For many starting out streaming finding your brand can be a difficult task. One may be thinking of changing their name from time to time as they develop their streaming niche and finding their place within Twitch. Luckily, you do not need to start over with a new account and lose all the hard work you’ve already put in. You can simply go into your settings and request a username change. Here’s how below.
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Reasons for Username Changes
There could be many personal reasons for the desire to change your Twitch Username. Whether it is because you have excessive numbers or letters in your name or because you feel your current username does not fit well as a brand image changing your username is easy and quick. Here are some things to consider when choosing a new Twitch username.
- Keep it short, easy to say, and catchy
- Avoid underscores ( _ ) and hyphens ( – )
- Avoid wrapping your username is Xx xX or something similar
- Avoid numbers as letter substitutes, if possible. It looks tacky. For example, if Streaminal was taken then one might think to go with Str34m1n4l is a good idea.
Think about it, everybody knows and talks about Ninja, but nobody is talking about __Ninja__635941. That username looks immature and unprofessional. Keeping it short and clean allows you to be memorable to a community and will establish a brand easier.
Should you grow large enough for starting your own merchandise story, who would really want to buy a t-shirt or sweatshirt with __Ninja__635941 printed on it. It doesn’t look good, it’s messy and unprofessional.
A clean and simple username would be benefitial in networking. Imagine you are at TwitchCon and somebody asks you what your channel is to follow it later when they get back to the hotel. If you say something like XxStreaminal_BlogxX123 the chances of them remembering that to search later will be slim, but if it’s something simple like StreaminalBlog they will easily find you.
Steps to Change your Twitch Username
Twitch allows you to change your username every 60 days. So some consideration should be made before jumping into a new username as it will be permanent for two months until you can change it again. Frequent username changes can also hurt your growth as you will be confusing your audience over and over again.
- Log into your Twitch account and click on your Channel Icon on the top right of the screen.
2. Select Setting from the drop down menu.
3. Under the profile tab scroll down until you see Profile Settings. Here you will see the username field with a pencil icon on the right. Click the pencil icon.
4. The change username window will pop up allowing you to enter in your new desired Twitch username. Twitch will give a green checkmark if the username is available and a red minus if the username is taken.
And that’s it! Once you hit update you now have your new username immediately and anybody that follows your channel will now see you as the new username.
What if the Twitch Username I want is already taken, but the account doesn’t look active?
If you are dead set on a particular Twitch username, but the change username window is showing it taken already you can go and view that channel and see if it’s been active. You may find that the channel looks dead without any videos uploaded, 0 followers, and no bio description.
To do this simply type your desired username at the end of the Twitch URL:
https://www.twitch.tv/username
This can give you hope that the username may be freed up in the future by Twitch’s username recycle program. Every 6 months Twitch recycles abandoned usernames freeing them up to be available for use by somebody else. Twitch will not announce when usernames are recycled so one should make reminders to frequently check on a weekly or monthly basis to ensure they get the desired username before somebody else picks it up.
Things to Consider after Twitch Username Change
So you got your new Twitch username, now what are some other things that you need to consider?
Social Media updates for your rebrand. Make sure you also double-check your Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts will also have the new username available. If these usernames end up being taken on those platforms you could deviate the username with a TTV or Twitch included at the end. This will be less than ideal, but will at least allow a connection to your Twitch channel on these platforms for fans to know.
Lost recognition if viewers have not followed or subscribed to your channel. Sometimes you could very well have viewers that click on your stream by simply seeing you live in the game category you are streaming. It may be worth tweeting out your rebrand and even including the announcement in your stream title for some time so that your audience will get the message.
Merchandise will need updating. This would be a big one, and many fans may get upset knowing they purchased your merchandise that is now meaningless. If you have been selling merchandise you may want to strongly consider not rebranding as you’ve clearly established a loyal community that has been supporting you.
Conclusion
Selecting a Twitch username can be very stressful. It is simultaneously the most important decision you will make while also being the least important thing once decided. A good, clean, catchy username can attract potential viewers when browsing the game category you are streaming.
At the end of the day, a Twitch username will probably not make or break your stream. However, starting out with a brandable name could help your potential in the future should you grow into something special.
Need some help coming up with a new Twitch username?
Check out our username generator guide Top 5 Twitch Username Generators