How to change your X (Twitter) username and display name

Your username, or handle, starts with @, is unique to your account and appears in your profile URL. You use it to log in, it shows on your replies and Direct Messages, and people can search for you by it. Your display name is separate: it can be your business name, your real name or something playful, it shows next to your username, and you can change it at any time.

• Usernames must be more than 4 characters long and can be up to 15
• Usernames can contain only letters, numbers and underscores: no spaces, symbols or dashes
• Usernames can't contain X's own name or the word Admin, unless it's an official X account
• Display names can be up to 50 characters

Sources: X Help Center: How to change your X username, checked 15 October 2026; X Help Center: Help with username registration, checked 15 October 2026

On x.com:

1. Click More in the navigation bar.
2. Click Settings and privacy.
3. Click Your account, then Account information.
4. Type your password to confirm it's you.
5. Update the username in the Username field. If it's taken, X prompts you to choose another one.
6. Click Save.

• In the app: go to Settings and privacy, tap Account, tap Username, update it and tap Done
• An older X help page says the mobile apps don't support username changes. If you can't find the option in the app, use x.com or mobile.x.com

Sources: X Help Center: How to change your X username, checked 15 October 2026; X Help Center: Help with common username issues, checked 15 October 2026

The same Edit profile screen changes your header photo (X recommends 1500x500 pixels), profile photo (400x400 pixels), bio (up to 160 characters), location and website. When you first set up a profile, X doesn't show the option to change your display name until you've uploaded a profile photo and a header photo.

1. Sign in to x.com or open the X app.
2. Go to your profile.
3. Select Edit profile.
4. Change the Name field, up to 50 characters.
5. Select Save.

Sources: X Help Center: How to customize your profile, checked 15 October 2026; X Help Center: How to change your X username, checked 15 October 2026

To move a username between two accounts you own: log in to the account that has it and change it to something else (adding a number or underscore works), then log in to your other account and change its username to the one you just freed.

• Your followers, Direct Messages and replies aren't affected. Followers just see the new username next to your profile photo
• Your old username becomes available to anyone straight away, so someone else can claim it
• X suggests telling your followers before you change it, so they send replies and messages to the new username
• If you have a blue checkmark, changing your username, display name or profile photo removes it temporarily while X reviews the account, and you can't make further changes during that review

Sources: X Help Center: How to change your X username, checked 15 October 2026; X Help Center: Help with common username issues, checked 15 October 2026; X Help Center: About X Blue Checkmark, checked 15 October 2026

• It's taken. Add an underscore before or after it, for example @yourname_ or @_yourname, and put your full business name in the display name
• It belongs to a suspended or deactivated account. Those usernames aren't immediately available
• It's inactive. X says it can't release inactive usernames
• Deactivating one of your own accounts doesn't immediately free its username. Change the username first instead
• It's longer than 15 characters or contains symbols, dashes or spaces
• You have a blue checkmark under review after a recent profile change, so further changes are blocked until the review ends

Sources: X Help Center: Help with username registration, checked 15 October 2026; X Help Center: Help with common username issues, checked 15 October 2026; X Help Center: About X Blue Checkmark, checked 15 October 2026

Our checklist, not X's, for a rename that doesn't lose customers:

1. Check the new username is free on X and, ideally, on your other social accounts too.
2. Post that you're changing your handle a few days before, since your old one becomes available to anyone the moment you switch.
3. Make the change, then keep your business name in the display name so people searching for it still find you.
4. Update every place that shows the old handle: your website, email signature, packaging, printed menus and other profiles.
5. Check any tools connected to your account still work after the change.

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