====== Find Pico MAC Address ======
<color #db5f0b>Aug 2026</color>
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{{ :micro-python.png?100 |}}
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===== Introduction =====
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When dealing with Wifi networks, or networks in general, especaially if your WIFI  has MAC Address filtering enabled, you will need the MAC Address of your Pico(s).
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A MAC Address is a 6 part address that looks like so:

  * <color #ed1c24>88:a2:9e:</color><color #00a2e8>01:49:57</color>

The first three numbers are to identify the manufacturer, the last 3 numbers are for the ID of the device. In a layer 3 network (most networks now) we generally use the IP Address of the device, but in purely Layer 2 networks then the MAC addresses are used.
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==== Getting the Pico MAC Address ====
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As with most things Pico/Network we need a Python script. See an example below:

<code:python | download>
import network
import ubinascii

wlan = network.WLAN(network.STA_IF)
wlan.active(True)

print(ubinascii.hexlify(wlan.config('mac'), ':').decode())
</code>

Save the above code to your Pico as <color #22b14c>find-mac-address.py</color>
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When you run the code in Thonny, you will see something similar to below.
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{{ :pico-find-mac-address.png?800 |}}
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As can be seen, the code outputs the Pico MAC Address in to the shell window in Thonny.
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