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MAC Address Formatter

Reformat a MAC address between every notation, and decode what it means.

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Any notation is accepted — colons, hyphens, Cisco dots, bare hex or spaces.

Quick Tool Overview

The MAC Address Formatter converts between every notation vendors use and decodes what the address says about itself — its OUI, whether it is locally administered, and whether it is unicast or multicast.

What it does
Reformats and decodes a MAC address
You give it
A MAC in any notation
You get back
Every other notation plus a breakdown
Best for
Moving an address between tools that disagree
Developer Tools Free, unlimited use No sign-up Runs in your browser

About the MAC Address Formatter

The same MAC address gets written four different ways depending on the vendor, and pasting one into a tool expecting another is a small daily annoyance. Paste any notation and get every other one back.

It also decodes what the address says about itself. The first three bytes are the manufacturer's OUI and the last three identify the device within it. The two low bits of the first byte say whether the address is locally administered or manufacturer-assigned, and whether it is unicast or multicast — which is how you can tell a randomised phone address from a real hardware one, and why the all-ones broadcast address looks the way it does.

Key features of the MAC Address Formatter

Reads any notation

Colons, hyphens, Cisco dots, bare hex or spaces — separators are stripped before parsing, so anything pastes.

Randomised addresses spotted

The locally-administered bit is what distinguishes a phone randomising its MAC from real hardware.

OUI separated

The manufacturer’s three bytes shown apart from the device identifier.

Broadcast and multicast identified

Including why the all-ones broadcast address has the multicast bit set.

Binary view

All six bytes in binary, which is the only way the meaning of the two low bits is actually visible.

How to use the MAC Address Formatter

  1. 1

    Paste a MAC address

    Any notation — colons, hyphens, Cisco dots or bare hex.

  2. 2

    Take the format you need

    Every other notation is generated, in upper or lower case.

  3. 3

    Read the breakdown

    The OUI, the device part, and what the low bits mean.

  4. 4

    Check the scope

    Locally administered or assigned, unicast or multicast.

Frequently asked questions

Vendor convention. Unix tools use colons, Windows uses hyphens, Cisco uses three groups of four separated by dots, and databases often store it bare. All describe the same six bytes.

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