How to Check Your Old USERNAMES on Instagram?

Have you ever been in a situation where you need to remember an old username you used on Instagram, but just can’t seem to recall it?

I know I have.

Whether you want to reminisce on old memories or just curious how to check your old usernames on instagram, you are at the right spot.

I have had my fair share of changing my instagram username since I first joined in 2014 and recently I was curious to check what my previous usernames were.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know where to look.

But after some digging and research, I finally figured out how to see all of my old usernames on Instagram.

In this blog post, I want to share my experience and guide you through the steps to see your old usernames on Instagram.

So, let’s dive in and uncover your Instagram username history together!

How to Check Old Instagram Usernames?

See below the steps you need to follow to check your previous username history on Instagram on your iPhone and Android phone.

Step 1: Open Instagram App on your phone

If you are not logged in, you will have to enter your current username/email address and password.

Step 2: Go to your profile

Tap on your profile photo on the screen to go to your profile page. It should be in the bottom right corner of your iPhone app on Instagram. Your profile page is where you can see all your Instagram posts, videos and reels.

Step 3: Open the options menu

Tap the three horizontal lines in your iPhone screen’s top right corner. These three lines look like bars, and you can quickly locate them on your screen (see the below picture)

Step 4: Go to your activity page

When you click on the options bar, it will open a menu. It will have multiple options, such as settings and your archive menu. Tap on Your activity from the options.

Step 5: Open your account history

Tap on the account history option on your screen. It should be the fourth option on the screen after the interaction options on your activity page on Instagram.

Step 6: Check your username history

This is where you can see all the changes you had made to your Instagram account since your account came into being when you created the account.

Look for the label “username” to look at all the past usernames you have used. For that, you have to scroll down further on the screen, and this is where you can easily see your username history for your Instagram account.

Note: The exciting part is that you can also look at the date you changed your Instagram username.

Along with your username history, you will also see when you changed your Bio, website, Name and other account details. In short, you will have access to your entire account change log.

Can You Check Someone Else’s Instagram Username History?

Yes! You can check the Instagram username history of someone else, but for that, the Instagram account should have a substantial following, or it should be a verified account.

The username history is not available for small accounts so if you want to check your friend’s username history who only has a few hundred followers, you won’t be able to do this.

To check username history for a celebrity account or an account with a big following, follow the below process.

1. Open the Instagram app on your mobile device and navigate to the profile page of the account whose username history you want to see.
2. Look for the three-dot menu in the top right corner of the profile page.
3. Tap on the three-dot menu, and a pop-up menu will appear with several options.
4. Select “About This Account” from the pop-up menu. This will open a new page with information about the account.
5. On the “About This Account” page, scroll down until you see the “Former Usernames” section.
6. Tap on “Former Usernames,” and Instagram will display the number of times the account has changed its usernames in the past.

Note that not all accounts will have a “Former Usernames” section. This feature is only available for accounts that have changed their usernames in the past.

If the “Former Usernames” section is not present, it means that the account has never changed its username before.

Why username history is only available for notable accounts?

Instagram’s username history feature is only available for notable or verified accounts and not for small individual accounts for a few reasons.

Firstly, notable accounts, such as public figures, celebrities, and brands, are more likely to have a significant following and a history of changing their usernames over time.

This feature is designed to help users verify the authenticity of the account by providing a way to see if the account has changed its username in the past.

This is especially important for notable accounts, as they are often targets of impersonation or fake accounts.

Secondly, Instagram’s username history feature is part of its efforts to combat online misinformation and fake accounts.

By providing users with a way to verify an account’s history, Instagram is making it more difficult for bad actors to create fake accounts and deceive users.

Notable accounts are more likely to be targeted by fake accounts, and so providing this feature to them is an important step in preventing the spread of misinformation.

However, not all users (specially small accounts) may want their username history to be publicly available out of fear of privacy, and so implementing this feature only for notable accounts allows for a balance between verification and privacy.

Overall, the availability of the username history feature for notable accounts helps to promote authenticity, combat misinformation, and maintain user privacy on the platform.

Conclusion

The ability to view one’s username history on Instagram can be useful for various reasons, from simply reminiscing old usernames to verifying the authenticity of a notable account.

Although you can easily view your own username history on the Your activity tab, to view someone else’s username history, the person has to be a notable account with significant following.

In conclusion, the ability to view one’s username history on Instagram can be helpful for personal reasons, while the availability of this feature for notable accounts helps promote authenticity, combat misinformation, and maintain user privacy.

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