You can change your GitHub username from your account settings in about two minutes

Go to github.com, sign in, and click your profile photo in the top right corner. Select Settings, then Account in the left sidebar. Find the Change username section and enter your new name. GitHub will tell you when ready whether it is available. Click I understand, let me change my username and confirm.

The change takes effect right away. Your old username becomes available for someone else to claim after about five minutes. Any repositories you own will still be yours, but the web address for each one changes to reflect your new username.

Key Takeaways

  • You reach the username change form through Settings > Account, not through a separate page or email process.
  • GitHub shows you when ready whether a new username is taken, so you can try alternatives without waiting.
  • Your repositories move with you automatically, but their URLs change, so any links you have shared will break.
  • Your old username becomes available for others to use after about five minutes, so you cannot reclaim it later.
  • People who have forked your repositories or starred them will still see those actions tied to your old username in their history.

What happens to your repositories when you change your username

Every repository you own moves to a new URL that includes your new username. If your old username was alex-smith and you change it to alexsmith, a repository that was at github.com/alex-smith/my-project will now be at github.com/alexsmith/my-project.

Any links you have posted online — in a resume, a portfolio, a README file on another site, or a social media profile — will no longer work. GitHub does not redirect the old URLs to the new ones. If you have shared links to your repositories, you will need to update them yourself or let people know the new address.

Collaborators who have cloned your repository will need to update their local copy to point to the new URL. They can do this by running git remote set-url origin [new-url] in their local repository folder, or they can delete the old clone and clone it again from the new address.

Why your old username cannot be reused

Once you change your username, GitHub holds the old one for about five minutes before releasing it. During that window, the old name is locked to your account so that no one else can claim it while your repositories are still being updated in the background.

After those five minutes pass, the old username becomes available for anyone to register. You cannot reclaim it yourself later. If you think you might want to use the old name again, you should change it back before you leave the Settings page — that is the only time you can do it without waiting for the five-minute window.

How to update links after you change your username

Search for your old GitHub username on your own website, resume, LinkedIn profile, and any other place you have linked to your repositories. Replace each link with the new one. If you have a personal website that lists your GitHub profile, update that link too.

If you have shared your repository URL in documentation, comments, or issues on other sites, those links will return a 404 error. You can either update them if you control the content, or leave a note in your GitHub profile bio directing people to your new username.

For repositories that other people depend on, consider adding a note in the README file or in the repository description explaining that the username has changed and where to find the project now.

What does not change when you update your username

Your GitHub account itself stays the same. Your email address, password, two-factor authentication settings, and all your account history remain exactly as they were. Your contributions graph, your followers, and the people you follow all stay attached to your account.

Issues, pull requests, and comments you have made on other people's repositories will still show your new username. Forks and stars you have made will still be associated with your account. The only thing that changes is the URL where people can find your repositories and your profile.

Changing your username back if you change your mind

You can change your username as many times as you want. If you realize you made a mistake or want to go back to your old name, follow the same steps: Settings > Account > Change username. Each time you change it, the previous username becomes available for others after five minutes.

If you want to use a username you had before, you can only do so if no one else has claimed it in the meantime. Since old usernames become available to the public, there is no may provide your previous name will still be free.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will changing my username affect my GitHub Pages site?

If your GitHub Pages site is hosted at username.github.io, the URL will change to match your new username. You will need to update any links pointing to that site. If you have a custom domain pointing to your GitHub Pages site, the custom domain will continue to work without changes.

What if I have SSH keys set up for my repositories?

Your SSH keys stay valid and do not need to be updated. However, if you have cloned repositories using SSH, the remote URL in your local copy will still point to the old username. You should update it using git remote set-url origin to avoid confusion, though the old URL will still work for a short time.

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

You can change your personal username separately from any organizations you own or belong to. Organizations have their own separate usernames that you change through the organization settings, not your personal account settings. Changing your personal username does not affect organization names or URLs.

Will my profile URL change?

Yes. Your profile moves from github.com/old-username to github.com/new-username. The old profile URL will no longer work. Anyone who visits your old profile URL will see a 404 error.