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WhatsApp is launching usernames: here’s how to reserve yours
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WhatsApp is launching usernames: here’s how to reserve yours
You can’t browse WhatsApp usernames, so people will need to know your exact username to contact you.
You can’t browse WhatsApp usernames, so people will need to know your exact username to contact you.
by Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
News Reporter
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All by Jess Weatherbed
Jun 29, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC
You can reserve the username you want to use before the feature starts rolling out later this year.
Image: Meta / WhatsApp
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Follow See All by Jess Weatherbed
is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews.
WhatsApp is introducing a new way to add and chat with contacts, without having to share your phone number. Usernames will launch “later this year,” in a move to make the communications platform “even more private,” allowing you to keep your phone number concealed from people who aren’t already in your contacts.
Usernames are available to reserve starting this week, giving you time to claim a specific handle you may already be using elsewhere before the WhatsApp username feature officially launches. The username launch will be rolling out gradually over the coming months, and users will be notified when the feature is available in their country.
“With over three billion people on WhatsApp a lot of names overlap, which is why we’re opening reservations early so everyone has the opportunity to select the username that matters to them,” WhatsApp said in its announcement.
Here’s how you can enable the username key feature when it rolls out later this year.
Image: Meta / WhatsApp
You can reserve your username by heading to Settings > Account > Username in the latest version of WhatsApp on Android, or by tapping You, selecting your profile, and tapping on Create Username for iOS users. Individuals and organizations will have the option to claim their existing Instagram or Facebook handles, as long as it hasn’t been taken by another user. WhatsApp product head Alice Newton-Rex told The Verge that usernames for famous figures like celebrities and politicians have already been reserved to prevent them from being claimed — so if you share a name with a recognized public figure, you’ll have to create an alternative handle.
You can’t browse for people using their usernames, so you’ll need to know the exact username of a new contact before you can reach out to them.
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- WhatsApp is launching usernames: here’s how to reserve yours
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