Find your MAC address
The short answer for every device
One paragraph per platform, with a link to the full guide.
Windows
Settings, Command Prompt and PowerShell, on Windows 11 and 10.
macOS
System Settings and Terminal, and the private Wi-Fi address setting.
Linux
ip, nmcli, GNOME and KDE, and why NetworkManager may change it.
iPhone and iPad
The hardware address in About, and the private address each network sees.
Android
Pixel and Samsung menus, and the randomized address your router sees.
Routers
The router's own address, and every device connected to it.
Understanding MAC addresses
What is a MAC address?
Where they come from, how they are written, and the registries behind them.
Identify unknown devices on your network
Get the list from your router, look up each address, and work out what everything is.
Why a lookup says locally administered or not found
Randomized addresses, unregistered prefixes and multicast, and how to find the real address.
Who owns this MAC address?
What a lookup can tell you, what it cannot, and why nobody can trace a MAC address over the internet.
MAC address vs IP address
Who assigns each one, how far each one travels, and whether you can get one from the other.
MAC address formats explained
Colons, hyphens, Cisco dots, EUI-64, and what the first few bits mean.