Help:Renaming your account
Sometimes you may wish to rename your account. This page outlines the steps you need to take.
Your new name
Usernames should be unique and you should check availability before you make a request. You may do this by visiting Special:UserRights and entering the name.
Account names should be decent, and any inappropriate requests will be declined. See username policy for more details. If a name violates the policy, the account may be blocked, in which case it might be possible to request another rename.
Requesting rename
Renaming can be requested through Special:Contact on any wiki. You must be logged in with the account you wish to rename. Do not create a new account with the username you'd like to be renamed to, as this makes the process more difficult.
Your user data, including contribution history, preferences, and user groups, will be transferred. Your old username will be reserved and any new user creations under the old username are prevented.
These requests are processed by Weird Gloop staff because renaming is an expensive operation (requiring significant compute resources) and staff can check your request to make sure it is appropriate. Expect a response within 7 working days.
It is advised that the request be in English. If you have difficulty writing in English, you may use this template:
I would like to rename my account to <new name>. Thank you!
After renaming
After renaming is done, you should be able to log in to your account with your new username. Here are some steps you may want to take:
- Label your old username on your user page to avoid confusion.
- Update your username in your password manager.
- Update your username in signatures, etc.
Special case: Anonymization
Due to limitations in the MediaWiki software, it is not technically possible to delete your account. Your contributions cannot be deleted because of the inherent nature of a wiki and the fact that you have already released your contributions under an irrevocable Creative Commons license. However, it is possible to anonymize an account, after which:
- your account will be renamed to a random username (e.g. Anonymous a43cf042-10a7-4b49-8bc4-daad2500a290),
- your password, email and real name information will be permanently removed from the database,
- you will be logged out of your account,
- you will no longer be able to log into your account, and
- if you have a user page in your account profile, it will be deleted without deletion log summary.
This operation is irreversible. You may request anonymization via Special:Contact.