Where to find the username setting

Your GitHub username lives in your account settings, not in your profile. Go to github.com, click your profile photo in the top right corner, and select Settings from the dropdown menu. On the left sidebar, click Account. The username field is near the top of that page, labeled Username.

You will see your current username in a text box. This is the name that appears in your GitHub URL (github.com/yourname) and in your public profile. Changing it here changes both places at once.

Key Takeaways

  • Your username setting is in Settings > Account, not in your profile editor.
  • GitHub lets you change your username once every seven days, and old URLs redirect automatically for the next year.
  • Changing your username does not affect repositories, issues, or pull requests — they stay attached to your account.
  • Some tools and scripts that reference your old username by URL will break until you update them.

The actual change and what happens next

Type your new username into the text box. GitHub checks in real time whether that name is available — if it is taken, you will see a red X and cannot save. If it is available, a green checkmark appears. Click Change username below the field.

GitHub will ask you to confirm by entering your password. Type it and click I understand, let me change my username. The change takes effect when ready. Your old username becomes available for someone else to claim after one year, and any links to your old profile (github.com/oldname) will redirect to your new one for twelve months.

What breaks and what does not

Your repositories, commits, issues, and pull requests all stay exactly where they are. They remain attached to your account under your new username. Anyone who has starred your repos or followed you will still see your new name — there is no separate notification, but their connections stay intact.

What does break: any script, documentation, or tool that hardcodes your old GitHub URL will point to a dead link after the one-year redirect expires. If you have a README that says "clone from github.com/oldname/myrepo", update it to the new URL. If you use GitHub's API in a script and reference your username directly, update that too. SSH keys and personal access tokens do not change and do not need updating.

The seven-day waiting period between changes

GitHub enforces a seven-day cooldown between username changes. If you change your username today, you cannot change it again until seven days from now. This limit exists to prevent rapid cycling through names and to give the redirect system time to stabilize.

If you made a typo or chose a name you regret, you have to wait the full seven days before trying again. There is no way to speed this up or request an exception.

Changing your display name instead

If you want to change how your name appears on your profile but keep your username the same, that is a different setting. Go to Settings > Profile and look for the Name field at the top. This is your display name — it can be anything, does not have to be unique, and can be changed anytime without any waiting period. Your username stays the same and your URL does not change.

Many people use their display name for their real name or a friendly version, and keep their username as a short handle or identifier. The display name is what shows on your profile card; the username is what goes in the URL.

If your desired username is taken

GitHub usernames are first-come, first-served. If the name you want is already in use, you cannot claim it unless the current owner abandons it. Deleted accounts free up their usernames after ninety days, but you cannot reserve a name in advance or request that someone else release theirs.

Your options are to choose a variation (adding a number, underscore, or abbreviation), wait and check back periodically if you know the account is inactive, or accept a different name. Some people use a hyphen or underscore to modify their first choice — github.com/john-smith instead of github.com/johnsmith, for example.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my old GitHub URL still work after I change my username?

Yes, for one year. GitHub automatically redirects github.com/oldname to github.com/newname for twelve months. After that, the old URL becomes a 404. Update any links in documentation, websites, or scripts before the year is up.

Do I need to update my SSH key or personal access token?

No. SSH keys and tokens are tied to your account, not your username. They continue to work exactly as before. You do not need to regenerate or reconfigure them.

What happens to my repositories when I change my username?

They stay in your account and their URLs change automatically. A repo at github.com/oldname/myrepo becomes github.com/newname/myrepo. The old URL redirects for one year. All your commits, issues, and pull requests stay attached to your account.

Can I change my username back to what it was before?

Only if nobody else has claimed it. If you changed from "alice" to "alice-dev" and want to go back to "alice", you can do that after seven days — but only if "alice" is still available. If someone else took it in the meantime, you cannot reclaim it.

Does changing my username affect my GitHub Pages site?

If your site is at username.github.io, yes — the URL changes to newusername.github.io. You will need to update any bookmarks or external links. If your site uses a custom domain, the custom domain stays the same and continues to work.