Your name is what people see first, and it can be anything, in any language. Your username is your @name. It’s yours alone, and it’s what your profile link and mentions use. Search finds you by either one.
Side by side
| Name | Username | |
|---|---|---|
| Looks like | Sara Khalil | @sara_k3f9 |
| Can someone else have it? | Yes, any number of people | No, it’s yours alone |
| What it can use | Any letters, in any language, with spaces and emoji | English letters, numbers and _ only |
| Length | Up to 40 characters | 3 to 30 characters |
| Where it shows | In large letters on your profile, and on your posts | Under your name, in your profile link, and in mentions |
Which one to change
- Change your Name to show your real name, or a name in Arabic. Nothing else changes.
- Change your Username when you want a different @name. Your profile link changes too, and your old username is held for 60 days.
Both are in Settings → Edit profile. The app labels them Name and Username. On the website, your name is the large text at the top of Settings → Profile, and your username is under it, with a Change button.