How to Change iPod Owner’s Name
I’ve got a couple of emails asking me how to change the iPod owner’s name. At first, I thought that it is kind of weird that anyone would want to change their iPod names; until I realised that there are instances where pre-owned iPods were purchased or a spelling mistake happened or for whatever outrageous reasons.
For my beloved iPod, I have named it Juicy Boxy. However, for this post, I’ve changed it to Jim’s iPod strictly for demonstration purposes. Assume that Jim was the original owner that sold his iPod to Amos. The new owner would therefore, want his name displayed on the iPod (in this instance, Amos’ iPod).
To start things off, you will need to start iTunes with the iPod attached. You will notice that iTunes will display Jim’s iPod; showing the original owner. Using your mouse, highlight the device as shown below:
After highlighting the device, wait for a couple of seconds, then click on the device name again (be careful not to click too fast as your computer may interpret it as a double-click). You will now notice that your iPod owner’s name is now in edit mode. Key in the desired name and press the Enter key.
Voila…. You are now officially the proud owner of the iPod. Do this as many times as you want until you found the perfect name for your iPod. In my case, Juicy Boxy.
darya said,
August 2, 2006 @ 12:50 pm
i still dont understand how to do!
can you send me an e-mail and taking me threw the prosess
cuzz i dont understand
plz i really need to change the name of the ipod
i have a Question
where did you go to get to source? cuzz i saw that on top of the owners ipod it says source and so where didja go to get to it and that was what i was struggling with to change the name!
so plz write me back on myspace or my e-mail but it would be better on myspace cuzz i don go on my e-mail that often!!
PLZ AND THANK YOU!!
=]]
Mary said,
December 1, 2006 @ 8:20 am
thank you soo much..
I renamed mine Winston Irving!!!
amos said,
December 1, 2006 @ 10:53 am
Interesting… I’ve changed mine to Amos’ Music Machine…
sarah said,
December 2, 2006 @ 11:59 pm
thanx uz soooooooooooooooooooo much u rox !!
hannah said,
January 2, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
i did that and it is now changed on my itunes but my ipod still has it displayed as iPod do you know how to change that?? please answer me
beanie said,
January 21, 2007 @ 10:17 am
I am forever in your debt
amos said,
January 21, 2007 @ 10:26 am
Hi hannah,
Is your iPod reflecting the change you made on iTunes?
If it’s not, try shutting down your PC and reattach your iPod. See if the changes has been effected.
Hi beanie,
Glad that you stopped by. Thanks for the kind words.
Mcdanije said,
January 23, 2007 @ 11:45 am
Amos,
I’ve purchased an Ipod second hand and I want to install it on my computer. However, I already have an ipod installed on my computer. I want to use one i-pod at my office and another i-pod at home. Can I control them both from my computer and make different playlists for each? I want my I tunes purchases and pre-existing music library to be available on both i-pods.
Also, how do I delete everything off the purchased i-pod in a manner as to install it on my computer as if it were brand new?
Thanks in advance for the help!
T-DOG said,
February 14, 2007 @ 8:22 am
you are the friggin mac(K?) bro
Jenny said,
April 13, 2007 @ 10:37 pm
FAntastic! Thanks for your help
Hatoqai,Husni said,
May 5, 2007 @ 4:34 pm
hi all i cahnged the ipod name in itunes but and at the itunes it works just fine but when i eject the ipod and check the name on the ipod it still the old one SO WHO CAN HELP ME TO CHANGE IT ????????
shan said,
May 5, 2007 @ 7:11 pm
hii
i’ve tried to change my owners name using the steps given in the information above
however, instead of coming up in edit mode, it opened a seperate window despite leaving a few seconds between the clicks.
please help me
thankss
amos said,
May 5, 2007 @ 8:38 pm
Hi Hatoqai,
Try performing a sync.
Hi Shan,
Instead of clicking the second time, try pressing F2 key instead.
esil said,
May 6, 2007 @ 3:29 am
I changed my ipod’s name in this manner and now i can’t move any music onto it. I reset everything and still can’t do anything with it. Any ideas???
Kelley said,
May 11, 2007 @ 8:22 am
thank you so much cuz mine was pre owned and i could not get this boys name off my ipod and none of my friends could tell me how to do it, but thanks 2 you i got it done
Peter said,
May 20, 2007 @ 9:03 am
thanks this helped alot
Sean said,
June 1, 2007 @ 10:40 am
You Da Man!! Worked great. If you cant do it…. Put it back in the box and take it back to the store.
G said,
June 16, 2007 @ 12:14 am
Thank you. I feel less incompetent
bob said,
June 20, 2007 @ 5:43 am
after i changed it and i connected my ipod it still didnt change
jim said said,
July 15, 2007 @ 11:11 pm
thanks did what you said and got the name changed to jim’s ipod instead of just the word ipod
jarrod said,
July 20, 2007 @ 7:46 pm
i did that. it changed my name in itunes but not on my ipod plz email me tellin me how
Bob said,
July 22, 2007 @ 8:38 am
umm for all u guys that the new name doesnt show up on your ipod…well just change the name using the instructions and the go up to file and click ’sync songs on (name’s) ipod’ and t6hat should do it.
kgmayhem said,
August 1, 2007 @ 2:27 pm
thanks so much! your a genius! so simple, yet i would have never guessed
big hall said,
August 2, 2007 @ 1:36 am
i followed the step an it was sucessful
thanks
Robert said,
August 21, 2007 @ 1:15 am
I bought my ipod off my brother in law who has put his own songs on there off his computer. Now my ipod only will allow his computer to be the master computer to put songs onto. I know there are programs out there that allow you to change the master computer so i can put my cd’s and songs onto the ipod. Do you know of any free programs that would allow me to do that? Or ones that you can pay a small price? Thank you, Robert
amos said,
August 21, 2007 @ 8:06 pm
Hi Robert,
Actually you do not need any special programs if you don’t mind erasing the current iPod contents. Simply plug the iPod into your computer (installed with iTunes) and let iTunes erase the iPod contents and assign your computer as the master.
Jim said,
September 5, 2007 @ 9:22 am
It works for me, thanks
Papdog said,
September 14, 2007 @ 11:11 pm
Fantastic, worked wonderful for me!
galnoir said,
September 26, 2007 @ 9:16 pm
Wow. That’s way easier than I thought it would be. Thanks for the tip!
suresh said,
October 15, 2007 @ 11:56 am
hi thank you so much i chaged my name.. thank sooooooooooo much . really a good one . .
Anmev said,
October 24, 2007 @ 9:35 pm
good work Amos, thx for helping everyone here. appreciate.
iheartmusic said,
October 31, 2007 @ 1:50 am
Hi Amos,
I have the same issue as Mcdanije…. I’d appreciate your help!
amos said,
October 31, 2007 @ 9:15 pm
Hi iheartmusic,
If you choose automatic sync, you will not be able to have 2 different ipods on the same computer. If you want to control both ipods, the first time you attach an ipod, you should set to manual sync. Manual sync allows you to control multiple ipods.
To refresh an ipod, you should refer to this link:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61671
Hope that helps..
reddogg said,
November 11, 2007 @ 11:15 am
thank you!
Mike Richard said,
November 15, 2007 @ 12:08 am
You rock worked great
joeb said,
November 19, 2007 @ 4:28 am
i am preparing to give away my new ipod nano 3gen. what are te steps i perform to
- clean it out entirely…i..e reset to empty
- set up for another person on their PC
Rhona said,
November 23, 2007 @ 2:14 am
Thanks!!!!!
Maria said,
December 17, 2007 @ 10:58 am
so easy to do!! thanks so much for the info!!
CATHERINE said,
December 23, 2007 @ 4:40 am
I AM HAVING A PROBLEM WITH GETTING MY IPOD 2ND GENERATION TO PLAY THRU THE HEADPHONES I GET NO SOUND WHEN I PLUG IT INTO THE COMPUTER IT PLAYS WITH THE SPEAKERS. COULD YOU TELL WHAT I MAY BE DOING WRONG.
amos said,
December 25, 2007 @ 12:46 am
Hi Catherine,
Give your headphones a check. If it’s not the headphones, could be the RCA plug.
Marie said,
December 28, 2007 @ 8:32 pm
Thank you so much! I asked all of my friends and they was like… I dunno? But thanks.
wilmer said,
December 30, 2007 @ 11:04 am
i am having a problem with my ipod nano it is a 2gb “black” it is the one with the sliver back case but when i changed my ipod’s name it says it on my itunes but NOT
on my ipod PLZ TELL ME WHY!!
dan said,
January 10, 2008 @ 6:03 am
Great!!!!! Thanx
rissa said,
January 19, 2008 @ 8:14 am
thanks for the help, but what if you dont go through i-tunes because i didn’t go throw itunes and i had todownload it so email me and let me no! thank youi
SAMi said,
January 23, 2008 @ 6:14 am
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
MY STUPiD SISTER ERASED EVERYTHiNG OFF MiNES
SO iT WAS NAMED AFTER HER BOYFRiEND! =/
SiiiiCK!!!!
SO,
MUCHOS GRACiAS.
BUH-BYE!
=]
Brandon said,
February 7, 2008 @ 2:48 am
Thanks so much,
Very helpful, I named my iPod “EscPod”
get it? (Escape Pod)
Desi said,
February 14, 2008 @ 12:21 am
Thank you
JC said,
February 17, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
I now feel like an idiot; thank you for your help.
You don't need to know my name said,
February 18, 2008 @ 11:43 am
Thanks - very helpful
Josie said,
February 22, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
Thanks so much for the help! Worked perfectly.
Emily said,
February 24, 2008 @ 9:18 am
Thank you, this was extremely helpful!
Henry said,
March 5, 2008 @ 2:20 am
Than Que!
I was wonderin how to go about it, I had an iPod Nano stolen from me but I managed to get it back, in the mean time, I bought another iPod Nano and gave the the returned Nano to my young niece and wanted to change it to her name. Your method worked great.
Thanks a lot!
amos replied,
Hi Henry, you are most welcomed. I wonder how you got your stolen Nano back.
Tami said,
March 11, 2008 @ 7:46 am
THANKS!@!!
Karen said,
March 19, 2008 @ 12:21 pm
Merci beaucoup (thanks very much).
amos replied,
You are welcomed, Karen.
Deisy said,
March 28, 2008 @ 2:50 am
thanxz! my brother gave his ipod after
buying an ipod touch. && i didnt know how to
change it to my name
but finally.
katte said,
March 30, 2008 @ 5:47 am
thank you sooooo much!
Sue said,
April 1, 2008 @ 3:14 am
Thank you. Doesn’t get any easier than this.
Josh said,
April 3, 2008 @ 9:20 am
I recently bought a used ipod. I am neither a member of Itunes or do i know much about them. However I would like to erase everything that is on it, and change the name. They put my own on it. What is the best way to go about that.
amos replied,
Hi Josh, you will need iTunes to manage songs in your iPod. No need to be a member, simply download the software and install it into your PC/Mac. Once you synchronise your iPod with your computer, you will have an option to erase everything on it.
Amos B. KAWREH said,
April 8, 2008 @ 6:52 am
Thanks for your great idea. It works perfectly. Thanks a million.
John said,
April 8, 2008 @ 8:23 pm
Thank you so much!!!!
Charles said,
April 18, 2008 @ 5:58 am
Thankx Bro…. I Manage to change my name…. Stay Cool….
antoinyia said,
April 23, 2008 @ 9:45 am
thank u so much for ya help…..it was quite easy……..i named mine pink panther
Heart Allure said,
April 28, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
Thank you. It is very helpful.