GitHub lets you change your username once every seven days, and the change takes effect when ready across all your repositories and profile pages

When you change your username on GitHub, the old name redirects to your new one for 300 days. This means links to your old profile still work, and people who knew you by your old name can still find you. After 300 days, the old username becomes available for someone else to claim. Your repositories, commit history, and all your work stay attached to your account — the change is purely cosmetic.

The process itself takes about two minutes and happens entirely in your account settings. You do not need to contact GitHub support or wait for approval. However, there are a few things that break or need updating after you change your name, and those are worth knowing about before you hit the button.

Key Takeaways

  • You can change your GitHub username once every seven days by going to Settings > Account and typing a new name in the "Change username" field.
  • Your old username redirects to your new one for 300 days, so old links and mentions still work during that window.
  • Git clones and local repositories do not automatically update — you will need to change the remote URL in any project you cloned before the change.
  • If you use GitHub Pages, your site URL changes from username.github.io to newusername.github.io, and you may need to update DNS records or repository settings.
  • Any third-party tools or CI/CD pipelines that reference your old username by name will stop working until you update them.

Where to find the username change setting

Log into GitHub and go to the top right corner where your profile picture appears. Click it and select Settings. On the left sidebar, click Account. You will see a section labeled "Change username" with a text field showing your current name. Type your new username there and click Update username.

GitHub will ask you to confirm by typing your password. After you do, the change is live. Your profile URL changes from github.com/oldname to github.com/newname, and anyone visiting the old URL will be redirected automatically.

What breaks and how to fix it

If you have cloned repositories on your computer, the remote URL still points to the old username. When you try to push or pull, you will get an error. To fix this, open the terminal in your local project folder and run git remote set-url origin https://github.com/newusername/repository-name.git, replacing newusername and repository-name with your actual new name and the repo name. You can check what your current remote URL is by running git remote -v.

If you use GitHub Pages to host a website, your site URL changes from username.github.io to newusername.github.io. If you own a custom domain (like yoursite.com), the DNS records usually still point to the right place, but you should check your repository settings under the Pages tab to make sure the custom domain field is still filled in correctly. If it is blank, re-enter your domain name and save.

Any scripts, webhooks, or CI/CD tools (like GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or CircleCI) that reference your old username by name will fail. Search your repository settings and any connected tools for mentions of your old username and update them to the new one. This includes any hardcoded URLs in configuration files or documentation.

Updating documentation and README files

If your README files, wiki pages, or documentation contain links to your profile or repositories using your old username, those links will still work for 300 days because of the redirect. However, it is cleaner to update them yourself rather than rely on the redirect. Search your repositories for your old username and replace it with the new one in any markdown or text files.

Pay special attention to installation instructions that tell users to clone your repositories. If those instructions include your old username in the clone URL, update them so new users get the right path.

The 300-day redirect window

GitHub holds your old username in a redirect state for 300 days. During this time, anyone who visits github.com/oldusername will be sent to github.com/newusername automatically. This applies to profile pages, repository URLs, and direct links. After 300 days, the old username is released and can be claimed by someone else.

This redirect window gives you time to update links in documentation, update tools that reference your old name, and notify collaborators. It does not mean you can ignore the updates — it just means you are not in a rush to do them all on day one.

Changing your username back or changing it again

If you change your mind, you can change your username again, but you have to wait seven days between changes. So if you change from alice to bob today, you cannot change to carol until seven days from now. This limit exists to prevent username squatting and confusion in the community.

If someone else claimed your old username during the 300-day redirect window (which is unlikely but possible), you cannot reclaim it. Choose a name you are comfortable keeping for a while.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do my commits stay attached to my account if I change my username?

Yes. Your commit history, contributions graph, and all your work remain tied to your account. The change is only to your username display — it does not affect the underlying account or any of your repositories.

Will my followers or stars transfer to my new username?

Yes. People who follow you or star your repositories will still follow and star you under your new username. The redirect handles this automatically.

What happens if I have SSH keys set up?

SSH keys are tied to your account, not your username, so they continue to work. However, if you have SSH URLs in your local repositories (like git@github.com:oldusername/repo.git), you should update them to use your new username for consistency, even though they will still function.

Can I change my username if I have a GitHub organization?

You can change your personal username, but organization names are separate and have their own settings. If you want to change an organization name, go to the organization settings page and look for the organization name field there.

Do I need to update my GitHub email address when I change my username?

No. Your email address is independent of your username and does not need to change. You can update your email in Settings > Account if you want to, but it is not required when you change your username.