WhatsApp usernames — what changes, the rules and where they work

Since June 29, 2026, you can reserve a username on WhatsApp: an @ that lets you talk to someone new without showing your phone number. As of September 24, 2026, reservations are open to everyone, Brazil included. Actually using the @ to start conversations is a different matter. It began switching on for a small share of accounts on July 17, and WhatsApp has not given a date for Brazil.

If you serve customers on WhatsApp, this is a bigger change than it looks. The phone number stops being the only way to reach someone, and that touches business cards, ads, your team's privacy and a scam everyone has seen up close: the fake support agent.

This piece is part of our WhatsApp news series: what Meta ships, with a date and a source, kept apart from rumor.

What WhatsApp usernames change

In its official announcement on June 29, WhatsApp explains the idea with a family example: you want to join the parents' chat for the soccer team, but you are not ready to hand your number to people you have never met. With a username turned on, when you message a person or a business for the first time, they no longer see your number.

Three points define the feature:

• There is no directory. No list to browse, no suggestions. To reach someone for the first time, you need their exact username. Speaking to the Brazilian site TecMundo, WhatsApp VP of Product Alice Newton-Rex said usernames will not be crawlable by search engines such as Google either.
• It is optional. Nobody has to create one, and a phone number is still required to have an account.
• There is a key, also optional. If you want more control, you can require a username key. Without it, the other person cannot open a chat with you through your username. Outlets that tested it, such as Mobile Time and WABetaInfo, report a four-digit code.

What are the rules for picking a username

A username must be 3 to 35 characters long. Meta's developer documentation spells out the format: unaccented letters, digits, periods and underscores, with at least one letter. It cannot start or end with a period, cannot have two periods in a row, cannot start with "www" and cannot end like a web address, such as ".com". Reporters who tried the feature on personal accounts describe the same rules.

Some names are not up for grabs. Creators, small businesses and organizations can claim the same handle they already use on Instagram or Facebook by linking accounts in Meta's Accounts Center. According to Al Jazeera and TechCrunch, WhatsApp also held back names belonging to celebrities, public figures and government bodies to prevent impersonation. The list of those names has not been published.

You can change your username later, within a limit. Newton-Rex did not say how many changes will be allowed; the stated reason is to curb spam. When you change it, contacts you have chatted with recently get a notice, according to TecMundo.

Is it live yet, and in Brazil?

Reservations, yes. WhatsApp opened them worldwide the week of June 29, and Brazilian outlets TecMundo and Mobile Time confirmed the option in Brazil within days. Full use, meaning starting chats with new people by username, is another story.

On July 17, WABetaInfo reported the first users with a working username, told by a banner at the top of the chat list. The site stressed that it was a very limited number of accounts, not a global launch. On August 11, covering a new username field on the new-contact screen, the same site still described the official launch as coming over the next few months.

As of September 24, 2026, we found no WhatsApp announcement saying usernames are available to everyone in Brazil. What the company promises is an in-app notice when the feature reaches your country. To see where your account stands, open Settings and tap your profile: if your username still shows as reserved, it is not active yet.

How to reserve your username

1. Update WhatsApp on your phone to the latest version.
2. Go to Settings › Account › Username, the path WhatsApp gives.
3. Type the handle you want. If you are stuck, the app has a suggestion generator.
4. If you use the same name on Instagram or Facebook and those accounts are linked in Accounts Center, you can claim that handle.
5. If you want the key, open the option that controls who can message you by username and choose people who know your key.

The announcement offers advice worth repeating: for most people, a username should be something only the people you want to hear from will know. A name that is easy to guess becomes an open door for strangers, and that is exactly what the key is for.

What you can do today

What changes if you serve customers on WhatsApp

Start with what stays the same: a business username does not hide the business phone number. Meta's developer documentation says so plainly. What the handle gives a business is an address that is easier to remember and to print. A clinic that puts its phone number on business cards can add the username next to it, and a shop's Instagram ad can repeat the name the shop already uses there.

The catch is spelling. With no fuzzy search, one extra period or a misplaced underscore sends the customer nowhere or, worse, to someone else. A store that advertises @pretty.home needs to know whether @prettyhome and @pretty_home belong to it or to a stranger. For brands with an established Instagram name, claiming the same handle is the shortest path.

On the other side of the counter, a customer with a username may arrive without a number. The law firm that opened a client file from the phone number will get a first message from a handle, and the clinic front desk will have to collect contact details some other way. Businesses on the official API get their own identifier, the BSUID, which started showing up in their systems in early April 2026; sending messages to it came in July. According to Meta, the customer's number still comes through if there was a message or call with that business number in the last 30 days, or if the customer is already in the business's contact book.

For your team, a username solves an old problem. The accountant who answers clients from a personal phone, or the salesperson who gives new leads their own number, can share a handle and keep the number for family. The protection covers first contact only: anyone who already has your number saved still sees it.

Then there is fraud. The fake agent who already copies a store's photo and name can now try a handle that looks like the real one. WhatsApp held back names of public figures and government bodies, according to Al Jazeera, but the announcement says nothing about protecting the name of a bakery or a school. The defense is the usual one, plus one new step: publish your official handle on your website, in your bio and on your card, and tell customers you never ask for payment from any other handle.

There is a quieter effect on daily work. When a contact shows up with only a username, the number no longer works as a label, and it gets harder to remember who is who a week later. On a computer, the per-contact note in ZapVox, a WhatsApp Web extension that transcribes, summarizes and translates voice notes, helps you record who that person is and what they asked for. And searching the transcripts finds the voice note where the customer read out a delivery address, even if you do not remember their name.

Where this stops

• On usernames: everything here is what WhatsApp announced and what specialist press reported up to September 24, 2026. When there is an official date for Brazil, this piece will be updated.
• There are still gaps. The announcement does not explain how usernames appear on WhatsApp Web, how many name changes are allowed or how the feature works alongside business verification badges.
• A username is not anonymity. You still need a phone number to have an account, and anyone who already has your number saved still sees it.
• ZapVox does not identify anyone. The note and the search organize what you already know; only the person behind a handle can confirm who they are. The extension works on a computer with WhatsApp Web open, and to become text, the audio is sent to a cloud transcription service.