When you connect to a network for the first time, Windows 10 will automatically create a network profile for it. The same process is used for both wired and wireless networks. While it’s possible to rename a network profile in Windows 10, Â the solution is not obvious.
The network name is displayed in several areas of the operating system, specifically in the desktop Network flyout, in the Settings app and in Control Panel’s Network and Sharing Center.
How to rename a network profile in Windows 10
Sadly, Windows 10 doesn’t have a dedicated option that allows you to change the name of a network profile, but it is possible with a simple registry hack.
If you’d like to rename a network profile in Windows 10, simply follow the instructions below.
Open the Registry Editor. To do this, right-click on the Start button, select Run, type regedit in the text box and press the OK button or hit Enter on your keyboard.
Now go to the following Registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles
Every network profile that’s stored on your computer has its own GUID subkey (those really long sequences of letters and numbers stored under Profiles).
I travel a lot with my laptop so my list of profiles is quite long (hopefully, yours is shorter). Sadly, there’s no way of knowing which of these is the connection you’re looking for until you click on the item to see the name listed next to ProfileName.
You will need to click on each item and look at its ProfileName until you find the connection you want to rename.
Once you found the network you want to rename, double-click on the ProfileName string value, and enter a new name in the Value data field. Click on OK to save the changes.
Technically, the new name is applied right away, but the Settings app might still show the old one until you re-log into your Windows 10 account.
