ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:Changing username
Registered users on the English Wikipedia are able to seek username changes. Renames are carried out by bureaucrats, in accordance with the username policy, changing username guidelines, and their own discretion. Requests for usernames which are offensive, promotional, disruptive, misleading, or confusing are not accepted. Please read this entire page of guidance carefully before proceeding to one of the two venues for making requests listed below.
Must read
- A rename moves your contributions and userspace pages to a new name, while preserving your account preferences.
- It is not currently possible to rename accounts with more than 50,000 edits.
- If the job queue is very busy, it might take a number of days before the software reattributes all your contributions.
Please be aware of the following renaming limitations and restrictions:
- Accounts cannot be merged or deleted. They can only be renamed.
- Consequently, it is not possible to re-assign edits made through an IP address.
- Our bureaucrats are able to perform renames only on the English Wikipedia. Renames on other projects are done locally, or (if no local bureaucrats exist) through a request on meta wiki.
- If the requested username is actively used on another Wikimedia project, the request will be declined to avoid creating new SUL conflicts.
- Your username cannot contain underscores and cannot start with a lowercase letter.
- Existing signatures and mentions of the old username in discussions are not affected by a rename, and must be edited manually if desired.
- Renames appear in the user rename log and requests are moved to the archives. This is done in the interest of transparency, and there are no exceptions.
There are several alternatives to a rename. Please consider them.
- Your username cannot begin with a lowercase letter. Try placing {{lowercase}} on your userpage.
- If you simply want to change your "public appearance" on talk pages, you can change your signature. Note that this is not an alternative to changing your username if the name is in breach of the username policy.
- If you want to retire from Wikipedia, place {{retired}} or a similar declaration on your userpage. A request for a rename to something like RetiredUser123 will be declined. Respected users wishing to vanish completely, perhaps by way of a rename to a random character string, are an exception to this rule.
- Users who have made very few edits are encouraged to register a new account and discard the old one. You can even copy your old watchlist to your new account.
Other things to consider:
- Using your real name as a username may put you at risk of harassment.
- Once you have been renamed, your old account will no longer exist and could be recreated by a third party. To guard against impersonation, you may wish to recreate the old account yourself and make redirects.
Venues
It's important to choose the right venue for your request. Otherwise, it may be delayed or declined. Once you are sure, proceed to the correct venue and follow the instructions there:
- Simple – For renames to usernames that are not already taken. Check here to see whether the username you want is available.
- Usurpations – For renames to usernames that are already taken and have no significant edits.