Can somebody tell me why I can't rename my Mouse and Keyboard on my iMac?

[tegranjeet]

A certain richardlennoxyz on the Apple Support Communities has this solution:

1 Connect Device
2 Go to settings, right click on device, dont click the menu, leave it open
3 Turn off device
4 Select "rename" in the still open right click menue
5 rename the device and close the pop up
6 Turn device back on and connect

Settings refers to the Bluetooth preference pane for clarity.

This was awesome, I'd nearly pulled out my remaining hair before finally tracking down this ASC forum post.

Can't believe this actually worked. Hilarious. Apple's software continues to decline...

 

[sharpis]

As the title says I bought an iMac late 2013 with Catalina and I can't rename my Mouse and Keyboard?

Somebody any idea?

Thanks

https://imgur.com/0ILAb57

https://imgur.com/SDRCZ1g

Workaround - How to Rename Bluetooth Mouse or Keyboard (Apple OS X Catalina)

You will need a 2nd mouse or keyboard to Click or Type as required below.

1. Open “System Preferences”.
2. Click on “Bluetooth”.
3. Right click mouse/keyboard to rename.
   While the context menu is displaying the following…
   Disconnect
   Rename
   Remove
4. Then turn off your mouse or keyboard by…
   Long press of power button of mouse or keyboard until LED light goes out.
5. Wait for mouse or keyboard to disconnect on screen.
6. Click on “Rename” in step 3 above which should be still displayed.
7. Rename your mouse or keyboard,
   then press “Return” key,
   then press the “Done” key.
8. Turn your mouse or keyboard on again (Quick press of Power button on mouse or keyboard).
9. Your mouse or keyboard should now be renamed.

Notes:
This work around was done with much older bluetooth/keyboards
- about 10yrs ±5yrs old which is probably why they can’t be renamed.

Cheers

 

[TooHeavy2020]

Workaround - How to Rename Bluetooth Mouse or Keyboard (Apple OS X Catalina)

You will need a 2nd mouse or keyboard to Click or Type as required below.

1. Open “System Preferences”.
2. Click on “Bluetooth”.
3. Right click mouse/keyboard to rename.
   While the context menu is displaying the following…
   Disconnect
   Rename
   Remove
4. Then turn off your mouse or keyboard by…
   Long press of power button of mouse or keyboard until LED light goes out.
5. Wait for mouse or keyboard to disconnect on screen.
6. Click on “Rename” in step 3 above which should be still displayed.
7. Rename your mouse or keyboard,
   then press “Return” key,
   then press the “Done” key.
8. Turn your mouse or keyboard on again (Quick press of Power button on mouse or keyboard).
9. Your mouse or keyboard should now be renamed.

Notes:
This work around was done with much older bluetooth/keyboards
- about 10yrs ±5yrs old which is probably why they can’t be renamed.

Cheers

This does work! I was about to post this solution when I came across the someone had already posted it.

 

[vratnik]

Not working - after you remove the mouse, it appears as not connected with previous name.

 

[jphall]

This worked for me too, hold after restart/shutdown. I has to use a 2nd mouse to click on the rename button but it did work. I've been trying to get this to work for years!

I have several options to screen share to the Mac where I needed to do the renaming. I didn't think to add that bit of info, but I pretty much copy and pasted the solution from the ASC post.

 

[betweenupdates]

A certain richardlennoxyz on the Apple Support Communities has this solution:

1 Connect Device
2 Go to settings, right click on device, dont click the menu, leave it open
3 Turn off device
4 Select "rename" in the still open right click menue
5 rename the device and close the pop up
6 Turn device back on and connect

Settings refers to the Bluetooth preference pane for clarity.

This was awesome, I'd nearly pulled out my remaining hair before finally tracking down this ASC forum post.

You sir are a wizard! 🧙‍♂️ Thank you

 

[m_marchant]

Darn thing. I tried all the steps mentioned above in Catalina, except the @jphall one and someone mentioned that changing the name worked with other MacOSs so I tried it with Big Sur and Bingo....It worked. Now name change is permanent. The right click "rename" feature works on Big Sur but is broken in Catalina.

 

[SurfBoyRio]

A certain richardlennoxyz on the Apple Support Communities has this solution:

1 Connect Device
2 Go to settings, right click on device, dont click the menu, leave it open
3 Turn off device
4 Select "rename" in the still open right click menue
5 rename the device and close the pop up
6 Turn device back on and connect

Settings refers to the Bluetooth preference pane for clarity.

This was awesome, I'd nearly pulled out my remaining hair before finally tracking down this ASC forum post.

Works nicely on Catalina10.15.7 . Using old MacBook Pro 2012 and Magic Mouse a 1296.
Thank you.

 

[coffeeplease]

As of Big Sur 11.3, it has renamed my devices to [Profile Name]'s [Device]. I've tried renaming them with the methods mentioned and it works until you connect them to a different device. The names reset to [Profile Name]'s [Device].

 

[OsChannelDotCom]

A certain richardlennoxyz on the Apple Support Communities has this solution:

1 Connect Device
2 Go to settings, right click on device, dont click the menu, leave it open
3 Turn off device
4 Select "rename" in the still open right click menue
5 rename the device and close the pop up
6 Turn device back on and connect

Settings refers to the Bluetooth preference pane for clarity.

This was awesome, I'd nearly pulled out my remaining hair before finally tracking down this ASC forum post.

This Solution Worked for me as well on my MacOS Catalina 10.15.7.
I converted these steps into a small 1 minute video so that people can follow/see, the steps visually before they do it: