How to Change MAC Address on Mac Effortlessly

Media Access Control aka MAC is closely working with network interface of a machine to identify WiFi or Ethernet card inside a Mac. Note that every system has got a unique MAC address; reason is simple: if there is a single MAC address in multiple devices connected with the same network, the network cannot tell devices apart, and this will create a lot of trouble for network professionals. In this case, you can change MAC address on Mac in macOS Sierra.

MAC address comes handy when you want to stop a particular system to connect with or accessing the network. Note that MAC address is permanent and hardware bound. In an organization, where multiple Mac systems are connected with a WiFi router, changing MAC address can make a great sense. Even as an outsider has Wi-Fi password, s/he cannot connect his/her Mac with the Wi-Fi network as the network engineer has set up a router to allow only a specific list of MAC addresses. Since an outsider is not added to the list of accepted MAC addresses, s/he won’t be able to connect to the organization’s network. This is the primary reason you should change MAC address on Mac.

Point to Ponder

The method to Spoof Mac Address on Mac is likely to be similar in all versions of macOS.

How to Change MAC Address on Mac in macOS Sierra

Locate Current MAC Address

Before you change MAC address on Mac, you need to find current MAC address in your Mac. Follow the steps and find the current MAC address.

Step #1: Launch System Preferences → Network.

Step #2: Now click on Advanced button.

Step #3: From the number of tabs, click on Hardware tab and you can see the MAC address. You should write down this address in a notepad; if you want to go back to the original address, you can do it later.

How to Change MAC Address in macOS

Use Terminal to change MAC address in your Mac. Type in simple commands and follow the steps given here.

Step #1: Press and hold ‘option’ key and then click on WiFi icon from menu bar. You can see ‘interface name’ here.

Step #2: Open Terminal and enter below mentioned command:

openssl rand -hex 6 | sed ‘s/\(..\)/\1:/g; s/.$//’

This will provide you a random hex number you can use as MAC address.

Step #3: Again press and hold ‘option’ key and click on Wi-Fi icon from the menu bar; next, click on ‘disconnect’ under the Wi-Fi name.

Step #4: You need to type “sudo ifconfig en0 ether”.

Hurray! You have changed MAC address on your Mac successfully.

Now connect your Mac with the Wi-Fi network again and check the MAC address again to confirm that it has been changed successfully.

Though the process to change MAC address on Mac includes fewer steps, it is a bit complicated. You need to be careful while typing the commands in Terminal on your Mac.

Also Check:

• Mac Keyboard Shortcuts
• How to Find WiFi Password on Mac
• How to Create a Partition on Mac
• Forgotten Mac Password
• How to Flush DNS Cache on Mac in macOS Sierra or High Sierra

Do you like this information? Share your feedback with us on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.