Category: Developer tools
MAC Address Validator
Validate and reformat a network hardware (MAC) address
Validate a 12-character MAC (hardware) address in any common notation, and see it reformatted with colons and hyphens, plus whether it's a unicast or multicast address. Runs entirely in your browser.
Everything on this page is processed in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
What this tool does
A MAC address is the 48-bit hardware identifier assigned to a network interface, usually written as six pairs of hexadecimal digits. This tool accepts colons, hyphens, dots or no separators at all, checks that exactly 12 hexadecimal digits are present, and reformats the result in the two most common notations. It also reads the least-significant bit of the first byte, which the IEEE 802 standard uses to mark an address as multicast rather than the far more common unicast.
How to use it
- Type or paste a MAC address in any notation, e.g. 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E or 00-1a-2b-3c-4d-5e.
- See whether it's a valid 12-digit hardware address.
- Read the colon- and hyphen-separated forms and the address type.
Privacy
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your input is never uploaded, stored or shared — closing the tab removes it.
Frequently asked questions
- Does this look up the device manufacturer?
- No. It only validates the format and reformats it; there is no OUI vendor database lookup involved.
- What is a multicast MAC address?
- When the least-significant bit of the first byte is 1, frames sent to that address are delivered to a group of devices instead of just one; almost every device MAC address you'll encounter is unicast.
- Is my input sent anywhere?
- No. Everything is validated and reformatted locally in your browser.