How To Claim an Inactive TikTok Username

There is only one thing more annoying than finding the perfect username for TikTok only to discover it’s already taken, and that’s when it’s taken by an inactive account.

Your username plays an important role in your TikTok presence, so being unable to claim the handle that best represents you can indeed give you a headache. But all is not lost, as there are a few methods that might help you snag that inactive username after all. Let’s see what you can try.

Contact the User

If a user has been inactive for a while, it’s usually a good indication that they aren’t interested in TikTok anymore. While this may be bad news for the site, it’s good news for you: it might be your chance to grab their username.

One of the easiest ways to take over an inactive username is by contacting the user directly and asking them whether they are willing to give it up. You would be surprised how often users agree to this trade. There’s no reason why they wouldn’t comply if they are inactive anyway.

If the username is really important to you, you can even offer to purchase it from them. Someone who isn’t invested in TikTok will be more than happy to sell you their username for a modest price.

But here comes the tricky part: will they even see your message if they are inactive? It depends. If they still have TikTok installed on their phone, your message will pop up, but if they’ve already deleted it, you might be out of luck.

You can try reaching them through other channels if they don’t reply to you on TikTok. See if their contact info, like Facebook or Twitter page, is displayed in their bio. Find their social media account using these links and contact them there about your offer. You can also try searching for the user even if their contact info isn’t public, though, this will only work if they have a unique username.

Wait It Out

If you can’t contact the user in question, the next thing you can try is simply waiting it out. According to TikTok’s policy, users that have been inactive for more than 180 days might get their usernames reset to a combination of numbers. Once this happens, you’ll be able to claim their old username with no problem.

How do you know if the user has been inactive for a long time? You don’t. Other than the date of their last post, there won’t be any indications of their latest activity. Needless to say, this method is a bit of a gamble and is only feasible if no other is available to you.

File a Claim

Desperate times call for desperate measures. If it’s your brand or business name that you’re trying to claim, you can take more drastic steps than simply sitting and waiting.

Trademarking your brand is a sure way to get the username. If you own the rights to the name in question, others using that particular string of words may be guilty of copyright infringement, which can be acted upon.

TikTok takes copyright infringement cases seriously, so this can be your most reliable way of getting the username you want. However, remember that you’ll need to provide proof of your ownership of the trademark. TikTok will only take action if your request qualifies.

If you believe your request is valid, you can visit TikTok’s page for reporting trademark infringement.

Additional FAQs

How do I know if a TikTok user is inactive?

Unfortunately, TikTok doesn’t make this information public. You can get clues about an account’s activity based on their posts. If the account hasn’t posted for a long time, has no followers, or doesn’t follow many other accounts, they might have abandoned their account. However, you can’t be sure of it as they may simply be lurking on the site without posting themselves.

Why can’t I change my TikTok username?

So, you waited 180 days to obtain an inactive user name or managed to convince the owner of the username to give it to you. But when you go to your profile settings, you still can’t claim it. This might be because you’ve already changed your username recently. You can only change your TikTok username once every 30 days. You’ll have to wait until this period passes before you can claim the new handle.

You can try bypassing the 30-day lock by tweaking the time and date settings on your phone. This won’t work on every phone, but it’s worth a try. Don’t forget to revoke TikTok’s access to your location before setting the date manually.

Let Your Username Do the Talking

A short but impactful username is a great way to stand out on such an oversaturated social media site as TikTok. However, with a billion active users every month, the username of your choice is highly likely to be already taken. If the account using it seems to be inactive, follow the instructions above to claim the username. If all else fails, the next best thing is creating a near-identical variation of the handle.

Are you going to contact the user with your desired handle for a friendly swap? Or are you trademarking your brand for guaranteed success? Let us know in the comments section below.