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Obtaining the MAC / ethernet address of a machine

The MAC address is a unique hardware address. MAC addresses are 12 characters, of digits 0-9 and letters A-F. They are normally presented as 6 groups of 2, separated by colons or hyphens. For example:

*NOTE: The bluetooth address is similar, but will not work.  Please doulble check that you are reading the wifi address.

 

00:11:22:33:44:55
00-11-22-33-44-55

Occasionally you may see different presentations, such as:

0011.2233.4455
001122334455

Many modern machines have multiple network adapters, and it's important to select the right one - that is, the one you're reporting a problem for. For example, a machine might have some or all of:

wired
wireless
bluetooth
"virtual" network cards, such as VPN etc.
Follow the instructions below to find the MAC address for your machine.

Windows (Vista, 7)
Open the "Start" menu
Type "network and sharing", and hit return
Select "change adapter settings" at the top-left
Right-click the adapter you want, and select Status
Click the Details... button
The MAC address is listed as "Physical Address"
You can copy this information to the clipboard by pressing Ctrl+C and then paste it into an email

Windows XP
If you have a "My Network Places" icon on the desktop:
Right-click "My Network Places" icon and select "Properties" from the menu
Right-click the adapter you want, and select Status
Select the Support tab, and click the Details... button
The MAC address is listed as "Physical Address"
You can copy this information to the clipboard by pressing Ctrl+C and then paste it into an email
If you don't have "My Network Places", use the instructions below


Windows (2000, XP, Vista, 7)

Open the "Start" menu
Select the "Run..." item
Type "cmd" in the box and click "OK"
A command prompt will open up
Type "ipconfig /all" at the prompt and hit return
A list of information will be printed - you may need to scroll back up, or alternatively, try running "ipconfig /all | more" instead. Note down the MAC address of the correct network adaptor (there may be more than one - see note below)

Windows legacy systems (95/98/ME)
Open the "Start" menu
Select the "Run..." item
Type "winipcfg" in the box and click "OK"
A program will start that lists the network adaptors attached to your machine. Select the correct adaptor from the dropdown list and note down the MAC address


MacOS X (Tiger)
Go to the Apple Menu and select System Preferences
Click Network
From the Show menu, select the adapter you want
For wireless - select Airport. The MAC address will be listed as the "Airport ID"
For wired - select Built in Ethernet. The MAC address will listed as the "Ethernet ID."

MacOS X (Snow Leopard)Go to the Apple Menu and select System Preferences
Click Network
From the Show menu, select the adapter you want
For wireless - select Airport
For wired - select Ethernet
Click on the Advanced button
Go to the Ethernet tab
The MAC address will be show as the "Ethernet ID"


MacOS (older versions)
Go Apple Menu => Control Panels => Appletalk => Info.
Alternatively, Apple Menu => Apple System Profiler, under Network Overview/Appletalk/Hardware Address


iPhone
Select Settings, General, About
MAC addresses are listed at the bottom of the page

Blackberry (OS 6 and above)
From the home screen, select Options
Select Device Options, then Device and status Information
Under Wi-Fi Information, look for WLAN MAC.

Blackberry (earlier versions)
From home screen, press menu
Choose "Options", "Status"
Select "WLAN MAC"


Android
From the Home screen, press Menu
Tap Settings
Slide the screen upward, and then tap About phone
Tap Status
Tap and slide up to view the Wi-Fi MAC address