How to Change MAC Address on Windows 10 [2 Simple Methods]

MAC addresses are a kind of identification that comes fixed on the network cards. If you want to change your MAC address, it can be done in different ways depending on what you’re doing and how much time you have. This article is a detailed guide on How to change MAC address on Windows 10.

change mac address

What is the MAC address?

We all know that each computer has a unique identifier called an IP Address or Internet Protocol Address which is used for communication on the internet.

Nowadays we see that many devices don’t have a physical connection to the internet rather they connect wirelessly and one such wireless device is your network card or NIC (Network Interface Card). This NIC has a unique identifier called as Media Access Control Address or MAC address which is used for identifying each computer on a network.

Why do we need to change the MAC address?

Now the change in MAC address is done for different reasons and you might want to change it in order to protect yourself and your privacy.

Most routers allow changing the mac-address of your wireless card but in some routers, this feature might not be available. Also, if you need to change the MAC address of a specific network interface, you can change it from your windows device itself.

How to Change the MAC address for Windows 10?

So, to change the MAC address of your windows device, let’s see how we can do this from Command Prompt and Windows Registry.

In order to change a MAC address from the Command prompt, follow these steps:

  1. Step 1 – Open the Command Prompt. To open the command prompt as administrator, do a right-click on the start button and select “Command Prompt (Admin)”.
  2. Step 2 – Now in the command prompt window type “netsh wlan show drivers” or “netsh interface show drivers”. This will give you all the network interfaces with their respective status.
  3. Step 3 – Type “netsh wlan show settings” to check if your device is wireless or not.
  4. Step 4 – If it is wireless then change your NIC driver to Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter and restart your system. Then repeat steps 1-3 again and change back to default NETSH WLAN NIC driver. Note:  If you want to change MAC address of wireless card, change the driver to Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter. If you want change MAC address of wired network card, change it back to default NETSH WLAN NIC driver.
  5. Step 5 – Now in Command Prompt type “netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=<Network name> key=<password>”
  6. Step 6 – After this, type “netsh wlan start hostednetwork” and if prompted for administrator’s password enter the password which you had mentioned while creating the network profile.
  7. Step 7 – Once done, your windows will start showing a popup saying that Hosted Network Started. Open up your web browser and visit “192.168.137.0” and change your MAC address. Once done, change it back to default and restart your system.

Now, if you want to change the MAC address of a specific network then type “netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=<Network name> key=<password>”

Then change the adapter settings as follows: Go to Control Panel –> Network and Internet –> Change Adapter Settings –> Right-click on your wireless adapter and select Properties –> Select Configure –> Under Advanced change the Physical Address to a new number which you can remember or write it down as this would be needed while changing back using following steps.

In order change it back from Command Prompt, follow the steps as mentioned above but change the MAC address as “Physical Address” instead of “New Physical Address”.

Change the MAC address from Windows registry:

In order to change a MAC address from windows Registry, follow these steps:

  • Step 1 – Press Win+R key from your keyboard to open Run dialog box. Then type regedit and press enter. This will open up the registry editor.
  • Step 2 – Now change the value of Physical Address (Hex) to change your MAC address. To change it, find out the hex values for your default network adapter by opening up registry editor. To do this you have to go into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0006(for wireless, change 0008 to 0006). Under this branch there will be a key called 0000 or 0010 or whatever is your adapter. Under this change the Hex value to change your MAC address.
  • Step 3 – Now change your adapter settings as follows: Go to Control Panel –> Network and Internet –> Change Adapter Settings –> Right-click on your wireless adapter and select Properties –> Select Configure –> Under Advanced change the Physical Address to a new number which you can remember or write it down as this would be needed while changing back using following steps.

In order change it back from Command Prompt, follow the steps as mentioned above but change the MAC address as “Physical Address” instead of “New Physical Address”.

Note: In some systems, you might have to change the compatibility mode settings in order to change it from the command prompt or change it from the registry. If not done already, change it by right-clicking on the command prompt and selecting properties and under compatibility checkmark run program as an administrator and click OK. Or Right-click on Command Prompt (for Windows 8 go to the top left corner of the screen and select “all apps” –> go to System Tools –> right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator).

To change it through Command Prompt, open up Command Prompt with administrator rights by right clicking on it and then select run as administrator. Now type in one of the two following commands depending on if you are using wired or wireless connection:    For Wired Connection: netsh interface ipv4 set address name=”<Local Area Connection Name>” source=static addr=192.168.0.101 mask255.255.255.0 gateway=192.168.0.1

For Wireless Connection: netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=”Network Name” key=”Passphrase”

Note: All the changes done by following this guide are temporary and will change back to the original state when you restart your computer or change adapter settings. If you want to change it permanently, apply for a MAC address spoofing license from your service provider or through any other source according to laws of your country/state.

Note:  MAC spoofing is used to change your MAC address temporarily for testing purposes but please note that law enforcement agencies may catch you with it which might cause legal issues if they do not know about the nature of change.

Please note that a change of physical address change may affect your internet connection. It might work with a wired connection but not with wireless. Users have reported changes in speed while using it on wireless so if you are ready for change, change back when done testing!

This is because a different MAC address means the device is different so security protocol will be applied again to connect to the router which will lead to a change of speeds or might get difficult to connect at all. A similar change can also be done while surfing the internet through the WiFi hotspot feature available on Windows 8.1 laptops where users can create a personal hotspot while there is an active internet connection and then share the data with other devices creating a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

These are the two simple and effective ways to change the mac address in your windows 10 laptop. The same steps can be followed to spoof mac address in other windows OS versions as well.