WhatsApp has announced usernames, a feature that lets people connect on the app without sharing their phone number. It’s a big deal for privacy-conscious users who’ve wanted a way to keep their personal number out of strangers’ hands. The feature has been in development for years, and it’s finally close to a full launch.
Starting today, WhatsApp is letting users reserve their username ahead of an official rollout later this year. The company has over 3 billion users, so it’s using a reservation system to prevent duplicate names from becoming a problem down the line.
This puts WhatsApp in line with rivals like Telegram, Signal, and Wire, which have all offered usernames for years. For WhatsApp, which has long required a phone number not just to sign up but to be found and messaged, this marks a meaningful shift in how the app handles privacy.
Here’s how the username system works once it’s available to you:
- You’ll get a notification when the feature reaches your country
- Go to Settings > Account > Username to claim your name
- Usernames can be between 3 and 35 characters long
- You can set a “username key” that others must know before they can message you
- You can turn the feature off or change your username at any time
WhatsApp says usernames won’t be searchable inside the app. That means someone has to know your exact username to reach you. There’s no directory, no search bar for finding people by name. You’ll still need to share your username the old-fashioned way, by saying it out loud or typing it in a message. There’s no QR code option yet for phone-number-free contact sharing.
For businesses and creators, Meta is offering a practical shortcut. If you already have a Facebook or Instagram username, you can claim the same one on WhatsApp to keep your branding consistent across platforms. High-profile accounts like celebrities, public figures, and organizations are being reserved separately by the company to avoid impersonation issues.
Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp’s VP and head of Product, summed up the reasoning simply. “When you meet someone new, whether it’s a classmate, a neighbour, or someone you met at an event, sharing your phone number can feel like a big step. Your phone number is personal, and it’s tied to so many other parts of your life,” she said. “So usernames are designed to give you control of who gets to see your phone number in the first place.”
It’s worth noting that a phone number is still required to create a WhatsApp account. Usernames don’t replace that requirement. What they do change is what you have to share once you’re on the app. That’s a narrower privacy win than some users might have hoped for, but it’s a real one. For anyone who’s felt uncomfortable handing out their number to acquaintances, a username offers a genuinely useful middle ground.
The announcement also comes just days after WhatsApp saw a change in leadership, giving the rollout a slightly fresh-start feel for the platform. Whether the timing is coincidence or a deliberate signal about the app’s direction, the usernames feature is one of the more user-facing privacy improvements WhatsApp has made in some time.