Yes, it’s true. Fiverr won’t let you change your Fiverr username. Sadly, it might as well be written in the stars as your unchangeable fate fate and ultimate destiny. Thankfully, in 2023 Fiverr tweaked its profile settings to allow people to add a display name. It’s now mandatory, but at least you can change your Fiverr display name easily!
The TL;DR on Fiverr Usernames
- Fiverr does not allow users to change their usernames, instead introducing display names.
- Changing your Fiverr username involves creating a new account. It may not be worth it for established accounts
- If you want to keep your current email address for your new account, you must be careful to change settings in your old account before deactivating or deleting it
- Display names have become more important on Fiverr in 2023 and are now mandatory.
- There are pros and cons to using your real name or a brand name as your display name or username.
- Your display name can be changed easily through your profile settings on Fiverr.
- Use an AI brand name generator to come up with creative brand name ideas.
- Changing your username may seem important, but focusing on improving your gigs is better.
A Short History of The Username Problem on Fiverr
It’s a story that many grizzled Fiverr veterans will be only too happy to tell you. Once, when they were young and full of hope, they signed up to Fiverr. Since they were young and foolish, they put any random old ? as their username. Now, years later, they’ve built up a brand and a great business.
But on Fiverr, they’ll always be @machomonkey69.
Oh dear.
Thankfully, after at least a decade of seller gripes, Fiverr has added display names to the platform. While @machomonkey69 still can’t change his handle without throwing his entire Fiverr history away, he can at least lead more prominently with his brand, Wasp Lover Studios.
This article can be summed up with two bullet points:
- You can’t change your username to use another better one
- Unless you want to close your Fiverr account and open a new one
- If you want to keep your email address, there are extra steps to take
- You can add and change your display name on Fiverr
- You can do it in in a couple seconds from your profile page
Guess which one I think is the better idea? Don’t worry, I’ll make it clear throughout the article. In this guide, I’ll take you through the process for both steps.
If you’re a new account or your old account just never went anywhere (I’m looking at you @bumlicker. What were you thinking?) it might be worth starting all over again to change your username. You don’t have much to lose
If you have an established account with regular buyers, then just go for the display name option. You’re in good company with bad usernames, and it doesn’t matter that much.
Just in the deep, cold sweat of your thalassaphobic nightmares.
Live and learn, eh?
Fiverr Disables The Gigs of Sellers WITHOUT Display Names
As of late 2023, using a display name on Fiverr is NOT optional. Fiverr is actively disabling seller gigs until they add a username. According to this November 2023 r/fiverr post, users are only able to reactivate their gigs once they had a display name.
Why Change Your Fiverr Username or Display Name?
I go into a lot more depth about why usernames are important here, so read for everything you need to know about making a new Fiverr username that doesn’t suck.
In essence though, your Fiverr username is actually your unique identifier on the platform. Think of it like your IG @handle, or your email address. You can change the display name, but sometimes, platforms won’t let you change your username without creating another account. Fiverr is one of those platforms.
If you want to change your username, then you’re going to need to let go of your current account. It’s simply not possible to change the username on Fiverr any other way.
Honestly, since Fiverr’s now being strict with new seller accounts and approval processes, it’s a good idea to just stick with what you have and focus on making a great display name.
You also won’t be able to:
- Transfer your reviews
- Transfer your gigs
- Transfer your metrics
- Transfer your assets
It’s a complete reset.
You also risk losing your buyers if you don’t tell them about your upcoming username change – and they may not remember. It’s throwing away a lot for one thing. Please take this decision carefully and after a complete evaluation of whether changing your Fiverr username is worth it.
As far as a solution goes, this one is like pressing the nuclear bomb button.
There’s no going back. Think about the amount of time you’ve spent building up your account. You need to decide if this is essential.
Do you really want to go all the way back to square one?
Everything You Need to Know About Changing Your Fiverr Username
Ready to change your Fiverr username?
You need to plan this out strategically. I don’t need to tell you how competitive Fiverr is. On the plus side, cool new username, cool new seller boost on the Fiverr algorithm! Finally, you’ll be visible (maybe)! The downside?
Literally everything else?
Decide on a Username, Let Your Buyers Know About Your Change
The first thing you need to do is know what your new username will be. Don’t forget to check its availability! This step makes it easier to bring your old buyers with you, since you’ll be able to direct them to find your new Fiverr account once it is up and running.
When reaching out to buyers, don’t forget that mass emails makes Fiverr’s spambots unhappy and stagger them out. Make them personal. If you don’t do this, you run the risk of a suspended account on suspicion of spam.
Guess what?
Fiverr doesn’t allow sellers with suspended accounts to delete them (more accurately, no user can delete their account without assistance from customer support). So just go slowly here and avoid that nasty spanner in your works.
Contact Fiverr Customer Support About Your Username Change
You should also contact Fiverr Customer Support. Love them or loathe them, it’s a necessary step if you want to delete your Fiverr account to change your username.
By yourself, you can only deactivate your Fiverr account.
So yes, this is a step you can’t skip!
In my opinion, it’s best to let Fiverr know that you want to close your account so you can create a new account. Explain that your reason for Fiverr account deletion is that you want to change your Fiverr username from e.g. @machomonkey69 to @wasploverstudio since you want to your username on Fiverr to match your Fiverr display name, brand name, and brand identity.
You can also tell them that you understand this is a drastic step. Tell them you know you need to go through phone verification and ID verification again, and that you understand nothing can be transferred, and that this move is permanent.
It’s a good idea to ask if there’s anything else you should know first. Fiverr’s always changing little things without announcing them aside from adding or altering a tiny line in its Help Center or Terms of Service, so a quick check with Fiverr CS can save a lot of problems.
One other thing to think about is that Fiverr is a lot stricter with new seller applications today. Doing things this way may help you start a new account, but you will lose your seniority. It won’t carry over to your new account and give you a free pass.
Still, if things go wrong at any point in the process, you’ll have a much easier time getting help. Fiverr will be aware of what you intend to do and have a record of it. This is absolutely essential for protecting yourself against violating the instant permaban of having multiple seller accounts on Fiverr.
You Can Keep Your Old Email Address Or Use a New One
Want to keep your email address the same? This step is a little complicated and requires two email addresses.
Yes, you read that right. Whether you want to keep your email address or use a new one with your new username, you need two email addresses!
If you’re going to use a new email address with your new Fiverr username, you can skip this step.
If you want to take your old email with you, go to your Fiverr settings and change your email address. Make sure you have ongoing access to both email addresses! You may want to do this before contacting Customer Support in case things go wrong!
Here are the steps:
- Go to Profile > Settings > Account
- Add your new email address under Email and save
- Check your old email address for a confirmation email
- Click on the confirmation link in this email
- Log into Fiverr again using your old email address and password
- Fiverr will send a confirmation to your new email address
- Check your new email address for the confirmation email
- Click on the link to confirm and your email is changed
TL;DR: you’ll get two sets of confirmation email, the first one goes to your old email address, the second to your new email address. Follow the instructions and double check everything before you click!
How to Deactivate Your Fiverr Account
After all the fuss to get to this point, this part isn’t actually this difficult. You’ve done all the prep and now you’re about to kick your sorry old Fiverr username into the great trash bin of history.
Make sure you have withdrawn any earnings in your account first (Fiverr won’t let you deactivate otherwise) and then smash that delete button
Farewell and godspeed, @bumlicker. You’ll forever be in our hearts ?
You probably noticed the account deactivation feature when you were changing your email address (if you didn’t, scroll down). It’ll look something like this. I need to withdraw my earnings if I want to deactivate my account:
Just select ‘Deactivate Account’ and choose your reason from the drop-down list that Fiverr offers. One of those reasons is ‘I want to change my username’.
Once you’ve done all that, let Fiverr Customer Support know that you ready to permanently delete this account and start your new one (since only Fiverr can delete accounts).
And that’s it. Once everything is deleted, you’re free to start a new Fiverr account with your new Fiverr username.
Why not do things the easier way?
How to Change Your Display Name on Fiverr For More Clicks and Orders
After the gruelling obstacle course that is changing your Fiverr username, changing your Fiverr display name is a delightful walk in the park.
As you can see, @machomonkey69 (not a real seller) has had a prominent rebranding to Wasp Lover Media (not a real business).
His profile picture leaves a little to be desired in terms of professionalism, but it may very well appeal to his target market.
After all, it’s not every day you see a wasp indulging. At least it’s not ruining your next picnic.
Wasps aside, you can see just how prominent the display name is compared to the username. Over the past few months, I’ve noticed that Fiverr is increasingly using display names over usernames on the website and that they are now mandatory. This is all the more reason to reconsider changing your Fiverr username.
Go to your profile page and either add or change your display name. Sure, your username might suck, but at least your display name is more prominent in search, on your gig pages, and most other parts of Fiverr. It’s about as clean and simple as you can get.
There are a few rules for Fiverr display names:
- You must use your real name or a nickname
- You can use your brand name
- No special characters apart from periods (.) and apostrophes (‘)
- Must accurately represent your brand
- Must align with Fiverr’s Community Standards
- Long names should be abbreviated
The link above has full guidance from Fiverr on this topic, so check it out for more details. Most of this is common sense, but it’s always a good idea to check that you’re doing things right!
The Pros and Cons of Using Your Real Name as Your Display Name on Fiverr
| PROS OF USING YOUR REAL NAME ON FIVERR | CONS OF USING YOUR REAL NAME ON FIVERR |
|---|---|
| Buyers may feel more connected to you as someone they can trust | Using a real name can raise valid privacy concerns on a public platform |
| Buyers may feel more comfortable dealing with ‘a real person’ | It may be harder to scale, since you are the brand and the talent |
| Sellers can build a personal brand as an expert in their field | Some buyers may think a personal name is less professional/established compared to a brand name |
| It’s easier to switch services, since you are the brand | Some names are harder to remember or market; names are also not generally ‘catchy’ as brand names |
The Pros and Cons of Using A Brand Name as Your Display Name on Fiverr
| PROS OF USING BRAND USERNAME ON FIVERR | CONS OF USING BRAND USERNAME ON FIVERR |
|---|---|
| Brand names can seem more professional and established | Brand names lack the personal connection a real name comes with |
| A good brand name is easy to remember and market | Creating and maintaining a brand takes more resources than simply using your own name |
| Brand names can focus on a specific niche, audience, or market to reach ideal customers | A brand name may limit your business in growth or expansion into new areas later on |
| Brand names make it easier to scale with strategic hires as the business grows | Brand names need careful research to avoid potential legal issues such as trademarks |
One other benefit that comes easier to brand names is off-Fiverr branding. You can still do this with your IRL name, of course, but brand names offer a lot more flexibility while preserving your personal identity for your personal profiles.
Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way to approach your display name on Fiverr. Do what’s best for you and your business. If you change your mind, then no biggie – you can switch it at any time you like. Within the rules, of course.
Bonus Tip: Use a Brand Name Generator for Ideas
Stuck on coming up with a cool new brand name? AI has got your back. You can use ChatGPT, of course, but there are specialized AI tools out there which are free to use. My preferred business name generator is Namelix.
Even Fiverr, via Fiverr Workspace, has its own business name generator. It’s worth playing about with, but in my opinion, it’s not as good as Namelix.
Still, they’re both pretty good for brainstorming (and there are many others out there – Shopify has a name generator, too!). Throw in some keywords, get some ideas, and see if anything matches with your vision for your brand. Just bear in mind that lots of other people are using these tools, too.
Don’t expect originality, do expect something to get your creative juices flowing so you come up with better ideas. Unless you are deeply uncreative, the best tool you have is your brain with its deep knowledge and understanding of your business, its services, and its goals.
AI name generators can only take you so far!
Finally, Don’t Sweat It!
Now you’ve got the know-how on how to change your username or display name on Fiverr.
Your username might be set in stone, but your display name can still shine and adapt around the changing needs of your business and buyers.
Deactivate your account and make a new one just for a username if you feel that this is the best option, but otherwise, just stick with changing your display name. It’s a lot easier, and you don’t need to throw away any of your hard-earned progress in the process.
I know it feels like it matters, but it really doesn’t, especially if your business is thriving. If you’re not selling as well as you’d hoped, chances are it’s not your username that’s hurting you, but your gigs. Are your gig images really standing out from the crowd? Perhaps your gig pricing isn’t quite hitting the sweet spot?
That includes you, @bumlicker. Why’d you have to go and delete your account? ?
Bookmark this blog (or you know, check in every so often, I’m chill), because after 10+ years of intense Fiverring, I’m a six-figure TRS Pro Verified seller who knows Fiverr’s diabolical workings from the inside out. I can help you to master the platform with in-depth guides covering every tiny facet of the Fiverr experience. I’ve sold gigs from $5 to… well, a lot more. I can only kick myself for sticking to $5 for the first few years!
