![\"MicroPython:](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ESP-NOW-MicroPython-ESP32-Two-Way-communication.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nUsing Arduino IDE?<\/strong> Follow this tutorial instead: ESP-NOW Two-Way Communication Between ESP32 Boards<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In this tutorial, we’ll cover the following subjects:<\/p>\n\n\n\n To follow this tutorial, you need MicroPython firmware installed on your ESP32 or ESP8266 boards. You also need an IDE to write and upload the code to your board. We suggest using Thonny IDE:<\/p>\n\n\n\n New to MicroPython?<\/strong> Check out our eBook: MicroPython Programming with ESP32 and ESP8266 eBook (2nd Edition)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ESP-NOW is a wireless communication protocol developed by Espressif that allows multiple ESP32 or ESP8266 boards to exchange small amounts of data without using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. ESP-NOW does not require a full Wi-Fi connection (though the Wi-Fi controller must be turned on), making it ideal for low-power and low-latency applications like sensor networks, remote controls, or data exchange between boards.<\/p>\n\n\n ESP-NOW uses a connectionless communication model, meaning devices can send and receive data without connecting to a router or setting up an access point (unlike HTTP communication between boards). It supports unicast (sending data to a specific device using its MAC address) and broadcast (sending data to all nearby devices using a broadcast MAC address) messaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New to ESP-NOW?<\/strong> Read our getting started guide for MicroPython using ESP-NOW with ESP32<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To communicate via ESP-NOW, you need to know the MAC address of your boards. To get your board\u2019s MAC Address, you can copy the following code to Thonny IDE and run it on your board.<\/p>\n\n\n View raw code<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n After running the code, it should print the board’s MAC address on the shell.<\/p>\n\n\n We recommend that you add a label or sticker to each board so that you can clearly identify them.<\/p>\n\n\n We’ll be using an ESP32 DOIT V1 board<\/a> and an ESP32 S3 DevKitC<\/a>, but this should be compatible with any ESP32 model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this section, we’ll show you a basic example on how to exchange simple messages between ESP32 boards using ESP-NOW communication protocol. Each board is at the same time a receiver and transmitter, so we can call them transceivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two ESP-NOW MicroPython libraries included by default now in the current MicroPython firmware versions: espnow<\/span>, and aioespnow<\/span>. We’ll use the aioespnow<\/span>, which is the asynchronous version of the espnow<\/span> library.<\/p>\n\n\n Copy the following code to Thonny IDE.<\/p>\n\n\n View raw code<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This code sets the ESP32 board as an ESP-NOW receiver and transmitter. In the code, you must insert the MAC address of the board to which you want to send data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, if the receiver board MAC address is 30:AE:A4:F6:7D:4C<\/span>. You need to convert it to bytes format as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Upload this code to both boards, but adjust the MAC address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To better understand this code, we recommend that you get familiar with MicroPython asynchronous programming first. You can read the following guide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, import the required modules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, we need to initialize Wi-Fi (even if we don’t use it) to use ESP-NOW. We can use station (STA_IF<\/span>) or access point mode (AP_IF<\/span>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, we can initialize ESP-NOW. First, create an aioespnow<\/span> instance called e<\/span>. Then activate it using the active()<\/span> method and passing the True<\/span> value as argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We activate ESP-NOW inside a try<\/span> and except<\/span> statements so that we can catch any errors if the initialization fails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Insert the peer MAC address (the MAC address of the board you want to send data to).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, we can add the receiver’s MAC address as a peer using the add_peer()<\/span> method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following function sends ESP-NOW messages to the peer. Pass as argument the ESP-NOW instance e<\/span> and the peer<\/span>. As an example, we’ll send a Hello from ESP32<\/span> message followed by a counter. We send a new message every second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also need to create a function to receive the ESP-NOW messages. When there’s a new message, we print it in the MicroPython shell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, we create a message to call later in the code, called print_stats()<\/span> that prints current statistics about the ESP-NOW packets. To get the number of packets sent\/received and lost, we can call the stats()<\/span> method on the ESP-NOW e<\/span> object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This returns a 5-tuple containing the number of packets sent\/received\/lost:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the complete asynchronous function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following line defines an asynchronous function main()<\/span> that takes the ESP-NOW object e<\/span> and peer MAC address peer<\/span> as arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, we use asyncio.gather<\/span> to run three async tasks concurrently:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, the following lines will run the program asynchronously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This command asyncio.run(main(e, peer_mac))<\/span> starts the MicroPython asyncio event loop, executing the main()<\/span> function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This goes inside try<\/span> and except<\/span> statements to catch a KeyboardInterrupt<\/span> (manually stopping the code). When this happens, we disable ESP-NOW and turn off Wi-Fi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After connecting the board to your computer and establishing a communication with Thonny IDE, you can upload the code as main.py<\/span> to the board or run it using the green Run button. Make sure you’ve inserted the receiver’s MAC address in the code.<\/p>\n\n\n It will start printing messages in the Shell. It will fail to send the message while the other board is still not ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Open another instance of Thonny IDE, and establish a communication with the other board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Enabling Two Instances of Thonny IDE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Go to Tools <\/strong>> Options <\/strong>and untick the option Allow only single Thonny instance<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n Copy the same code, but insert the other board MAC address. After a few seconds, it will start sending and receiving ESP-NOW messages.<\/p>\n\n\n The following screenshots show the MicroPython Shell for each of my boards.<\/p>\n\n\n You can see that after powering both boards, they’ll start exchanging messages with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this section, we’ll build a project with a real-world application in which the two ESP32 boards exchange sensor readings and display the received data on an OLED display.<\/p>\n\n\n The following diagram shows a high-level overview of the project we’ll build.<\/p>\n\n\n In this example, we’re using a two-way communication between two boards, but you can add more boards to this setup, and having all boards communicating with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this tutorial, you need the following parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can use the preceding links or go directly to MakerAdvisor.com\/tools<\/a> to find all the parts for your projects at the best price!<\/p> Wire an OLED display and a BME280 sensor to each ESP32 board. Follow the next schematic diagram (adjust if using an ESP32 model with a different pinout).<\/p>\n\n\n You can use the following table as a reference when wiring the BME280 sensor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Prerequisites – MicroPython Firmware<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Introducing ESP-NOW<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"ESP-NOW](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/esp-now-logo.png?resize=300%2C75&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\"){kind=logo}
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nESP32: Getting Board MAC Address<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
# Rui Santos & Sara Santos - Random Nerd Tutorials\r\n# Complete project details at https:\/\/RandomNerdTutorials.com\/micropython-esp-now-esp32\/\r\n \r\nimport network\r\n\r\nwlan = network.WLAN(network.STA_IF)\r\nwlan.active(True)\r\n\r\n# Get MAC address (returns bytes)\r\nmac = wlan.config('mac')\r\n\r\n# Convert to human-readable format\r\nmac_address = ':'.join('%02x' % b for b in mac)\r\n\r\nprint("MAC Address:", mac_address)<\/code><\/pre>\n\t![\"Thonny](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/thonny-ide-get-board-mac-address.png?resize=707%2C298&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ESP32-boards-with-MAC-Address.jpg?resize=750%2C422&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nESP-NOW Two-Way Communication Between Two ESP32 Boards (MicroPython)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"ESP-NOW](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ESP_NOW_two_way_communication_two_boards.png?resize=750%2C370&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n# Rui Santos & Sara Santos - Random Nerd Tutorials\n# Complete project details at https:\/\/RandomNerdTutorials.com\/micropython-esp32-esp-now-two-way\/\n\nimport network\nimport aioespnow\nimport asyncio\nimport time\n\n# Initialize Wi-Fi in station mode\nsta = network.WLAN(network.STA_IF)\nsta.active(True)\nsta.config(channel=1) # Set channel explicitly if packets are not received\nsta.disconnect()\n\n# Initialize AIOESPNow\ne = aioespnow.AIOESPNow()\ntry:\n e.active(True)\nexcept OSError as err:\n print("Failed to initialize AIOESPNow:", err)\n raise\n\n# Peer MAC address (replace with the actual MAC of the other board)\npeer_mac = b'\\xff\\xff\\xff\\xff\\xff\\xff' # Example peer MAC for unicast\n\n# Add peer for unicast reliability\ntry:\n e.add_peer(peer_mac)\nexcept OSError as err:\n print("Failed to add peer:", err)\n raise\n\n# Stats tracking\nlast_stats_time = time.time()\nstats_interval = 10 # Print stats every 10 seconds\n\n# Async function to send messages\nasync def send_messages(e, peer):\n message_count = 0\n while True:\n try:\n message = f"Hello from ESP32 #{message_count}"\n if await e.asend(peer, message, sync=True):\n print(f"Sent message: {message}")\n else:\n print("Failed to send message")\n message_count += 1\n await asyncio.sleep(1) # Send every 1 second\n except OSError as err:\n print("Send error:", err)\n await asyncio.sleep(5)\n\n# Async function to receive messages\nasync def receive_messages(e):\n while True:\n try:\n async for mac, msg in e:\n print(f"Received from {mac.hex()}: {msg.decode()}")\n except OSError as err:\n print("Receive error:", err)\n await asyncio.sleep(5)\n\n# Async function to print stats periodically\nasync def print_stats(e):\n global last_stats_time\n while True:\n if time.time() - last_stats_time >= stats_interval:\n stats = e.stats()\n print("\\nESP-NOW Statistics:")\n print(f" Packets Sent: {stats[0]}")\n print(f" Packets Delivered: {stats[1]}")\n print(f" Packets Dropped (TX): {stats[2]}")\n print(f" Packets Received: {stats[3]}")\n print(f" Packets Dropped (RX): {stats[4]}")\n last_stats_time = time.time()\n await asyncio.sleep(1) # Check every second\n\n# Main async function\nasync def main(e, peer):\n # Run send, receive, and stats tasks concurrently\n await asyncio.gather(send_messages(e, peer), receive_messages(e), print_stats(e))\n\n# Run the async program\ntry:\n asyncio.run(main(e, peer_mac))\nexcept KeyboardInterrupt:\n print("Stopping transceiver...")\n e.active(False)\n sta.active(False)\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\t\n
# Peer MAC address\nreceiver_mac = b'\\x30\\xae\\xa4\\xf6\\x7d\\x4c'<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nHow Does the Code Work?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Importing Modules<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
import network\nimport aioespnow\nimport asyncio\nimport time<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nInitialize the Wi-Fi Interface<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
# Initialize Wi-Fi in station mode\nsta = network.WLAN(network.STA_IF)\nsta.active(True)\nsta.config(channel=1) # Set channel \nsta.disconnect()<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nInitialize ESP-NOW<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
# Initialize AIOESPNow\ne = aioespnow.AIOESPNow()\ntry:\n e.active(True)\n print(\"AIOESPNow initialized\")\nexcept OSError as err:\n print(\"Failed to initialize AIOESPNow:\", err)\n raise<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAdd ESP-NOW Peer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
# Receiver MAC address (the board you want to send data to)\npeer_mac = b'\\x68\\xb6\\xb3\\x22\\x9e\\x60'<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\ntry:\n e.add_peer(peer_mac)\nexcept OSError as err:\n print(\"Failed to add peer:\", err)\n raise<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nFunction to Send ESP-NOW Messages<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
# Async function to send messages\nasync def send_messages(e, peer):\n message_count = 0\n while True:\n try:\n message = f\"Hello from ESP32 #{message_count}\"\n if await e.asend(peer, message, sync=True):\n print(f\"Sent message: {message}\")\n else:\n print(\"Failed to send message\")\n message_count += 1\n await asyncio.sleep(1) # Send every 1 second\n except OSError as err:\n print(\"Send error:\", err)\n await asyncio.sleep(5)<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nFunction to Receive ESP-NOW Messages<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
# Async function to receive messages\nasync def receive_messages(e):\n while True:\n try:\n async for mac, msg in e:\n print(f\"Received from {mac.hex()}: {msg.decode()}\")\n except OSError as err:\n print(\"Receive error:\", err)\n await asyncio.sleep(5)<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nPrint ESP-NOW Statistics<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
(tx_pkts, tx_responses, tx_failures, rx_packets, rx_dropped_packets)<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nasync def print_stats(e):\n global last_stats_time\n while True:\n if time.time() - last_stats_time >= stats_interval:\n stats = e.stats()\n print(\"\\nESP-NOW Statistics:\")\n print(f\" Packets Sent: {stats[0]}\")\n print(f\" Packets Delivered: {stats[1]}\")\n print(f\" Packets Dropped (TX): {stats[2]}\")\n print(f\" Packets Received: {stats[3]}\")\n print(f\" Packets Dropped (RX): {stats[4]}\")\n last_stats_time = time.time()\n await asyncio.sleep(1) # Check every second<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nMain Async Function<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
async def main(e, peer):<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\n
await asyncio.gather(send_messages(e, peer), receive_messages(e), print_stats(e))<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nRunning the Async Program<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
# Run the async program\ntry:\n asyncio.run(main(e, peer_mac))\nexcept KeyboardInterrupt:\n print(\"Stopping transceiver...\")\n e.active(False)\n sta.active(False)<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nRunning the Code<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Running](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/thonny-ide-run-button.png?resize=470%2C114&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"ESP32](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ESP-NOW-Transceiver-1.png?resize=757%2C658&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n![\"ESP32](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ESP-NOW-Transceiver-2.png?resize=785%2C543&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nESP32 ESP-NOW Two-Way Communication – Exchange Sensor Readings and Display on OLED<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"ESP32](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ESP32-with-OLED-Display-BME280-Sensor-ESP-NOW-Two-Way-Communication.jpg?resize=750%2C422&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nProject Overview<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"ESP-NOW](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ESP-NOW-send-sensor-readings-project-overview.png?resize=900%2C508&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Parts Required<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/header-200.png?w=1200&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nSchematic Diagram<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"ESP32](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/ESP32_OLED_BME280.png?resize=744%2C878&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
![\"Thonny](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/save-micropython-device-thonny-ide.png?resize=220%2C202&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Thonny](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Thonny-IDE-ESP32-ESP8266-MicroPython-Save-file-library-to-device-save-as.png?resize=206%2C294&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Thonny](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Thonny-IDE-ESP32-ESP8266-MicroPython-Save-file-library-to-device-select.png?resize=220%2C202&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"BME280](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/bme280-library-new-MicroPython-file-Thonny-IDE.png?resize=553%2C277&quality=100&strip=all&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n