How to find the MAC address of a laptop: in Windows XP, in Windows 7 and 8, in Windows 10, through the command line

Any device on a computer network, in addition to the network IP address, also has a physical MAC address. It is on it that one can clearly distinguish one device from another. This article will tell you where you can find the MAC of your laptop. Depending on the version of the installed operating system, this process is slightly different.

What is the MAC address of a laptop

In production, any device designed to operate on a computer network receives a unique code consisting of 48 bits (6 bytes) of data. Graphically, it is represented by a combination of six pairs of characters. This code is called the physical address of the device or the MAC address. Due to its uniqueness, this code is often used to control access and other security settings.

Important!

instagram viewer

The MAC address is assigned not to the computer, but to the network adapter - the device through which your laptop goes online. Typically, a laptop has several network adapters: a standard network card for access via an Ethernet cable, and a wireless adapter for access via WI-FI. Each of them has its own MAC, so your laptop will have a different physical address on the network when using a wired or wireless network.

Since the MAC is unchanged and is assigned to the device during production, information about it can be found on the box from a laptop or network adapter. If the packaging from the device is not preserved, do not worry - you can find out this information using the information on the computer’s operating system. The search should be carried out in sections with network information. In each version of the operating system, the path to this information is slightly different.

Determine the MAC address in Windows XP

If Windows XP is installed on your laptop, left-click on the icon with flashing monitors in the lower right corner of the screen and select “Network Connections”. Go to the "Advanced" tab and click on the details. A window appears with network information, which, among other things, contains the physical address of the device for the current connection.

How to find the MAC address of a laptop in Windows 7 and 8

For users of Windows 7 operating systems, all information about network settings is contained in the "Network and Sharing Center" section.

Having entered into it, it is necessary to select the item “Local Area Connection” located on the right side of the screen. A window with information about the network will open, in this window click on “Details” - detailed information about the network will be displayed, including the desired MAC.

How to find the MAC address of a Windows 10 laptop

The access path to network information containing the desired MAC in Windows 10 is somewhat different from the previous ones. But everything is also quite simple:

• on the taskbar, left-click on the network connection icon, select the “Network and Internet Settings” section;
• the "Parameters" window appears with network information, select the "Change connection properties" item.

The necessary information is located at the very bottom of the window that appears.

Command line usage

A universal way to check any information about your device that is most liked by advanced users and network administrators is to use the command line. For this:

• press the key combination “Win ​​+ R” to display the “Run” menu;
• type cmd and press enter;
• type ipconfig / all and press enter;
• in the window that appears, you will see information about the network settings of your laptop, when connected via cable - you need the physical address of the Ethernet adapter, when using WIFI, see the wireless section adapter.

Getting the MAC address of a laptop, like any other computer, is easy. To do this, just a few clicks of the mouse.

We hope this article was useful to you. Good luck in mastering the world of network technology!