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What Is My Username? How to Find It Anywhere
Your username is the one name an app uses to tell your account apart from everyone else’s. It’s usually not your display name, the friendlier name people see in chats, and it’s often not your email either. That’s why it’s so easy to forget: you picked it once, years ago, and then the app remembered it for you.
You rarely need it to get back in, though. Almost every major app now lets you sign in with the email or phone number on the account, and once you’re in, your username is sitting right on your profile. Find the app you’re stuck on below.
Find Your Username on Social Media Apps
Open the app and tap your profile picture in the bottom corner. Your username is the handle at the very top of the profile screen, above your photo and follower counts. The bold name under your photo is your display name, which is a separate thing.
Logged out? Instagram’s login box takes your phone number or email in place of a username, so you can sign in with either and read your username once you’re in. If you’ve lost access to those as well, Instagram’s Help Center has a dedicated flow for accounts where you don’t know the username. Already know a handle and want to confirm it’s the right account? Run it through the Instagram username search.
TikTok
Go to the Profile tab. Your username is the @handle shown under your profile photo. TikTok’s sign-in screen also accepts a phone number or email, so a forgotten handle won’t lock you out. If you’re giving your handle to someone, copy it exactly, periods and underscores included, since those are easy to miss. You can double-check how it resolves with the TikTok username search.
Snapchat
Tap your profile icon or Bitmoji in the top-left corner of the camera screen. Your username sits just under your display name. If you’re logged out, Snapchat’s own support page says to log in with the phone number or email linked to your account instead of your username. Another trick from the same page: ask a friend to open your Friendship Profile on their phone, where your username is shown. Snapchat only lets you change your username once a year, so the one you find is likely the one you’ve had for a while. The Snapchat username search will confirm whether a handle you remember still exists.
Discord
On desktop, your username shows in the small panel at the bottom-left of the window, next to your avatar, and in full under User Settings > My Account. On mobile, tap your profile picture in the bottom-right corner to open the You tab, where your username sits at the top. Since 2023, every Discord username is a single lowercase name with no #1234 tag after it, so if you remember an old tag, your account has since moved to a plain username. Discord’s login uses your email or phone number, not your username. More on how Discord handles names on our Discord username lookup page.
In the app, tap your avatar and your username appears as u/yourname. If you’re logged out, Reddit’s own advice is to search your inbox for its sign-up email first. Failing that, use the password reset option and enter your email address. The reset email lists every username linked to that address, which is handy if you’ve made more than one account over the years. This only works if you added an email to the account in the first place. The Reddit username search can confirm whether a name you remember is still active.
X (Twitter)
Your username is the @handle under your name on your profile. X’s sign-in accepts your phone number or email too, so you can get in without it. The X username checker covers availability if you’re thinking of switching handles.
Twitch, YouTube and Pinterest
On all three, your username is part of your public URL: twitch.tv/yourname, youtube.com/@yourhandle and pinterest.com/yourname. Open your own channel or profile while logged in and read it straight from the address bar. Our Twitch, YouTube and Pinterest username search explains how each one treats capitals and display names.
Find Your Google or Microsoft Account Username
For a Google account, your username is your full Gmail address. If you’ve forgotten it, go to the Google sign-in page and click “Forgot email?” Google asks for the recovery phone number or recovery email on the account, then the first and last name you used, and sends a code. Once you enter it, you’ll see the matching accounts.
Microsoft has a similar page called “Recover your username” at account.live.com/username/recover. Enter the security email or phone number on your Microsoft account, confirm the code it sends, and Microsoft shows a partly hidden hint of your username, something like j********@outlook.com. That’s usually enough to jog your memory. One phone number or email can be linked to more than one account, so you may see more than one hint.
Both only work if you set up a recovery phone or email. Without one, you’re into each company’s account recovery form, which is slower and isn’t guaranteed to work.
Find Your Computer Username (Windows and Mac)
On Windows 10 or 11, the quickest way is Settings, then Accounts, then Your info. If you’d rather use the keyboard, press Windows + R, type cmd, press Enter, and type whoami. It prints your computer’s name and your username with a backslash between them, and the part after the backslash is your username. If you sign in to Windows with a Microsoft account, don’t be surprised if your email address shows up as your username in some places.
On a Mac, Apple’s own method is the simplest: open a Finder window and choose Go > Home from the menu bar. Your account name, which Apple also calls your short name, appears at the top of the window. If you’re comfortable with Terminal, typing whoami returns the same short name. It’s often different from the full name shown on the login screen, which is why it can look unfamiliar.
Know the Username but Not Where You Used It?
Sometimes the problem runs the other way. You remember the handle you always used, but not which sites you signed up for with it, maybe because you’re cleaning up old accounts or checking whether someone else is using your name. Type it into our username search and it checks 1,000+ sites in one go, marking each one Found, Available or Unknown.
If the username you’re looking for has since been changed, that’s a different search. Our Old Username Finder covers how to track an account’s previous names. And if you’ve decided it’s time for a fresh start with a new handle, the username generator suggests ideas and checks whether they’re free.
FAQ
Is my username the same as my display name?
Usually not. Your username is unique and fixed (or changeable only on a schedule), while your display name is the friendlier label you can change freely. Logins and profile links use the username.
Can I recover a username without my email or phone number?
Rarely through self-service. Most apps tie username recovery to the email or phone on the account. Without either, you’ll need to go through the platform’s support or account recovery form.
Why does my Windows username show my email address?
If you sign in to Windows with a Microsoft account, Windows can display that account’s email as your username. Your local username still exists, and whoami will show it.
How do I check if a username is still taken?
Run it through our username availability check. It shows whether the handle is in use on each platform or still free to register.