You can find a Mac’s serial number without signing in by checking the case or original packaging, looking it up in the owner’s Apple Account, or using Terminal in macOS Recovery. The configured computer name is different: Apple’s standard instructions show how to find it in System Settings after signing in, but do not guarantee that it appears at every login window.
Know which identifier you need
A Mac has several identifiers that serve different purposes:
- Serial number: identifies the individual hardware unit. This is usually the best detail to provide when identifying a Mac for support or matching hardware to a record.
- Model name: describes the product family or configuration, such as MacBook Air or Mac mini. It does not uniquely identify one physical Mac.
- Computer name: a configurable name assigned to the Mac.
- Local hostname: the name used to identify the Mac on a local network. It is generally based on the computer name.
The serial number identifies the hardware; the computer name and local hostname are settings. Finding one does not necessarily reveal the others.
Find the serial number without signing in
Try the options below in the order that best fits what you have access to. Apple documents these methods in its instructions for finding a Mac’s serial number.
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Check the Mac’s case
Look on the underside of the Mac, near the regulatory markings. The serial number is usually printed there, so this works even if the Mac is powered off or sitting at the login window. The location and legibility of the marking can vary by model.
Check the original packaging
If you still have the box, look for the serial number on its product label. Apple notes that scanning an Apple product box’s barcode might display a leading “S”; that letter is not part of the serial number.
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Look it up in the owner’s Apple Account
On another device, go to account.apple.com, sign in to the Apple Account associated with the Mac, open Devices, and select the Mac if it appears. Apple says the device entry can show its model name and serial number. This requires access to the account and the Mac must be associated with it, but you do not need to sign in on the Mac itself.
Use Terminal in macOS Recovery
If the Mac powers on but does not start up normally, Apple says you may be able to start macOS Recovery and use its Terminal utility. This option requires access to Recovery and comfort running a command.
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- Start the Mac in macOS Recovery. The startup method depends on the Mac model.
- In Recovery, choose Utilities > Terminal from the menu bar.
- Type
ioreg -l | grep IOPlatformSerialNumberand press Return. - Read the value shown after
IOPlatformSerialNumber.
Transcribe the number carefully
Apple’s general serial-number guidance says Apple hardware serial numbers use the numerals 0 and 1, not the letters O and I. If you are copying the number into a support form or inventory record, check characters that could be mistaken for letters.
Find the computer name or local hostname
Apple’s standard route to the configured computer name requires access to macOS. On the Mac, open Apple menu > System Settings > General > About, then read the value beside Name.
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- UP TO 16 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE — MacBook Neo delivers all day battery life, so you can power through from early morning classes to late night study sessions without worrying about plugging in.
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To see the local hostname, open Apple menu > System Settings > General > Sharing and look near the bottom of the pane. Apple’s Mac User Guide explains that “The local network name is your computer’s name with .local added, and any spaces are replaced with hyphens (-).” For example, My Computer becomes My-Computer.local. Local network names are not case-sensitive. See Apple’s Mac User Guide instructions for the computer name and local hostname.
What you can—and cannot—identify at the login window
The case marking, original packaging, Recovery Terminal, or an Apple Account device list may help you identify the hardware without signing in. They do not necessarily show the Mac’s configured computer name.
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Apple’s device-management documentation describes an optional managed configuration that can cycle the host name, macOS version, and IP address when someone clicks the menu bar at the login window. That is an administrator-configured option, not a standard feature you can expect on every Mac. See Apple’s login-window payload settings documentation.
If you cannot sign in and need the configured computer name specifically, the documented methods above do not provide a general, guaranteed way to retrieve it from an ordinary login screen. Use the serial number to identify the hardware where that will meet your need, or ask the Mac’s administrator whether a managed login-window display is enabled.
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