Changing your TikTok username is easy, and takes seconds. Or 30-days, if you try to change it too often. Your new username will then be how your fans find your content, although you’ll need to update any links outside the app.
TikTok has quickly evolved to become one of the world’s most popular and frequently used social media platforms since its introduction in September 2016. Here’s a brief history of how TikTok started and eventually took the world by storm.
When you first sign up for TikTok, you might not give much thought to your username. It’s no big deal, right? But as you see it plastered across every single video you make, and any time someone wants to tag you, that username suddenly seems like a huge problem. If you don’t want to delete the TikTok video, then you’ll need to change the username once and for all.
Find out how to change your TikTok username with this guide.
What Is Your TikTok Username?
Your TikTok username is the @ by which your account is identified. This is the way other users can find you and tag you. Your TikTok nickname is the name that’s visible to users when they visit your profile.
Your username is the way everyone on TikTok identifies you. It has to be a unique name that no one else on the app has.
When you first create your TikTok account, you might have picked any random thing to be your username. Particularly if you only planned on using the account to browse the ‘For You’ page. But then you got into it, and you started creating your own content, and now you have an audience interested in what you’re doing.
But you also still have that bad username you signed up with. And it isn’t what you want to be known as.
Or, you might have changed your content over time. Maybe you first signed up for quick cooking videos, only to realize that you’re actually really good at dancing. And now @yournamebakes just doesn’t make sense anymore.
Or perhaps you just woke up this morning with a killer idea for a username!
Read more: How To Change Your TikTok Location
Can You Change Your TikTok Username?
Yes! You can change your TikTok username every 30 days, as long as you keep it unique and follow the rules.
How To Change Your TikTok Username
Changing your TikTok username is really quick and easy. The hardest part is finding the perfect @ for your username.
- Launch TikTok on your smartphone, and make sure you’re logged into the account that you want a new username.
- Tap on the Profile link on the main menu. This can be found in the lower-right corner at the very bottom of the screen.
- Tap “Edit Profile”.
- Tap “Username”.
- Clear the box of your previous username, and enter your new one. Remember, the username has to be a maximum of 24 characters. Also, you can only include letters, numbers, underscores, and periods. Periods cannot be at the end of the username.
- Double-check that you’ve typed everything correctly and that you’re happy with your username. Once you hit save, you’ll be stuck with the username for 30 days.
- All good? Tap “Save”, and your username will be updated.
This will only update the username on your profile. So, if you have links to your TikTok account on other social media platforms, these will need to be updated manually.
Read more: How To Turn On Profile Views On TikTok
Why Can’t I Change My TikTok Username?
If you can’t change your TikTok username, it’s probably because you’ve updated it too recently. TikTok only allows you to change your username every 30 days. So, if you’ve already had a username change in the past month, you’ll be stuck with it for a little while longer.
On the other hand, it might be that your new username doesn’t fit the TikTok guidelines. Check that it’s 24 characters or under, and only contains letters, numbers, periods, and underscores. If you’ve put a period in the end, your username won’t work!
Usernames are meant to be unique, so if someone already has your chosen name, then you can’t use them. If this is what happened, a message will appear saying: “This username isn’t available. Try a suggested name, or enter a new one”.
If you’ve done all of this and you still can’t change your name, then it’s likely a problem with your account. Get in touch with TikTok support to see if they can sort it out.
Is There A Way To Change Your TikTok Username Before 30 Days?
Following TikTok rules, you can only change your username every 30 days. But what if you’ve realized there’s an error, or you’ve just thought of an ideal username that’s too good to leave for 30 days?
It is possible to change your TikTok username as soon as you want, but it requires a bit of trickery.
To change your TikTok username before the 30-day time period is up, you need to edit the settings on your phone.
- Using an iPhone, launch the Settings app.
- Tap “General” and then tap “Date & Time”.
- Then you have to turn off the “Set Automatically” setting. This is what determines your time based on your location. Turn this off so that you can adjust the time to your liking.
- Now you need to manually set your date. You can do this by clicking on the date and time, and scrolling through the month. Make sure to pick a day at least 30 days from your last username change.
- Save the new time zone setting.
- Finally, return to TikTok, and you should be able to edit your username again!
Once you’ve changed your username, make sure to go back and edit your time and date setting again.
The process will vary slightly depending on your phone’s make and model, but you should still be able to change the date via settings on an Android device.
Final Thoughts
Your TikTok username is plastered all over your videos, so you want to make sure that it’s the right one. It’s also important to remember that you can only change your name once every thirty days.
So, if your current username is perfect, you probably don’t want to start messing with it. Other than that, changing your TikTok username is easy, and a great way to rebrand if needed.
You can read additional TikTok articles here.
