Regex to Match a MAC Address
Copy the pattern, paste your text below, and see every MAC address it finds. Below the tester: how it accepts both colon and hyphen separators.
What this pattern matches
This matches a 48-bit MAC address written as six pairs of hex digits separated by colons or hyphens.
How it works, part by part
[0-9a-fA-F]{2} — one octet: two hex digits.
[:-] — a colon or hyphen separator.
(?:…){5} — five octet-plus-separator groups, then one final octet.
Mixed separators
This will technically accept a mix of colons and hyphens in one address. If you need consistency, capture the first separator with a backreference: ([:-])(?:[0-9a-fA-F]{2}\1){4}….
FAQ
Does it accept hyphen-separated MACs?
Yes. The [:-] class allows both 01:23:… and 01-23-… forms.
Will it match a 5-octet string?
No. It requires exactly six octets, so a shorter run fails the boundary.
How do I forbid mixed separators?
Use a capture group and backreference so every separator must match the first one.