Find IP address and MAC address

In this tutorial, I will show you how to find IP addresses and MAC addresses on Windows 7 and MAC OS X computers .

There are billions of computers linked together via the Internet. Because there are so many communication devices and information exchanged with each other, each device must have a unique identifier so that the information is transferred to the correct destination.

We can imagine, the postal service uses your home address to distribute mail to your inbox, computers use IP address (Internet Protocol) and MAC (Media Access Control) address to distinguish between devices in the network together. Finding this information on your computer is very simple and it is very useful when the computer is on a certain network. Here's how to do it.

Use Windows 7

1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt

Find IP address and MAC address Picture 1
Find the IP address using the ipconfig command

2. In the command window, type ipconfig / all and click Return .

3. The command prompt window will give you information about the network adapter in the computer. You can search for information about the adapter connected to the network. For example, you can find network information for wireless adapters by looking at the 'Ethernet Adapter Wireless Network Connection' section.

4. To find the computer's IP address, search for 'IPv4 Address' or 'IP Address'. This line will display the IP address for your system; Usually the serial number is used to display the IP address of the form 192.168.1.1.

5. To find the computer's MAC address, look at the 'Physical Address' section. This line displays the Active Directory MAC address, which will take the form of a string of characters and numbers, separated by dashes.

Use Mac OS X

1. Click the Apple menu in the upper left corner of the screen.

2. Click System Preferences . In the System Preferences menu, select Network .

3. In the Network window, select the network adapter you are interested in. Your IP address will appear in the right pane of the window.

Find IP address and MAC address Picture 2

The MAC address will be listed below the Wi-Fi menu

4. To find the MAC address of the computer for the adapter, click the Advanced . button. Your MAC address will appear at the bottom of the window.