MAC Address Formatter
Convert and normalize MAC addresses between colon, hyphen, Cisco and plain formats. Identify unicast/multicast and locally/universally administered addresses.
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Anything you type here is never sent to a server.
Formats
- Colon uppercase
- Colon lowercase
- Hyphen uppercase
- Hyphen lowercase
- Cisco uppercase
- Cisco lowercase
- Plain uppercase
- Plain lowercase
Technical details
- Address type
- —
- Administration
- —
Vendor/OUI lookup is not included in this version.
What is a MAC address
A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a 48-bit hardware identifier burned into a network interface — 12 hexadecimal characters, usually written in groups. Different tools and vendors write the same address in different formats; this page only reformats what you type, it never changes the actual address stored on any device.
Example
AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF, AA-BB-CC-DD-EE-FF, AABB.CCDD.EEFF and AABBCCDDEEFF are all the same MAC address, just written differently.
Formats and concepts
- Colon format: Six pairs of hex digits separated by colons (AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF) — the most common format on Linux, macOS and most networking documentation.
- Hyphen format: Six pairs of hex digits separated by hyphens (AA-BB-CC-DD-EE-FF) — common on Windows.
- Cisco dotted format: Three groups of four hex digits separated by dots (AABB.CCDD.EEFF) — used by Cisco IOS and related tooling.
- Plain hexadecimal: All 12 hex digits with no separator at all (AABBCCDDEEFF).
- Uppercase vs lowercase: Letters A-F can be written upper or lower case — it never changes the value, only how it looks.
- Unicast vs multicast: The least significant bit of the first octet tells a switch whether the frame targets a single device (unicast) or a group (multicast).
- Universally vs locally administered: The second least significant bit of the first octet tells whether the address was assigned by the manufacturer (universal) or set locally, e.g. by virtualization software (local).
Frequently asked questions
Does changing the format change the MAC address?
No. Reformatting only changes how the same 12 hex digits are written (separators and case) — the underlying address is identical.
What is the Cisco MAC address format?
Three groups of four hex digits separated by dots, e.g. AABB.CCDD.EEFF — commonly seen in Cisco IOS command output and configuration.
What is a locally administered MAC address?
One where the U/L bit (the second least significant bit of the first octet) is set to 1, meaning it was assigned locally — by a hypervisor, a container network, or manually — rather than burned in by the hardware manufacturer.
Does this tool look up the manufacturer of a MAC address?
No. Vendor/OUI lookup is not included in this version — everything shown here is derived only from the bits of the address itself, with no external database or network request.