Change Twitter Handle: While it can often be difficult to change an unfortunate birth name, you’re not stuck with a bad name on your Twitter account. How you identify yourself online can say a lot about you, so it’s crucial to tailor your username to best fit your online persona. Luckily, it’s easy to change both your username and display name on Twitter, and there is no limit to how many times you can change them.
Though used interchangeably, your Twitter username and display name are not the same things. Your username is your unique Twitter handle, the name that appears in your profile URL and allows you to log in, reply to tweets, and direct message others (it’s the name that follows the @ symbol). Your display name, on the other hand, appears above your username on your profile page and is likely the name that most users will recognize you by.
If you think it’s time for a name change — whether to add a level of professionalism to your online persona or you’re just tired of the old name — here is our quick-hit guide on how to change your Twitter name.
About Twitter
Alternatively, as a business, you likely use Twitter for many of your marketing purposes — in fact, 75% of B2B businesses use Twitter as a part of their marketing strategy.
But what if your Twitter username, otherwise known as the handle, is “crfx14” or “catlover22”? (You know … just as a random example … ) If you feel your Twitter handle doesn’t appropriately represent you in 2019, there’s an easy fix. Here, we’ll show you how to change your Twitter handle, as well as how to change it on Twitter’s Mobile App.
Disclaimer: If you change your username, your followers will see a new username next to your profile — but it won’t necessarily affect your existing followers, Direct Messages, or replies. You’ll want to alert your followers so they know to Direct Message or reply to your new username.
How To Change Twitter Handle in 2021
Changing your Twitter handle is great if you’re trying to re-brand yourself, you want a cleaner URL, or you were embarrassing in college (me). Your Twitter handle is the collection of characters that come after the @ symbol. It is not your display name, which most likely, is your real name properly spaced out and capitalized.
Changing your Twitter handle will not impact much as far as your history goes. Any new tweets you make will, of course, carry the new handle, and the past tweets on your profile will be rebranded with the new handle.
If you’re ready to make the change, follow these steps.
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- Log in to Twitter: Go to Twitter.com and login to your account. You can use your phone number, email or username to login to your account. If you can’t remember your password, like me, you can click the Forgot password? and recover it that way.
- Click on your Twitter profile picture in the top right corner: Once logged in, you’ll find yourself on your news feed, filled with the tweets, retweets, and likes of the accounts you follow. Click on your little circular picture in the top right corner of the page. If you don’t have a profile picture, it will appear as a gear.
- Select Settings and privacy: When you click on the circular photo, a drop-down menu will appear. Select Settings and privacy about two-thirds of the way down.
- Edit username: Once here, it’s pretty straightforward. The Username field, which is also your Twitter handle, is the first thing on the page.
Create a unique Twitter username: Now, if you’re trying to become more professional or create a recognizable brand for yourself on social media, I recommend using your name in some variation. Unfortunately, if you’re like me and have a common name, the Twitter handle you want might already be taken. In that case, try including a few underscores or numbers until you’ve created a unique Twitter handle that no one has laid claim to yet. For mine, I included my middle initial and underscores for it to become @holly_h_hunt.
What To Do If Your Desired Twitter Handle Is Taken
Not infrequently, businesses find that someone has already registered the Twitter handle of their company’s name. If the account is active and the user is not impersonating your brand—even if you hold a trademark on the name—there’s little you can do. If someone is pretending to speak on behalf of your company, you have a few options.
First, you should try to contact the holder of the account in question by sending a tweet or finding a link to his or her contact details in the account bio. If you’re unable to contact the holder, you can then try to work through Twitter to gain possession of the account.
Twitter says they will suspend an account and notify the account container “where there is a clear intent to mislead others through the unauthorized use of a trademark.” If, however, an account appears to be confusing users, “but is not purposefully passing itself off as the brand/company/product,” the account holder will be notified and allowed to keep the account if he or she clears up any potential confusion.
