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Reserve Your WhatsApp Username

What is this?

A WhatsApp Username lets your customers find and message you without knowing your phone number. You can now reserve, update, and delete your username directly from your Chatarmin dashboard.

Can I keep my name I already use?

Yes, you can reserve the same name you already use as your WhatsApp display name, as long as it's still free. It is not reserved for you automatically. The username is a new, separate identifier, so you reserve it yourself. When you reserve, just type your name into the Desired username field instead of picking one of Meta's suggestions.

Good to know: If you run several numbers (for example one per market), reserve a username on each one. They can't share the same username. Usernames can't contain spaces, use an underscore instead (for example yourbrand_de).

🚨 Each username is unique and tied to one phone number, and names are first come, first served. Once a name is taken, it can't be released to you, so you'd need to pick a variation. Reserve yours early.

Good to know: The public username feature is still rolling out on WhatsApp's side, so your customers can't message you by username just yet. What you can do today is secure your name: reserve it, change it, or remove it. As soon as Meta switches the feature on for everyone, your reserved username gets approved automatically.

⚙️ How to reserve your username

  1. Open your profile settings in the Chatarmin dashboard. 👉 Go to your account settings

  2. Go to the Account section.

  3. Scroll down to the Desired username field.

  4. Either pick one of Meta's reserved suggestions, or type your own username.

  5. Click Update username to reserve it.

Good to know: username rules. To avoid a rejection, keep to Meta's rules:

  • Up to 35 characters, and must contain at least one letter.

  • Can't start or end with a period, and can't contain two periods in a row.

  • Can't start with www or end with a domain suffix like .com or .org.

  • Upper and lower case are treated the same when names are compared, but periods and underscores count as distinct characters.

Good to know: You can change your username anytime after reserving it — there's no waiting period (like 30 days) and no extra requirement such as a minimum number of letters beyond Meta's rules above. This applies to both META and 360Dialog accounts.

Reserved suggestions from Meta

Below the field you'll see a few suggestions from Meta. Pick one of these and your username is approved 100%, with no review needed. You don't have to use them. If you'd rather keep your own name, just ignore the suggestions and type the one you want.

What the status means

  • ✅ Reserved: Your username is held for you. Once WhatsApp makes the feature live for all users, Meta confirms it and it's approved automatically.

  • ⚠️ Rejected: Meta didn't approve the name. The dashboard shows this clearly, along with Meta's error message so you know why. Pick a different name and try again.

⚠️ Seeing this error: "You must link the phone number to the Facebook/Instagram Page that already uses the requested username."

This happens when your brand runs a Facebook or Instagram Page that already uses the name you're trying to reserve. You first need to connect your WhatsApp number to that Facebook Page:

  1. Log in to the Facebook Page and go to Settings → Linked accounts.

  2. Add your WhatsApp number there.

  3. Go to business.facebook.com/latest/settings/requests and approve the request.

  4. Come back to the Desired username field and reserve the name again.

👇 Meta's guide: https://www.facebook.com/business/help/4631406400243963

Good to know: Reserving works for both META and 360Dialog accounts, directly from the dashboard.

When to reserve your username

  • You want to keep your brand name before someone else takes it.

  • You want customers to reach you later by a clean, memorable name instead of a phone number.

"Your app does not have permission for this action" error

If you try to reserve a username in Chatarmin and see this error:

"Your app does not have permission for this action. Confirm the system user has Full or Partial access to Phone numbers on the WhatsApp Business Account."

✅ Workaround: Create the username directly in Meta's WhatsApp Manager instead of the Chatarmin dashboard:

  1. Go to WhatsApp Manager → Phone numbers.

  2. Select your phone number.

  3. Open the Profile tab.

  4. Scroll to Username and click Create.

Good to know: This bypasses the permission error entirely since it doesn't rely on Chatarmin's system-user access to your WhatsApp Business Account.

Good to know: Some accounts may still see "feature not available" for a short while as Meta finishes the rollout. If that's you, try again in a few days. Reserving your username doesn't change anything about your existing flows, campaigns, or messages. They keep working exactly as before.

You're all set and good to go!

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