MAC Address identifies the devices on a network while IP address helps you to identify a network connection. Since both MAC addresses and IP addresses are used to identify a network device, people often confuse one with the other. MAC Address vs IP AddressĮvery device on the network has two types of addresses: MAC address and IP address. There are 48-bit long and made up of 12 characters (6 pairs), which are separated by colons or hyphens (e.g. These are internationally unique identifiers, two devices can’t have the same physical address. MAC address often referred to as hardware address or physical address, is a 12 digit hexadecimal number embedded into the device’s network interface card by manufacturers. A MAC Address short for Media Access Control Address is a unique, alphanumeric identifier assigned to every network device (such as Ethernet, Bluetooth, or Wireless card) that connects to a network.

There are many reasons why you may want to find your device MAC address, including, identifying and filtering specific devices on a network, locating a stolen device, fixing a network issue, or recovering data.

Let’s see how to find the MAC address using Settings, PowerShell, Command Prompt, Control Panel, and System Information in Window 11.

How to find mac address on pc wifi