how to change user name on Linux Ubuntu
To change the username on Ubuntu, follow these steps carefully, as doing it incorrectly can cause login or permission issues. Here’s the safe way to do it from a terminal:
✅ Step-by-step: Change Username on Ubuntu
🛑 Important: You must not be logged into the account you’re trying to rename. Use another user account with
sudoprivileges or switch to a TTY (e.g.,Ctrl+Alt+F3) and log in as another user.
1. Log in as a different user (with sudo rights)
If you don’t have another user, create one temporarily:
sudo adduser tempadmin
sudo usermod -aG sudo tempadmin
Log out and log in as tempadmin.
2. Change the username
Replace oldusername with the current name and newusername with the desired name:
sudo usermod -l newusername oldusername
This changes the login name, but not the home directory.
3. Rename the home directory
sudo mv /home/oldusername /home/newusername
Then update the user’s home path:
sudo usermod -d /home/newusername -m newusername
4. Fix ownership of the home folder (just in case)
sudo chown -R newusername:newusername /home/newusername
5. Update display name (optional)
To change the “Full Name” shown in login screens, run:
sudo chfn -f "New Full Name" newusername
6. Reboot and test
sudo reboot
Log in as the new user.
7. (Optional) Delete the temp admin account
After confirming everything works:
sudo deluser tempadmin
sudo rm -r /home/tempadmin