Instagram Username Rules: Characters, Length and Restrictions

Instagram usernames have a short but strict set of rules. Knowing them saves you from frustrating “username isn’t available” errors.

Allowed characters

• Lowercase letters a–z (uppercase is converted to lowercase)
• Numbers 0–9
• Periods .
• Underscores _

Spaces, hyphens, emoji and accented letters are not allowed.

Length

A username can be up to 30 characters long. In practice, shorter is better — most memorable handles are under 15.

Period rules

• A username cannot start or end with a period.
• It cannot contain two periods in a row (luna..film is invalid).

Underscores don’t have these restrictions, so _luna_ and luna__film are valid.

Other restrictions

• Each username must be unique across the platform.
• Instagram may block names that impersonate others or contain offensive terms.
• Recently released usernames may be held for a period before becoming available again.

Every suggestion from our generator follows these rules automatically.