you by your MAC address?
Only from inside the same local network, or within radio range of your device's Wi-Fi. A website, an app server or someone who knows your public IP has no way to learn your MAC; it is not part of any packet that leaves your router. Two realistic scenarios remain:
- The operator of a network you join (a café, hotel, airport, employer) sees the address you connect with and can recognize it on your next visit, or across their other locations. Randomization is designed for exactly this case and defeats it.
- Passive sniffing near you. A phone with Wi-Fi on broadcasts probes that include a MAC; with randomization on, the probe address is random too, so it cannot be tied to you between sessions.
What a MAC cannot do: locate you from afar, reveal anything beyond the chip maker, or let anyone connect to your device. Setting a different address in software ("MAC spoofing") is trivial on every OS, which is why MAC filtering is weak Wi-Fi security next to a strong WPA3 passphrase. The identifiers that follow you across websites are cookies and your browser fingerprint, not your hardware address.
Questions
What is the difference between a MAC address and an IP address?
A MAC address identifies a network chip and is used to deliver data between devices on the same local network; an IP address identifies a device on a network and is used to route data across the internet. The MAC is fixed by the manufacturer and never leaves your router, while the IP is assigned by the network, changes when you move, and is what websites see. Every device uses both at once.
How do I find my MAC address?
On Windows 11, open the Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection's properties in Settings and read Physical address (MAC), or run getmac. On a Mac, System Settings > Network > Wi-Fi > Details > Hardware. On iPhone, Settings > General > About > Wi-Fi Address. On Android, Settings > About phone > Wi-Fi MAC address. Consoles list it in their network or console information screens, and your router's device list shows it for everything.
Can I identify a device from its MAC address?
Partly. The first six hex digits identify the manufacturer of the network chip through the IEEE registry, so a MAC lookup tells you that an unknown device on your network is made by, say, Apple, Samsung or a camera maker. It cannot tell you the owner, the model or the location, and a randomized address returns no vendor at all. Combine the vendor with the hostname in your router's list to work out which gadget it is.
Why would someone want your MAC address?
Legitimate reasons are everyday ones: a network administrator adding it to an allow-list, a hotel or university registering a games console that cannot show a captive-portal login, or you setting a DHCP reservation. The address is of little use to an attacker outside your network, since it cannot be reached from the internet. On a shared network it could be used to track or impersonate your device, which is what randomization prevents.
Is your Wi-Fi address the same as your MAC address?
Yes. "Wi-Fi address" is the label iPhones and iPads use for the hardware MAC address of the Wi-Fi interface, and the Bluetooth address shown next to it is the MAC of the Bluetooth radio. Because Private Wi-Fi Address is on by default, the address a given network sees is usually a randomized one that differs from the Wi-Fi Address in Settings > General > About; the per-network value is shown in the network's details.
Can you give me an example of a MAC address?
00:1B:63:84:45:E6 is a typical format: six pairs of hexadecimal digits. Windows writes the same address with hyphens, 00-1B-63-84-45-E6. The first three pairs, 00:1B:63, are an OUI registered to Apple, so the address belongs to an Apple network interface; the last three pairs identify that specific chip. A randomized address looks similar but has 2, 6, A or E as its second digit, for example 6A:3F:91:C2:7D:10.