What is handle?

A handle is the unique username that identifies an account on a social network, usually shown with an @ symbol and used for mentions and tagging.

Your handle is how people find, mention and tag you. A clear, easy-to-remember handle makes your business simpler to search for and share. Using the same handle on every network helps customers recognize you and reduces confusion with similar accounts.

Most networks show handles with the @ symbol, such as on Instagram, X, TikTok and Threads. Some allow you to change your handle later, while others limit how often you can. Bluesky lets you use your own website domain as your handle. Display names, which can include spaces and full business names, are usually separate from the handle.

Choose a handle that matches your business name as closely as possible. Avoid hard-to-spell words, numbers and lots of underscores. Claim your handle on the major networks early, even ones you do not use yet, to keep it consistent.

Example

A bakery called Golden Crust grabs the handle @goldencrustbakes on every network so customers can always tag it the same way.