To change your computer’s name on a MacBook Air, choose Apple menu > System Settings > General > About, select the current name next to Name, and type a new one. Apple describes this name as one of the ways your Mac is identified on your local network.
That route applies to a MacBook Air, and any other Mac, running macOS Ventura 13 or later. Older versions of macOS keep the name in a different place, which has its own section below. The steps here follow Apple’s Mac User Guide page Change your computer’s name or local hostname on Mac, checked on October 5, 2026.
Before You Rename Your MacBook Air
- Check your macOS version. Choose Apple menu > About This Mac to see the macOS name and version number. Ventura 13 and later use an app called System Settings. Monterey 12 and earlier use System Preferences.
- Know which name you mean. The computer name identifies the Mac itself. It is not your user account name, your login password, or your Apple Account name.
- Write down the current name. There is no reset button for this setting, so going back means typing the old name again.
- Have an administrator password ready. On older macOS, Apple says to unlock the Sharing pane before editing. On a newer Mac, enter an administrator name and password if you are asked for one.
- Pick a name other people can see. The name is shown to other devices, so many people leave out their full name and choose something short that tells their Macs apart.
How to Change Your MacBook Air’s Name (macOS Ventura 13 and Later)
- Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen and choose System Settings. The settings window opens with a sidebar on the left.
- Click General in the sidebar. Apple notes that you may need to scroll down to find it.
- Click About. The top of this screen shows a Name row with your Mac’s current name on the right.
- Select the current name. It does not look like a text box, but it becomes editable when you click it.
- Type the new name. Apple’s instructions end here and list no Save button; pressing Return is the usual way to finish typing in a field like this.
Apple’s steps do not mention restarting the Mac or signing out of your Apple Account, so neither is part of the documented process.
How to Change the Name on macOS Monterey 12 and Earlier
Older MacBook Air models that cannot run Ventura keep the setting in the Sharing pane. Apple’s instructions for those versions are:
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Sharing.
- If the lock at the bottom left is locked, click it and enter an administrator name and password to unlock the pane.
- Type a new name in the Computer Name field at the top of the window.
If you follow an older guide on a newer Mac and cannot find a Computer Name field in Sharing, that is expected. From Ventura on, the name is edited in General > About, and Sharing only holds the local hostname.
Computer Name vs. Local Hostname
A Mac has a second network name called the local hostname, also called the local network name. Apple says it identifies your Mac to Bonjour-compatible services. Bonjour is Apple’s technology for finding devices and services, such as shared computers and printers, on a local network without manual setup.
By default, the local hostname is your computer’s name with .local added and any spaces replaced with hyphens. In Apple’s example, a computer named My Computer has the local hostname My-Computer.local. Local hostnames are not case sensitive, so my-computer.local is the same address.
Change the Local Hostname
Most people never need to edit this separately. Change it only if you connect to this Mac by its .local address, or if you want that address to be different from the computer name.
- Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click General in the sidebar, then click Sharing.
- Scroll to the bottom of the window and click Edit in the Local hostname section.
- Enter the new local hostname. Leave Use dynamic global hostname off unless a network administrator has told you to use it.
- Click OK.
On Monterey 12 and earlier, the local hostname appears under the computer name in System Preferences > Sharing. Unlock the pane, click Edit, type the new name, and click OK.
Anything that connects to this Mac by its old .local address, such as a saved server shortcut on another computer, will need the new address after you change it.
Which Mac Name Are You Changing?
Several different things are called a “name” on a Mac, and each one lives in a different place.
| Name | What it is | Where it is changed |
|---|---|---|
| Computer name | The name that identifies the Mac to other users and devices on your network | System Settings > General > About |
| Local hostname | The .local network address used by Bonjour-compatible services | System Settings > General > Sharing |
| Full name of a user | The display name of a user account, which can contain spaces | System Settings > Users & Groups |
| User name and home folder | The short account name and the matching folder inside the Users folder | A longer procedure that needs a second administrator account |
Warning: renaming a user account and its home folder is a much bigger job than renaming the computer. Apple says to have a backup first, and warns that doing it incorrectly could damage the account and prevent you from logging in with it. If that is the name you want to change, follow Apple’s Change the name of your macOS user account and home folder exactly. That same page confirms that renaming an account does not change the name of your Mac.
The password you type at the login window is separate again. See our guide on how to change the login password on a MacBook Air. An iPhone has its own device name too, covered in how to change your iPhone name.
How to Confirm the Change or Undo It
- Check the computer name: go back to System Settings > General > About. The new name should be shown to the right of Name.
- Check the local hostname: open System Settings > General > Sharing and read the name at the bottom of the window. If it does not match what you expect, edit it with the steps above.
- Undo it: repeat the same steps and type the previous name. There is no separate revert option.
Apple’s Find your computer’s name and network address on Mac page shows the same two locations, plus where to find the network address of a sharing service.
Changing the Name With Terminal (Advanced)
macOS includes a command-line tool named scutil that can set these names, and it is often used on Macs that are set up by script. Apple’s Mac User Guide page does not cover this method, so treat it as an advanced option and use System Settings if you are not comfortable in Terminal. The commonly used commands are sudo scutil --set ComputerName "My MacBook Air" for the computer name and sudo scutil --set LocalHostName My-MacBook-Air for the local hostname. Because of sudo, you are asked for an administrator password. The two commands are independent, so setting one does not update the other.
Troubleshooting
- The name does not look editable. In General > About, the Name row has no Edit button and no visible box. Click directly on the name text on the right side of the row, then type.
- There is no General > About screen. Your Mac is running Monterey 12 or earlier. Use System Preferences > Sharing and the Computer Name field instead.
- The field in Sharing is grayed out on an older Mac. Click the lock at the bottom left and enter an administrator name and password.
- You are asked for a password you do not have. You are probably signed in with a standard account. Ask the person who administers the Mac to make the change.
- The name will not change on a work or school Mac. Organizations can manage settings on the computers they own, and some assign device names themselves. Check with your IT department before trying to work around it.
- The local hostname has a number at the end. Apple says a number is added to the local network name when another Mac on the same network has exactly the same name. Give one of the two Macs a different name.
- The local hostname is Macintosh.local. Apple says this is used when the computer name is not recognized by Bonjour. Choose a simpler computer name, or set the local hostname yourself in Sharing.
- Another device still lists the old name. Apple does not document how quickly other devices pick up a new name. Confirm the name on the Mac first, then reopen the list on the other device or reconnect it to the network.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the steps different on a MacBook Air than on other Macs?
No. The computer name is a macOS setting, so the steps are the same on a MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini and other Macs. What changes the steps is the macOS version: Ventura 13 and later use System Settings > General > About, while Monterey 12 and earlier use System Preferences > Sharing.
Does changing the computer name rename my user account or home folder?
No. Apple documents those as separate procedures. The computer name and local hostname identify the Mac on a network, while the user name and home folder belong to an account on the Mac. Renaming the computer is done on the About screen and does not involve the Users folder.
Can a Mac’s computer name contain spaces?
Yes. Apple’s own example computer name, My Computer, contains a space. The local hostname is the part that cannot: macOS replaces each space with a hyphen to build it. Apple does not publish a list of allowed characters for the computer name, so plain letters, numbers and spaces are the safest choice.
Do I need to restart my MacBook Air after renaming it?
Apple’s instructions do not include a restart. You type the new name and the setting is changed. If another device keeps showing the old name, check the About screen on the Mac to confirm the change was kept before trying anything else.
Where does the computer name show up?
Apple says the computer name and local hostname are used to identify your computer on your local network, and that other users can find your Mac by its computer name when you share its screen or files. It is widely reported that the same name is what other people see in places like AirDrop and Bluetooth device lists, but Apple’s Mac User Guide page on renaming does not list those.
Can I change the name back later?
Yes. You can rename the Mac again at any time with the same steps. macOS does not keep the earlier name for you, so note it before you change it if you may want it back.
Next Step
After renaming your MacBook Air, open System Settings > General > Sharing once to check that the local hostname is what you expect. If you share a printer or connect to one over the network, our guide on how to add a printer to a Mac covers that setup.
More Mac Guides
- How to take a screenshot on a MacBook Air
- How to change the screen resolution on a MacBook Air
- How to disable Siri on a MacBook Air
Matthew Burleigh is the founder, head writer, and editor of Solve Your Tech, which he launched in 2012. He has written technology tutorials since 2008 and worked in IT since 2003, including small-business support, IT management, and consulting. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science from Arizona State University.
Matthew writes practical guides for Windows, iPhone and iPad, Microsoft Office, Outlook, Google apps, and Android. Solve Your Tech’s guides are tested on current devices or checked against official product documentation, with clear steps, sources, and update dates.
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