By virtue of my profession, I tend to switch between Windows 11 PCs on a fairly frequent basis. Over time, I've noticed a particular quirk take hold: whenever sorting through my existing PC backups or viewing all devices connected to my Microsoft Account, I'm inundated with a barrage of convoluted device names. For example, my Surface Laptop 3 running Windows 10 is named 'DESKTOP-8LREKCT,' and my Surface Pro 12-inch 1st Edition is labeled 'DESKTOP-5PH9MNH.'

On newer builds of Windows 11, it's possible to rename your PC during the initial out-of-box experience (OOBE), but, if you're restoring from a backup or if you've been using a previously configured PC for some time now, then you probably didn't encounter this prompt during setup. Thankfully, adding a custom name to your PC after the fact is a quick and entirely painless process.

How to rename your Windows 11 PC

The process is identical across desktops, laptops, and tablet computers

Rename Windows 11 PC screenshots

To rename your Windows 11 machine, follow these steps:

  1. Launch the Settings app.
  2. Navigate to System > About > Rename this PC.
  3. From here, a separate window will appear on-screen; simply type out your preferred device name and then hit the Next button to complete the action.

Note that when creating a new PC name, you can use any combination of letters, hyphens, and numbers. PC names are restricted to a maximum of 15 characters, and certain special characters are prohibited (question mark, space, slash, colon, etc.)

In newer versions of Windows 11, you can access the PC renaming screen even quicker from within the main Home tab of the Settings app. Near the top of the screen is a dedicated 'hero' section that features a set of basic PC stats, in addition to a quick link to easily Rename this PC.

Once you've completed these steps, you'll see your updated PC name be reflected across the system in various places, including the Settings app, the Backup app, Control Panel, File Explorer, and more.