How do I get my MAC address?

Owned by Marc Miller
Last updated: Sept 25, 2018 by Scott KAsai (Unlicensed)
2 min read

Often times, support will need the MAC address for your computer when it comes to getting an IP on our wired network, as we give IP addresses based off of the MAC address. MAC addresses are also known as Hardware addresses.

For different operating systems, you can get the MAC address through different means

 For Windows:

  1. Go to 'Start'.
  2. Either go to 'Run' or the 'Search' section for Windows 7/8/10.
  3. Type 'command' and hit 'Enter'.
  4. In the new window, type 'getmac'.
  5. The MAC Address will be listed under 'Physical Address' section.  Usually in the format of ##-##-##-##-##-##

For Macs:

  1. Go to the Apple icon on your computer (Usually in the upper left hand corner), click on it and select 'System Preferences'.
  2. Go to 'Network'.
  3. On the left side, click on the network connection you will be using.  For wired networks, it will usually be the Thunderbolt Ethernet or the USB Ethernet.
  4. Click on the 'Advanced...' button in the lower right hand corner.
  5. Under this new window, click on the 'Hardware' tab section.
  6. The MAC address will be listed under 'MAC Address' in the format of ##:##:##:##:##:##.


Mac OSX on Macbooks (Post 2014) will not show the MAC address unless a network adapter (Thunderbolt to Ethernet or USB to Ethernet) is connected.

If you still cannot see the MAC address using the Thunderbolt or USB Ethernet adapter, try using a different Thunderbolt/USB ethernet adapter or another network port.

For Linux/UNIX based computers:

  1. Pull up a terminal session.
  2. type 'ifconfig' and hit enter.
  3. Look for the text 'ether ##:##:##:##:##:##', this entry should be your MAC address for your machine


For Routers:

Due to numerous security issues we need to be able to track each IP address down to a single device.

If you are using a router on the UCSB wire network and have not cleared it with both ECI and NOC to ensure there are no security vulnerabilities and that only authorized devices can connect to it, please remove your router from the wired network.

We reserve the right the remove any router from the wired network at any time.

If you are using a router to create more wired connections in an area, please contact help@engineering.ucsb.edu and we can discuss alternatives to routers such as network switches or additional network drops.

If you are using one of the rare authorized routers, due to the numerous types of routers out there, it is wisest to use the Router's Web Interface and look for the WAN (Internet) Setting information for the Router's MAC Address.

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