How to reserve and change your username on WhatsApp

Chat app owned by Meta WhatsApp has started rolling out username reservations to its 3 billion users earlier in June. The username feature is not active, but you can claim your username and start using it when the feature becomes available this year.

Using usernames, people will be able to share their WhatsApp contacts without having to reveal their phone number. This can be useful for people who want others to contact them via WhatsApp, but don’t want to share their information or phone numbers. For businesses, it may be easier to share a name with their customers than a phone number.

Here’s how to reserve your username:

• Go to Settings > Account Click on the Username option under the “Your Account” section.
• If you are setting up your username for the first time, you will be given the option to “Create Username”, after which you can type and choose your username.
• If the username you chose is not available, WhatsApp will suggest some variations if you click on the “Suggest username” option.

WhatsApp reserves certain usernames for public figures and entities, so you won’t be able to reserve them for yourself. If you already have a Facebook or Instagram username, you can log in through either service and reserve your username as a username as well.

Once the username is set, you can go to the same menu and change it by clicking on the “Edit” button in the upper right corner. Alternatively, you can also delete your username.

WhatsApp also allows an additional layer of protection with a username key. You can select people who contact you from “Everyone” to “People who know my key” from the username list. This means that people who know your username will also type in a four-digit key before contacting you for the first time. Users can save the key or create a new key at any time.

The username feature will be activated in the coming weeks. Until then, WhatsApp only allows people to claim their usernames to avoid duplication.