How to Change Account Name on Instagram

Instagram is a popular social media platform, with active users toppling one billion. It’s owned by Facebook and people use it for different reasons, like personal purposes or to advertise a business. Instagram is also popular amongst “influencers”, who use the platform to promote products and services for businesses. As an image-based platform, Instagram is most common amongst the younger age groups, particularly the 25-34 age group, and less popular with the 65+ age group.

Setting up a Profile

It’s easy to set up a profile on Instagram, but you will need to think about an account name and username. Your account name doesn’t need to be unique, but the username does and if you attempt to choose one that someone else has taken, you’ll get an error message with some suggestions for alternatives. Unlike some other social media platforms, you can change your account name whenever you want on Instagram.

Changing your Account Name

So you may be wondering, how to change account name on Instagram. There are many reasons why you may want to change your account name, for example, if it’s a business account, you might change your company name and need to alter the account name as well. You may want to change it for the simple reason that you no longer like the one you have. You can change the account name at any time!

These are the instructions for changing your account name on Instagram:

1. Go into your Instagram app.
2. At the bottom right of the screen, you will find an account icon which will take you to your profile page.
3. Go to edit profile.
4. Tap on Name or Username and make your changes.
5. Click on done when you are finished.

Reasons Not to Change Your Account Name

Although you might have a perfectly valid reason for altering your account name, you should do so with caution. If you are simply doing it because you feel like a change, you might want to think twice. If it’s a necessity because of a business name change, then you may have no choice. These are some reasons why you might want to proceed with caution when changing your account name.

You might lose followers

If you suddenly change your account name, your followers might not recognize you, and may end up unfollowing you. It may also cause problems if someone is randomly looking for you and searching via your account name; they will end up getting an error message. This is particularly challenging if you are changing the account name for a business. You could lose followers or even miss out on customers if you change your account name.

You may lose links to your account name

If you’ve put your account name out there on other social media accounts, those links will no longer be relevant. If you’re trying to increase your followers and you have already been marketing your account name, this could be a problem.

There may be a delay on Google searches

It might take a while for Google to recognize your new account name and so for a short period of time there may be a delay on your account being found on searches.

The bottom line is that if you are going to change your account name, just be aware of the consequences. It might be wise to only change it if you really need rather than just because you feel like something new. However, this depends on you choose to use and engage with the platform.

About the author

Lina Stewart

Lina is a content writer at Social Tradia who turns social media data into stories worth reading. Off the clock, she's reading a novel, sipping cold coffee, or losing the couch to her cat.

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