How to Find IP and MAC Address on Mac OS X

While on Windows checking the IP address is straightforward, on the Mac operating system, the method is entirely different. There are various ways to find the IP address on Mac OS X, and in this article, Mytour will guide you through 3 ways to find the IP address on Mac OS X. Continue reading the content below.

How to Find IP and MAC Address on Mac OS X

1. Locate Internal IP Address Using System Preferences

Follow the steps below to quickly find the IP address:

Step 1: Open System Preferences from the Apple menu or Spotlight.

Step 2: Locate and click on Network.

Step 3: Choose the active network connection on the left panel.

Step 4: After selecting the network, the IP address will be displayed in the middle of the window.

2. Locate Internal IP Address Using Terminal

In addition to using System Preferences, you can use Terminal to find the internal IP address:

Step 1: Open Terminal through Spotlight or navigate to Applications => Utilities.

Step 2: In the Terminal window, enter the following command:

ifconfig | grep 'inet ' | grep -v 127.0.0.1

This command will filter out the 127.0.0.1 address and exclude it while searching for the IP address.

Step 3: Your IP address will be adjacent to 'inet' as illustrated below:

3. Find External IP Address Using Chrome

The external IP address is the assigned address for all devices outside the internal network. It is utilized to identify your computer on the Internet and can be used to determine the Internet Service Provider.

Step 1: Open the browser on your computer and navigate to google.com.
Step 2: Enter 'ip address' into the Search box.
Step 3: The first search result will display your external IP address.

4. Locating MAC Address on Mac OS X

The MAC address serves as a unique identifier assigned to each network interface on your computer or Mac. Unlike IP addresses, MAC addresses are commonly used for network access control and connection tracking. Here's how to find the MAC address on Mac OS X:

Step 1: Open System Preferences through the Apple Menu or Spotlight.

Step 2: Locate and click on Network.

Step 3: Choose the active network connection on the left panel.

Step 4: Click on Advanced at the bottom right of the window.

Step 5: Look at the bottom of the window for Wi-Fi Address, the hexadecimal characters next to it represent the MAC address of your Mac OS X.

The MAC address always follows the format of 'aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff', similar to 'ce:9e:8d:02:1d:e9?' or its variations.

Note: On OS X 10.6 Leopard or earlier versions, the MAC address will be labeled as 'Airport Address'; whereas on OS X 10.7 Lion and newer versions, it is labeled as 'Wi-Fi Address'.

So there you have it, Mytour just guided you on finding both IP and MAC addresses on Mac OS X. If you encounter any difficulties in the process and need assistance, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below the article.

Additionally, you can explore how to check IP addresses on Linux if you are using this open-source operating system. Wishing you all success!