How to change your PlayStation Network username
Changing your PlayStation Network (PSN) account name hasn't always been easy. In fact, it wasn't until April 2019 that Sony allowed account holders to do this. Now, each account is allowed to change their username once for free. Any subsequent changes come at a cost: $4.99 if you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber or $9.99 for everyone else.
Whether you've outdated your username or just want to change it, we'll walk you through the process. However, there are a few caveats to go through first.
If you primarily play newer games (specifically, games released after April 1, 2018), Sony says you shouldn't experience much, if any, trouble with the username change since those games have been developed to support this functionality. But if you still love games from the early PS4 era, that's another story. Sony has created a list of games with known issues that you may encounter if you change your username.
Just before you change your name, Sony will let you know a number of ways that some of your valuable game save data could be affected, whether it's stored locally or in the cloud:
- Your previous online ID may remain visible to you and other players in certain areas
- You may lose your game progress, including saved in-game data, leaderboard data, and trophy progress
- Some parts of your game and apps may not work properly online and offline
- You may lose access to content (including paid content) that you may have acquired for your games, including content such as add-ons and virtual currency
If you still want to change your username, here's how:
Using a web browser
- Your first step is to sign in to your Sony account . Once you've done that, you'll see your PSN account name (Sony calls it your "online ID") as the first option in the window. Click "Edit" to change your username.
- Before you can proceed, Sony will trigger the warnings listed above. Press "I accept" if you want to continue.
- There are more warnings in the next step. Sony informs you that if you encounter any problems, you can undo the change and recover your old username. However, he also warns that this may not fix problems if they arise. In other words, there's a chance something could go wrong. If you're cool with risk, go ahead.
Using a PlayStation 4
- On the main dashboard of your PS4, navigate to "Settings" and select it
- Scroll down the list until you find the "Account Management" option. Click on it, then select "Account Information" > "Profile" > "Online ID".
- You will see the same warnings Sony displays to browser users before allowing a username change
- After accepting these warnings, you can enter a new username
Using a PlayStation 5
The process for changing your username on the PlayStation 5 is similar to what you would see on the PlayStation 4, with a few small changes to the menu layout and navigation.
- On the main dashboard of your PS5, navigate to "Settings" and select it
- Select "Users and Accounts" > "Accounts" > "Profile"
- You will see the same warnings Sony displays to browser users before allowing a username change
- After accepting these warnings, you will be prompted to enter your existing PSN credentials before entering a new username
How do I recover my old username?
According to Sony, you can revert to an old username for free by contacting the PlayStation Support team . They are available by phone on weekdays between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. PT and by online chat on weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. PT and on weekends from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. PT.
As I mentioned before, remember that Sony does not guarantee that switching back to your old username will solve any issues you may have had with the new username.
Updated March 8, 2022, 2:20 PM ET: This article was originally published on August 15, 2019 and has been updated to add a section on changing your username on a PS5.