What an X Handle Is
An X handle is your @username on X, the platform formerly called Twitter. It’s unique to your account, it forms your profile address (x.com/handle), it’s what you log in with, and it shows on your replies and Direct Messages. Your display name is separate and can be changed at any time. For tactics on fitting a name into the length limit, see our Twitter handle checker; this page covers what’s specific to X today.
X (Twitter) username rules at a glance
- Length
5-15 characters
Older accounts can be as short as 1, but new usernames need at least 5.
- Characters
Letters, numbers, and underscores (_) only
- Change limit
None published
X publishes no rename limit. On a checkmarked Premium account, changing the username removes the checkmark until X reviews it.
- Old name after a change
Immediately
X states a changed-away username is immediately available for someone else - no hold period at all.
- Profile text
Name up to 50, bio up to 160
- Usernames containing "Admin" or X's own brand name cannot be claimed, except by official X accounts
- No spaces, hyphens, or symbols other than underscore
The X Handle Marketplace
X says it “cannot release inactive usernames” when people ask, but it now hands out select inactive handles through its own Handle Marketplace, whose terms are dated October 13, 2025. Here is how it works, according to X’s Handle Marketplace help page:
- Who can request a handle. Subscribers to Premium+, Premium Business or Premium Organizations only. The account must be older than 3 months, public, in good standing, and show “clear signs of authentic, ongoing content creation.”
- What it costs. Many handles, such as first-name-last-name combinations or multi-word business names, come free with a Premium+, Premium Business Full Access or Premium Organizations subscription. Invite-only handles carry a transfer price that X says may start in the five figures (USD) and reach seven figures.
- Keeping it. X owns the handle and grants a revocable license. You have to keep posting and log in at least once every 30 days. If you got the handle without paying a transfer price, you also have to keep the subscription: after it lapses, you have 30 days to reinstate it before X reclaims the handle.
- Limits. One transfer every six months per account, and a Marketplace handle can’t be sold or passed to another account. Your previous handle is frozen for a period of time, so nobody else can take it straight away.
- Handles that aren’t listed. For some unavailable handles, X offers a “Register your interest” option and will try to notify you if the handle becomes available to request.
The Marketplace only covers handles X chooses to offer. A handle someone renames away from is free for anyone to claim immediately, with no subscription, which is what a watch catches.
Inactive, Deactivated and Squatted X Handles
- Inactive accounts. X asks people to log in at least every 30 days and says accounts “may be permanently removed due to prolonged inactivity,” without publishing a schedule. Inactivity is based on logging in, and X notes that not all signs of account activity are publicly visible, so a profile that looks dead may not be.
- Deactivated accounts. Once the 30-day deactivation window passes, the account is deleted and the username becomes available to others. Until then, X says suspended and deactivated usernames are not immediately available for use.
- Squatted handles. X prohibits username squatting, but it “will not release squatted usernames except in cases of trademark infringement.” If an account uses your registered trademark, X’s trademark policy is the route.
Changing Your X Handle
Your old handle is free for anyone else the moment you change it. On a checkmarked Premium or Premium+ account, the change also removes the blue checkmark until X reviews the account again, and you can’t make further changes while that review runs. If your current handle came from the Handle Marketplace, changing it means X takes the Marketplace handle back.