ARCHIVED: In Windows, how do I obtain the MAC address (also known as the physical address) of another network-connected computer?

This content has been archived, and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. Information here may no longer be accurate, and links may no longer be available or reliable.

Note: To obtain the MAC address of another computer on the network, you must have TCP/IP installed.

The instructions below will work only for another computer on the same subnet. If the computer you are pinging is on a different subnet, you will receive an error message saying, "No ARP entries found". Also, if you try to run ARP without first having pinged the computer at its IP address, you will often receive a "No ARP entries found" error message.

To obtain the MAC address for another computer on the network, at the command prompt, enter:

  ping computername

Replace computername with the name of the computer. Or, if you know the IP address, enter:

  ping ipaddress

Replace ipaddress with the IP address.

Then, at the same prompt, enter:

  ARP -A ipaddress