Can I change my username?

Usernames of personal journals - not communities - can be changed for a $15 fee. The process has complications and can create confusion for other users, so we charge a fee to discourage people from doing it lightly. See http://www.livejournal.com/rename/ to purchase or use a rename code.

LiveJournal identifies your account by your user number, not your user name. Renaming an account simply changes the name associated with that number - everything else about the account remains the same. Paid or permanent account status, user privileges, friends, personal info, and other account-related data will be the same with the new username. All existing comments in other journals and posts in communities will display the new username.

What happens when someone tries to access the old username? You have two options. The old username can automatically redirect users to the new username - we encourage you to use this option, so links to posts in your old journal don't break. This redirection will remain in place as long as your account exists. Alternately, the old username can be marked as deleted, so anyone who visits the journal will receive an error message. The old username will remain unavailable for at least 30 days.

As a convenience, you can also choose whether or not to preserve friendofs when renaming a journal. If friendofs are preserved, then everyone listing your old username as a friend will continue to list your new username as a friend. If friendofs are not preserved, you will be removed from the friends lists of all other users when your account is renamed. (Of course, they can then add you again.)

If you want to hide your journal from someone who has found your username, the rename feature is probably not what you want. See "Can I make my whole journal Friends-Only or Private?" (http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=120) or "How do I delete/undelete my entire journal?" (http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=16).

Last Updated:
bradfitz, 2002-10-01

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