How to change MAC address on Windows, Linux and macOS X

One of the reasons why computers cannot catch WiFi waves is because the MAC address of the network card does not match the MAC address of the WiFi network. The solution now is to customize the MAC address of the network card, so that it can match the MAC address of the WiFi network.

In the article below, we will guide you how to change the MAC address on Windows, Linux and macOS X machines.

1. How to change MAC address on Windows

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In addition to using software to change the MAC address on Windows, we can change it right on the computer's settings. Most network cards allow users to set optional MAC addresses from the configuration pane in Windows' default Device Manager device manager.

However, there are some cards that do not have drivers that support this feature.

On Windows operating system, press the Start button , enter Device Manager and launch it. Locate and expand Network adapters , then right-click your adapter and select Properties. Go to the Advanced tab and find Locally administered address in the Property list . Your MAC address will be displayed in the Value section. All you need to do is enter a new one and restart your computer.

This may not work in some versions of Windows but you can still change your MAC address using third-party software. Technitium is a free tool that allows you to do this. Download and install the software, then launch it. In Technitium, click the Random MAC Address tab , then click Change Now and restart the computer.

2. How to change MAC address on Linux

Step 1:

First of all, in the panel at the bottom of the screen, we find the network icon and click Edit Connections . Select the network connection you want to customize and then click Edit .

Step 2:

In the Editing network connection interface, find the wired Ethernet tab . Finally enter the new MAC address in the Cloned MAC address section . Click Save to save the changes.

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In case the user connects to a wireless network, click on the WiFi tab . Also enter the new MAC address in the Cloned MAC address section, as shown below. Click Save to save.

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On Linux we can also change the MAC address by command line through the Terminal window.

First, open the Terminal window by using the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl and Alt-T or open the Dash menu in the right-left corner, type the keyword Terminal.

In the Terminal window enter the command:

1. sudo ifconfig eth0 down
2. sudo ifconfig eth0 hw ether xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
3. sudo ifconfig eth0 up

The first command line will turn off the network interface, the second command line will change the MAC address, and the last line will reopen the connection. The eth0 section will enter the name of the network interface you want to adjust. The xx characters are the user's MAC address.

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In case you are not sure about the network name, you can run ifonfig to open a list of wired and wireless network connections.

The new MAC addresses will be reset after restarting the computer. If you want these changes to be the default, users need to adjust the corresponding configuration file in /etc/network/interfaces.d/ or /etc/network/interfaces.

3. How to change MAC address on macOS X

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The easiest way to change your MAC address in MacOS is through the Terminal app. You can access it by opening Finder and navigating to Applications > Utilities > Terminal .

After launching the Terminal app, enter this command:

openssl rand -hex 6 | sed 's/(.)/1:/g; s/.$//'

Disconnect your Mac from the Internet and enter the following (replace "MUO" with a random MAC address):

sudo ifconfig en0 ether MUO

Note that your MAC address will return to default after you restart your computer, so you need to run the same commands every time you want to hide your MAC address.

4. Check the newly changed MAC address

After changing the new MAC address, we can proceed to check.

For Windows computers, we open Command Prompt and then enter the command line ipconfig /all. With Linux and macOS X, open Terminal and enter the command line ifconfig.

Changing your MAC address can help keep you from being tracked. Hope the above instructions for changing MAC address on Windows, Linux and macOS devices are useful to you!

Wishing you real success!

Jessica Tanner

Update 11 April 2024