Fix macOS Terminal Host Name Showing IP Segments Under Private DNS#

In some enterprise or home private network environments, reverse DNS lookups may resolve a device's private IP to a hostname starting with 192, 172, or 10. When this happens, the macOS terminal prompt changes from the normal user@MacBook-Pro to something like user@192-168-1-100, which can be distracting.

#Cause

When starting a terminal session, macOS performs a reverse DNS lookup to determine the hostname for the current IP address. If the private DNS server returns a hostname derived from IP octets (e.g. 192-168-1-100.example.com), the system adopts it as the Host Name and the terminal prompt reflects it.

#Fix

Use the built-in scutil (System Configuration Utility) to pin the Host Name to your preferred value.

#Check Current State

# View the current Host Name (may be empty or overridden by DNS)
scutil --get HostName

# View the local Bonjour name
scutil --get LocalHostName

# View the computer name shown in Finder
scutil --get ComputerName

#Set the Host Name

sudo scutil --set HostName "MacBook-Pro"

Prefer a name without spaces or special characters, such as MacBook-Pro, My-Mac, or your device serial number.

#Verify

Open a new terminal window — the value after @ in the prompt should now show your chosen hostname.

scutil --get HostName
# Output: MacBook-Pro

#Notes

• HostName only affects the network-level hostname. LocalHostName (Bonjour) and ComputerName (Finder display) are managed independently.
• If the issue returns after a reboot, check /etc/hosts for conflicting entries or verify whether the DHCP/DNS server continues to push an undesired hostname.