Want to find what names you’ve set to your computer previously? Here are 3 simple ways to find the previous names of your computer in Windows 11 & 10.
On both Windows 11 and 10, you can easily set or change the computer name using the Settings app. While changing the name is easy, there might be times when you need to know or remember your computer’s previous name. For example, maybe you are checking the old logs and need to identify which name belongs to which computer, or you want to restore the old name but forgot it.
Whatever your specific need is, you can use two tricks to find the previous names of your computer. In this quick and easy guide, I will show you how to do it. Let’s get started.
Use Event Viewer to Find a Computer’s Previous Name
- Right-click the Start button on the taskbar.
- Select the “Event Viewer” option.
- Go to “Windows” > “System” folder on the left sidebar.
- Click the “Filter Current Log” on the right sidebar.
- Enter “6011” in the “<All Event IDs>” field.
- Click “OK“.
- In the center panel, you will see all the events. Select each event, and you will see the name change in the Event Details panel.
- You can close the Event Viewer when you are done.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
First, we must open Event Viewer. To do that, right-click the Start button and select the “Event Viewer” option. Once the tool opens, go to the “Windows” > “System” folder in the left sidebar, then click the “Filter Current Log” option on the right sidebar.
In the “Filter Current Log” window, type “6011” in the “<All Event IDs>” field and click the “OK” button.
The above action filters the logs and only shows the events with event ID 6011 in the center panel. Select each event and look at the center bottom panel, which shows how your computer name is changed.
Entry from the event detail: The NetBIOS name and DNS host name of this machine have been changed from DESKTOP-6DVF997 to WINDOWSLOOP.
Looking at the above message, my computer’s previous name was DESKTOP-6DVF997.
If you’ve changed your computer name multiple times, you will see multiple entries. Once you are done, you can close the Event Viewer by clicking the “X” icon.
Use NetSetup.Log File to Find a Computer’s Previous Name
If the first method didn’t work for you because no logs exist with the given event ID (6011), follow this method. It uses the NetSetup.LOG and a simple PowerShell command to extract the name changes. Here’s how.
- Right-click the Start button on the taskbar.
- Select the “Terminal” or “Windows PowerShell” option.
- Run the following command.
- You will see the old and new names and their time stamps in the command output.
- Once you are done, close the Terminal/PowerShell window.
That is all. It is that simple to find the previous names of your computer in Windows 11 and Windows 10. If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.
