The quickest way to change your username

Go to your GitHub account settings, click the "Account" tab on the left, find the "Change username" field, type your new name, and click "Change username" to confirm. The whole process takes about two minutes. GitHub will redirect your old username to your new one for the next year, so existing links to your repositories still work.

Your repositories, gists, and profile all move with you automatically. Anyone who has forked your work or starred your repositories will still see those connections. The only thing that breaks when ready is if someone has bookmarked your profile URL — but GitHub's redirect handles most of that traffic for twelve months.

Key Takeaways

  • Change your username in Account settings under the "Change username" field, and GitHub redirects your old username for one year.
  • Your repositories and all their history stay intact, and forks and stars remain connected to your account.
  • If you use SSH keys or have cloned repositories locally, you do not need to update anything — GitHub handles the redirect on the server side.
  • Changing your username does not affect your email address, password, or two-factor authentication settings.
  • You can change your username once every seven days, so plan ahead if you want to try a different name.

Where to find the username setting

Log in to GitHub and click your profile picture in the top right corner. Select "Settings" from the dropdown menu. On the left sidebar, click "Account". Scroll down until you see the "Change username" section — it is near the bottom of the page, below your public profile name and email settings.

The field shows your current username in a text box. Click inside it, clear the existing text, and type your new username. GitHub shows you when ready whether the name is available — if it is taken, you will see a red X and a message saying the username is unavailable. If it is free, you will see a green checkmark.

What happens to your repositories and links

Every repository you own, every gist, and every project page moves to your new username automatically. If someone cloned your repository using the HTTPS URL, their local copy still works because GitHub redirects the old path to the new one. If they cloned using SSH, nothing changes at all — the redirect happens on GitHub's servers, not on their machine.

Links that people shared to your profile or repositories will still work for one year. After that year, the redirect expires and old links will 404. If you have a popular repository, you might want to update the README or documentation to point people to your new username, but it is not urgent.

Updating your local repositories after the change

If you cloned repositories using HTTPS and want to update them to use your new username, open the terminal or command prompt in your local repository folder. Type git remote -v to see your current remote URL. It will still show your old username, but it works fine because of the redirect.

To update it anyway, type git remote set-url origin https://github.com/[your-new-username]/[repository-name].git, replacing the bracketed parts with your actual new username and repository name. This is optional — the old URL will continue to work for a year. Many developers leave it alone and update only when they refresh their local clones.

Things that do not change

Your email address stays the same. Your password stays the same. Two-factor authentication, SSH keys, and personal access tokens all remain active and do not need to be updated. Your contribution graph and commit history stay attached to your account — changing your username does not erase what you have built.

If you have a GitHub Pages site at username.github.io, you will need to rename the repository to match your new username. Go to the repository settings, find the "Repository name" field, and change it to [your-new-username].github.io. GitHub will update your site's URL automatically once you save.

The seven-day waiting period between changes

GitHub limits you to one username change every seven days. If you change your username and then want to change it again, you must wait a full week. This is a safety measure to prevent account takeover and confusion. If you made a typo or changed your mind, you have to live with it for seven days before you can try again.

Plan your new username carefully before you click the button. Think about whether it matches your professional brand, whether it is straightforward to spell, and whether you will want to keep it for a while. If you are unsure, wait a day or two before making the change.

Reclaiming your old username later

After you change your username, your old username becomes available for someone else to claim. You cannot reserve it or keep it blocked. If you think you might want to use your old username again in the future, you could create a second account with that name and keep it inactive, but GitHub's terms of service do not allow account squatting.

The safest approach is to choose a username you plan to use long-term. If you have a strong reason to switch back to your old username later, you can change your current username to something else and then claim your original name — but you still have to wait seven days between each change.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to update my SSH keys after changing my username?

No. SSH keys are tied to your account, not your username. They continue to work exactly as before. The redirect happens on GitHub's server side, so your local machine does not need any updates.

What happens to pull requests and issues I created under my old username?

They stay attached to your account and show your new username. Anyone viewing old pull requests or issues will see your new username, not the old one. The history is preserved, but the name displayed is current.

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

Yes, changing your personal username does not affect any organizations you own or belong to. Organization names are separate and have their own settings. You can change your personal username without touching your organization.

Will my GitHub Pages site break if I change my username?

Only if your site is at username.github.io. You must rename that repository to match your new username for the site to keep working. Other GitHub Pages sites hosted in repositories with custom names are not affected.

How long does the redirect from my old username last?

GitHub redirects your old username to your new one for exactly one year. After that, the old username becomes available for someone else to claim, and old links will no longer work. Update any important links or documentation before the year is up.