This article describes a quick method to find the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the network adapter or adapters installed in your computer.

[edit] Steps

[edit] Windows

Click on the Start Menu.
Click on 'Run...'
Type 'command' without quotes and press Enter.
At the command prompt, type 'ipconfig /all' without quotes. (space between g and /)
Alternatively, if using Windows XP, you can use the command 'getmac'.
Your MAC Address is listed under 'Physical Address' as a series of 6 groups of two digits, letters and numbers, separated by dashes, such as in the image below. Make sure you get the physical address of the correct network adapter - usually there are several listed.

This method is only applicable if you are currently connected to the network.

Open "Network Connections"
Select your Local Area Connection and right-click, select "Status".
In "Support" tab, click "Details".
Your MAC Address is the "Physical Address" listed in Network Connection Details.

If you're running Linux, use the ifconfig command. You may need to reference it from your /bin or /sbin directories.

Choose "System Preferences..." from the Apple menu. Then select "Network." Double-click on "Airport" or "Built-in Ethernet" depending on how you access the Internet or your network.
Notice that your MAC Address is called an Airport ID or Ethernet ID.
Try the linux 'ifconfig' method in Terminal.app. This will work on MacOS X since it uses the Darwin kernel (based upon BSD).

Your MAC Address can also be found with third party networking utilities, or by checking the network adapter properties under Device Manager.

It is possible to temporarily change your MAC address with appropriate software, if your hardware allows it (older hardware may have the MAC permanently burned in). This is known as "MAC address spoofing", and is generally not recommended unless you need it. Since the MAC is needed to find your computer at a local level, changing your MAC address will tend to confuse the router. This is only useful for pretending to a router that you are using a different computer.