WhatsApp could soon let users reserve usernames: Why it matters

WhatsApp might let users reserve their respective usernames soon. We explain why it matters.

WhatsApp keeps adding new features to improve the overall experience for its users in India and across the world. We have recently seen the app introduce features such as sharing live and motion pictures, Meta AI chat themes, video call backgrounds with Meta AI, document scanning on Android, and more.

WhatsApp is expected to bring usernames soon. (Unsplash)

By Shaurya Sharma

Shaurya Sharma is the Technology Editor at Hindustan Times Digital Streams, where he oversees technology coverage across digital and social platforms. With over eight years of experience across editorial, video production, and digital media, his work focuses on smartphones, AI, consumer gadgets, and shaping audience-first content strategies for modern tech consumers.

He began his career in 2018 as a fashion cinematographer before turning his lifelong passion for technology into a profession. From spending his childhood immersed in tech magazines, video games, and the latest gadgets to covering the global consumer tech industry today, technology has remained a constant throughout his journey.

Over the years, Shaurya has worked with some of India’s leading media organisations, including CNN-News18, Sportskeeda, and Guiding Tech, where he led video initiatives that combined strong editorial storytelling with engaging visual and social-first execution.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Manipal University, Shaurya has reviewed hundreds of products across categories including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, cameras, and wearables. Beyond work, he is passionate about animal welfare, environmental causes, and automobiles, particularly turbo-petrol cars

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Now, recent reports suggest that WhatsApp will bring username functionality to the popular platform, so your official ID on WhatsApp or the way people find you on the app will no longer be limited to just your phone number. This will align WhatsApp with other instant messaging apps like Telegram and Signal, allowing users to simply share their username so others can find them on the app. This also adds an extra layer of privacy, as you will not need to share your phone number. In addition, before everything is rolled out, WhatsApp is also working on a reservation feature that will make things fair for everyone.

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp on Android version 2.25.28.12 is working on a username reservation feature that will allow users to reserve their preferred usernames before the username system is officially rolled out. WABetaInfo notes that this reservation feature ensures fairness, preventing early users from claiming popular usernames before everyone else has access to the feature.

Based on the report by WABetaInfo, the username reservation feature would be available inside your profile section just below your phone number. It is here that you will be able to reserve your specific username before the official username system is rolled out on WhatsApp.

Think of it this way: if WhatsApp rolls out the username feature in specific countries first, for example, only in countries in Europe, and then rolls out the feature much later in India, users in Europe would get access to save their usernames long before Indian users, which would be unfair. This is likely why WhatsApp is working on the username reservation feature before the username system is rolled out for everyone.

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