How to change your iPhone device name

Find out how to personalize your iPhone or iPad by changing its name, making it easily identifiable and giving it a unique touch.

iPhone 14 Pro on the initial 'hello' screen
Samuel Angor for Unsplash

You may have seen Sebastien’s tutorial explaining how to change your Mac computer’s name so you can recognize it easily when using AirDrop or simply when looking for it on the local network.

It’s a little known fact that you can just as easily change the name of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Choosing a custom name for your device helps keep it distinguishable from other devices you may own. It’s particularly helpful when using services like iCloud, Find My, AirDrop, Personal Hotspot, etc.

Obviously, this is a tutorial for beginners, as power users are probably aware of how to do this. Regardless of your level of expertise, this how-to serves as a nice reminder to check and maybe choose a proper name for your device other than the default name iOS assigns to it after a restore or on first use.

Change the name of your iPhone or iPad

1) Launch the Settings app on your device and go to General > About.

About section in iPhone settings

2) As pictured below, the Name section at the very top should display the current name of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Tap it to set a custom name for your device.

iPhone name in settings

3) Use the on-screen keyboard to give the device a new name. Hit Done when finished.

In the example below, I renamed my iPhone from the default “Christan’s iPhone” name to the more descriptive “Chris – iPhone 5s”.

Renaming iPhone from settings

That’s all there is to it!

The new custom name for your device should be listed under the Name line in Settings > General > About. This new name will now also reflect when using AirDrop and Personal Hotspot.

Change it using Finder

1) Open Finder on your Mac and connect your device to the computer using a USB cable. If you’re using the Wi-Fi Sync feature, make sure that both your computer and an iOS device are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

You may be asked to Trust both of your devices and unlock your iPhone if necessary.

2) Click your device under Locations in the Finder sidebar. If you have several devices connected, choose an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch you want to rename.

3) Click the current name of your iOS device, type the new name for it, and press the return key on the keyboard.

Change iPhone Name in Finder Mac

That’s it — no need to sync manually, as Finder will rename your device on-the-fly.

Again, the device name is used to denote your hardware in Finder, as well as help distinguish it inside the Find My iOS app and in the service’s web interface on iCloud.

On the same note: