WhatsApp is preparing to give its users a new way to protect their privacy — by letting them go by a username instead of sharing their phone number with contacts.
The popular messaging app, which is owned by Meta Platforms and claims more than 3 billion users worldwide, announced Monday that it has already begun allowing people to reserve unique usernames. Once the feature officially launches later this year, those usernames can be used to reach someone on the app without ever needing their phone number.
In a blog post, WhatsApp said that over the coming months, users will have the option to be found and contacted exclusively through their username. The company did not offer a more precise launch date beyond that general window.
Alice Newton-Rex, WhatsApp’s vice president of product, described the significance of the change to reporters, saying, “We have designed this as a core privacy feature.”
Unlike some social platforms, WhatsApp will not maintain a searchable directory of usernames, and the app will not auto-suggest names as someone types. Newton-Rex made clear that access will be tightly controlled: “People will need to know your exact username to contact you for the first time.”
Currently, WhatsApp’s privacy tools are fairly basic — users can block specific people or silence calls from unknown numbers. There is also an option to add a profile name, but that name only shows up in group chats for people who haven’t saved the user’s contact information.
Because so many people are expected to want a catchy or recognizable handle, WhatsApp decided to open up reservations ahead of the feature’s launch. “I think a lot of people will go and get usernames and that’s why we decided to open reservations early,” Newton-Rex said.
Businesses, organizations, and content creators who already have accounts on Meta’s other platforms — Instagram and Facebook — will be given an opportunity to claim matching usernames on WhatsApp.
Usernames must be between three and 35 characters in length. To guard against impersonation, WhatsApp plans to set aside usernames associated with celebrities, public figures, and government entities.
While text messaging remains the preferred method of communication for many Americans, WhatsApp is widely used across Europe, Asia, and much of the rest of the world.
