If you buy a printer and then install it, the printer information is obtained via the driver.
After installing the driver, a name is created that usually contains the make and model of the printer. This default name is not always clear and may be a reason to change the name of the printer.
Changing the printer name makes the printer recognizable on a home network or business environment. For example, you can add the location of the printer to the name to make it clear where the printer is located if there are multiple printers available on a network.
Also read: Change default printer in Windows 11.
In this guide, I'll explain how to change the printer's name through settings or a PowerShell command.
Change printer name in Windows 11 or Windows 10
Via settings
To get started, open the settings by right-clicking on the Start button. Then click on “Settings” in the menu.
On the left in the settings, click on “Bluetooth and Devices” and then on “Printers and Scanners”.
Click the printer you want to rename in the list of installed printers. If the printer is not listed, you must ensure that you have installed the correct printer drivers so that Windows can detect and install the printer.
Then click “Printer Properties” to change the properties of this printer.
In the “General” tab you will see the printer name. Click on it to rename the printer. Then enter a new name for the printer and click “OK” to confirm.
You have now changed the name of the printer. You can optionally restart the computer to make the new printer name active.
Through PowerShell
For those who want to delve deeper into the technical side or have more control over the process, I have a second method that uses the Windows Terminal or PowerShell:
Press the Windows key and 'X' to open the menu for advanced users. Select 'Terminal (Admin)'. On Windows 10, you can select 'Windows PowerShell (Admin)'.
Make sure the PowerShell tab is open within the Terminal. To view a list of connected printers, type the command:
Get-Printer | Format-List Name
Identify the printer you want to rename from the list that appears. Renaming the printer is as simple as entering a command like this:
Rename-Printer -Name "HUIDIGE_PRINTERNAAM" -NewName "NIEUWE_PRINTERNAAM"
Replace “CURRENT_PRINTERNAME” and “NEW_PRINTERNAME” with the actual old and new names. Run the command and you have changed the printer name via PowerShell. To check, go back to the 'Printers & Scanners' section in Settings.
I hope to have informed you with this. Thank you for reading!