How To Change Your Username On Instagram In 2023

For anyone who regularly shares content on social media platforms, having a unique and memorable username is crucial. More often than not, people who view your profile and follow your posts will have the easiest time remembering who you are based on your handle. This principle applies to those who use Instagram, so it's best to have a username that accurately reflects your personality or the type of content you share on the platform.

Choosing an Instagram username when you first sign up for an account is one of the media-sharing platform's requirements. Much like other social media apps, you have the option to change your username — also known as a handle — at a later time, in case you think of a more suitable one. Updating your Instagram username is not at all a hard task to accomplish. You can easily do so through Instagram's web platform as well as its mobile apps for iOS and Android. However, before you undertake the process of changing your Instagram handle, you need to orient yourself with certain parameters.

It's worth pointing out that your Instagram username is different from your Instagram display name. The latter may refer to your full name, business name, or nick name that you go by in real life. Although you can update your display name just like you can your username, you can only change how your name appears on your Instagram profile twice within 14 days — you should see fineprint confirming this when you try to edit your profile through your computer or mobile device. In contrast, there is no limit to how many times you can change your Instagram username (though there may be significant repercussions, which we will get to later).

There are also several Instagram username limitations you need to consider as you are thinking of a new moniker to use instead of your current one. Instagram usernames are limited to a maximum of 30 characters and must only contain letters, numbers, periods, or underscores. You cannot use spaces or other special characters. Furthermore, it's recommended that you avoid using profanity and other offensive language that may go against Instagram's community standards.

Once you've finalized your decision on what Instagram username to update to, you can go through the process via Instagram's mobile app or desktop platform.

The process for changing your Instagram handle is similar whether you use the mobile app on an iPhone, iPad, or Android mobile device. Follow these steps:

1. Launch the Instagram mobile and provide your login credentials when prompted.
2. Tap your profile photo in the bottom-right corner of the screen.
3. Hit Edit profile near the top of your profile page.
4. In the Username field, type your desired username to switch to.
5. Tap Done or the checkmark symbol in the top-right corner of the screen to finalize the change.

If you prefer to access Instagram using your computer or your mobile device and replace your handle without going through the mobile app, here's how:

1. Launch a web or mobile browser and go to instagram.com. Provide your login details when prompted.
2. Click your profile photo in the top-right or bottom-right corner of the page.
3. On top of your profile page, hit Edit profile.
4. In the Username field, input the new username you'd like to use instead.
5. Hit Submit at the bottom of the screen.

If you've chosen a new and suitable Instagram handle that fulfills all of Instagram's requirements and limitations, changes should take effect instantly. If your account happens to have a wide audience reach, Instagram may need to review your username change first. You should be notified once the review process has concluded. In addition, in some cases, your followers may also get a notification about your username change. Otherwise, they will just see your posts in their Instagram feed bearing your new handle.

When you make the decision to switch your Instagram username to a new one, you ought to make sure that you also update your Instagram profile link in places you've shared your social media details online, such as third-party websites (including your own, if you have one), blogs, your email signature, and other online account profiles where you are encouraged to include your Instagram handle in your bio.

When you were typing in your new username on the "Edit profile" page, you may have noticed a fine print saying that should you decide to revert back to your previous username, you have the next 14 days to do so. Once the 14 days are up, the Instagram handle you overwrote will officially be up for grabs for any Instagram user who wants it, along with other usernames you've used in the past.

If no other person has taken your previously used username, you may be able to use it again (per Instagram). You can also reclaim an old Instagram handle that has been grabbed by someone else if they themselves update their own username and hasn't undone any changes within the allotted 14 days.

You may have the desire to switch to an already-taken Instagram handle that seems to be connected to an inactive user. Unfortunately, Instagram usernames are available on a first-come, first-served basis, so owners of seemingly inactive accounts that bear a handle you're interested in cannot be claimed. You can attempt to reach out to the person via direct message and request to exchange usernames, but this is not guaranteed to work. Instead, Instagram suggests that you opt for a variation of the same username, with additional periods, numbers, or underscores. The only exception for claiming an already-taken Instagram username is if it bears a registered trademark that you own. If that is the case, you can file a report.

If you try updating to a new Instagram username and it fails, it could be due to a number of reasons. Apart from someone else already owning it, it may belong to a person who merely temporarily deactivated their account. Someone else also may have updated their own username to a new one but is still within the 14-day timeframe for reverting back to their previous handle. In these cases, there's nothing you can do but think of a new username to switch to.

If you suspect that there may be an issue with Instagram itself that is causing your attempt to change usernames to fail, you can try clearing your Instagram cache or deleting and reinstalling the Instagram app on your mobile device to essentially clear the pipes and start the process from scratch.