It distinguishes one gadget from another on a specific online grid or over the internet.

The hostname for a computer on a home data pipe may be something likenew laptop,Guest-Desktop, orFamilyPC.

A computer’s hostname may instead be referred to as a computer name, sitename, or nodename.

Personal computer with an id card

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You may also see hostname spelled as host name.

Never used Command Prompt before?

See ourHow to Open Command Prompttutorial for instructions.

hostname command prompt command in Windows 11

This method works in a terminal window in otheroperating systems, too, like macOS and Linux.

Using theipconfig commandto executeipconfig /allis another method.

System Properties can be accessed from theAdvanced systemsettings link inside the SystemappletinControl Panel.

System Properties dialog box

Or, pressWin+Rand entercontrol sysdm.cplto go to the correct screen.

The hostname here is called theFull computer name.

A hyphen is the only allowed symbol.

Thewwwportion of a URL indicates a subdomain of a website, similar tolearnbeing a subdomain ofmicrosoft.com.

To access google.com’s images section, you must specify theimageshostname in the URL.

Likewise, thewwwhostname is always required unless you’re after a specific subdomain.

For example, enteringwww.lifewire.comis technically always required instead of onlylifewire.com.

This is why some websites are unreachable unless you enter thewwwportion before the domain name.

DDNSservices likeNo-IPare available that can create a hostname for yourpublic IP address.

FAQ

kick off the Linux terminal, typehostname, and pressEnter.

To change the hostname, entersudo hostname NEW_HOSTNAME, replacing “NEW_HOSTNAME” with the name you want.

The outgoing hostname issmtp.gmail.com.

The name of a Minecraft server is called the hostname.