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How to find your MAC address on a Mac

Where macOS keeps the hardware address, and why the one your router sees might be different.

Short answer

Open System Settings, click Wi-Fi, click Details next to your network, then Hardware. The MAC address is on that pane. The steps are the same on macOS 27 and macOS 26.

Wi-Fi

System Settings

  1. Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen.
  2. Choose System Settings.
  3. Click Wi-Fi in the sidebar.
  4. Click Details next to the network you are connected to.
  5. Click Hardware in the list on the left.
  6. Your Wi-Fi MAC address is listed as MAC address.

The Advanced button

If you are not connected to any network, click Advanced at the bottom of the Wi-Fi settings instead. The address is listed there as Wi-Fi MAC address.

Note: The Details pane also shows a Wi-Fi address near the top. That is the address your Mac is using on this network right now, which may be a private address rather than the hardware one. See the last section on this page.

Ethernet and other connections

Every network interface on a Mac has its own MAC address. The wired port, a USB or Thunderbolt adapter, and the Wi-Fi card each have a different one.

System Settings

  1. Open System Settings from the Apple menu.
  2. Click Network in the sidebar.
  3. Click the connection you want, such as Ethernet or USB 10/100/1000 LAN.
  4. Click Details.
  5. Click Hardware. You may need to scroll down.
  6. The address is listed as MAC address.
Note: Adapters only show up in the Network list while they are plugged in.

Terminal

Open Terminal from Applications, then Utilities, or search for it with Spotlight. Either command below prints the hardware address.

One interface

  1. Run ifconfig en0 | grep ether . On a laptop en0 is normally Wi-Fi.
  2. The address is the value after ether.
  3. For a wired port try en1 , en2 and so on until you find it.

Every interface at once

  1. Run networksetup -listallhardwareports .
  2. Each port is listed with its name, its device such as en0 , and its Ethernet Address. That is the MAC address, even for Wi-Fi.
Note: Apple's user guide does not document either command, but both ship with macOS and have for years.

Why the address your router sees is different

Since macOS Sequoia 15, a Mac can use a private Wi-Fi address instead of its hardware address on each network it joins. The setting has three options:

  • Off: the Mac uses its hardware MAC address. This is the one shown under Hardware.
  • Fixed: a made-up address that stays the same on this network but is different on every other network. This is the default for networks protected with WPA2 or better.
  • Rotating: a made-up address that changes every two weeks. This is the default for open networks and ones with weak security.

So if your router's device list, a captive portal, or an allow-list shows an address that does not match the one in System Settings, this is why. A lookup on our home page will say such an address is locally administered, because it was never registered with the IEEE.

To check or change it

  1. Open System Settings and click Wi-Fi.
  2. Click Details next to the network.
  3. Use the Private Wi-Fi address menu to pick Off, Fixed or Rotating, then click OK.
Note: On a Mac managed by a school or employer this setting may be locked. Apple's page on private Wi-Fi addresses has the details.

These steps follow Apple's documentation .