WhatsApp is rolling out usernames for better privacy: here's what you need to know, and how to claim yours

The move means that instead of having to give out your mobile phone number when adding somebody to your contacts, you'll be able to provide a username to them instead. That's obviously a preferable situation when it comes to privacy.

TechRadar reports that Meta has announced that usernames will be rolling out to over three billion WhatsApp users during the "coming months", and that you'll be able to reserve your preferred name.

How do you place that reservation? Well, you can't do it just yet, and for now, you'll just need to keep an eye on your WhatsApp app, and make sure you update the application regularly on your primary mobile device. (You can't reserve a username on the web or desktop version of WhatsApp).

Meta will alert users when the new name option is available in their country (likely after an app update), and when you see that notification, you'll need to head straight to Settings > Account > Username in the app.

Obviously enough, the quicker you get there, the better, in terms of being able to grab the username you want before someone else does so. Or indeed a whole load of people do, and you end up adding a bunch of digits and whatnot to differentiate your choice.

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