Find your MAC address in Windows 8 via ipconfig without tools

There are many tools to find a MAC address, but you can do it all via cmd if you know how. This works in most versions of Windows, including XP, Vista, 7 and 8

What is a MAC address?

MAC is the acronym for Media Access Control. MAC address is the physical address or the hardware address of a computer which is provided in the Network Interface Card (NIC) and cannot be changed. It is generally used in local networks like Ethernet and most IEEE 802 network Technologies. The MAC addresses are used in the Data Link Layer of the OSI model. The Standard size of the MAC address is 6 bytes. The purpose of MAC address is internetworking with a locality. Although Ethernet connections are handled by the IP addresses, but Physical addresses are needed for lower layers. IP Address uniquely identifies the network globally and MAC Address helps to identify your computer in your network. As these two are assured to be unique in those areas, so we can say that MAC addresses form the basic identifier of a computer.

Steps to find your MAC Address in Windows 8

1. Press CTRL+C to open the Windows Charm Screen.

2. Select Search. The Apps Screen now opens.

3. In the search bar of the Apps Screen type cmd and press Enter.

4. From the Search results, Select the cmd. The Command Prompt Window will open.

5. In the Command Prompt Window type ipconfig -all. Remember that there should be a space between ipconfig and -all.

6. Press Enter. You’ll get the Physical address or MAC address.

An alternate way to find the MAC Address is to type another command arp -a. Remember that there is a space between arp and -a.