Your Twitter handle sounded great when you started your account years ago… but maybe it’s time for a change to something fresh and new, or more appropriate to where you are in life.
Luckily, Twitter allows you to change your handle as often as you like!
And changing your Twitter handle won’t affect your followers. They will simply see a new username next to your profile photo when you update.
In this article, we’ll show you how to change your Twitter @ in just a few, easy steps.
What Is A Twitter Handle?
A Twitter handle is also known as a Twitter username and it always begins with the “@” symbol.
For example, our Twitter handle is @itspreppr.
The Twitter handle you’ll use is often different from your display name that can be up to 50 characters long and will reflect your real name, your business, or be something playful.
Your Twitter handle is unique to your account and you will see it in your profile URL – e.g. https://twitter.com/itspreppr.
You will use your Twitter handle to log in to your account along with your password. When others see it in replies and Direct Messages, they can click on it and will be taken to your profile.
Users can also search for you by your username.
Rules For Changing A Twitter handle
These are the same as when you create a Twitter handle:
- Your username must contain at least four characters but no more than 15 characters.
- The characters can be made up of letters, numbers, and underscores.
- No spaces are allowed.
How To Change Your Twitter Handle
The steps for how to change your Twitter @ are basically the same regardless of which device or browser you use Twitter on.
We suggest you check that you have updated to the latest version of Twitter to ensure the steps below are easy to follow.
- Click on the More (ellipses in a circle) button in the left-hand navigation bar.
- Go to Settings and privacy.
- Go to Your account.
- Select Account information.
- You will be asked for your Twitter account password to confirm that it’s you making the change.
- Under Account information, you will see your current Twitter handle. Click on the arrow to go to the next step.
- Enter a new Twitter handle to update the one currently listed in the Username field. If the username is taken, you’ll be asked to choose another one. If it is available, you’ll see a green checkmark. Yeah! Twitter will also suggest some handles that relate to your profile and that are available if you find you’re struggling.
- Click the Save button and you’re done!
Should You Change It?
The reasons people decide to change their Twitter handle vary greatly. These could be to jump on a trend, to be more or less visible, to reflect their brand better, or because their handle is too complicated and difficult to remember.
Think of handles with lots of numbers or ones that don’t form a recognizable name or word. Or maybe your username is just too long. Long usernames take up space in messages and replies where others may want to @ you – space that could better be used to add more content, hashtags, or URLs.
Remember that changing your handle may make it more difficult for others to find you on Twitter. Also, note that once you change your username, your previous username will immediately be available for someone else to use.
We highly recommend you alert your followers that you changed your username. This way, they can be assured that the account still belongs to you and can use the new handle when messaging or mentioning you.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know how to change your Twitter @ and you are ready to start scheduling your Twitter posts to show off your brand new username. There’s nothing to stop you!
The steps are incredibly easy to follow and will take you just a few minutes.
Just note that finding a new username is not the easiest thing to do. With almost 330 million Twitter users worldwide, finding a unique Twitter handle that represents you and makes you stand out can be quite a challenge. But we believe in you – good luck!
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