MAC Address Formatter
Free MAC address formatter and validator. Convert between colon, hyphen, and dot notation, and check if an address is locally administered or multicast.
Worked example
The address 02:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E reformats as 02-1A-2B-3C-4D-5E (hyphen) or
021a.2b3c.4d5e (dot). Its first byte is 02 (binary 00000010) — bit 1 is
set, so it's locally administered, and bit 0 is clear, so it's a unicast (single-device) address, not
multicast.
Frequently asked questions
What is a MAC address?
A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a 48-bit hardware identifier burned into (or set on) a network interface — every network card, Wi-Fi adapter, or Bluetooth radio has one. It's written as 12 hex digits, usually grouped in pairs separated by colons or hyphens, e.g. AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF.
What does "locally administered" mean for a MAC address?
The second-least-significant bit of the first byte marks this. If it's 0, the address is (supposedly) a factory-assigned, globally unique address from the manufacturer's registered OUI block. If it's 1, the address was set locally — either manually, or randomized by the OS (common on modern phones/laptops for privacy when scanning for Wi-Fi networks).
What does "multicast" mean for a MAC address?
The least-significant bit of the first byte marks this. If it's 0, the address identifies a single device (unicast). If it's 1, it's a multicast address meant to be received by a group of devices at once, rather than one specific device.
What is the difference between colon, hyphen, and dot notation?
They're the same 12 hex digits, just grouped and separated differently: colon (AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF) is most common on Linux/macOS and networking equipment, hyphen (AA-BB-CC-DD-EE-FF) is the traditional Windows convention, and dot notation (aabb.ccdd.eeff, grouped in fours) is how Cisco IOS devices typically display MAC addresses.