Facebook Account "Username (Short URL)" Re-Setting (Recovering a Lost Old Name) 🎉

Starting from Happy Farm ten years ago, Facebook instantly spread like a virus in the country. Whether nobodies or famous public figures, one after another they entered this social service.

In the early years during Facebook’s development period, user accounts were not as exploding as now, so you could still try your luck and apply for a nice account URL, which looked much more prestigious when printed on a business card. The Facebook email that back then boasted it would eliminate email also used this username as the identity representative, making good names even harder to come by at the time.

But at the start of the year, I made a slip of the hand and removed the originally very nice exclusive username (short URL) of my personal account.

As everyone knows, once an occupied name has been used and then abandoned, it is prohibited from being used again for any reason, and re-applying is also rejected.

Well, I simply left it alone and did not want to take an ugly name. Anyway, recently the COVID-19 pandemic has led to border closures, so there is not much chance to travel abroad and meet new friends along the way.

Unexpectedly, after a few months, I once again tried to set the username (short URL) that had been removed, and this time it actually worked! Please refer to the image below. The system prompt once again showed the delightful green checkmark, informing that “the short URL (username) is not yet in use.”

Facebook Username Re-Setting

Therefore, from this personal experience, one can make an assumption: out of system security considerations, the Facebook system indeed does not let a removed account name be used again.

However, if you can wait three months (or half a year) or more, Facebook still has a chance to release the originally occupied name. So friends with the same trouble can try waiting a while and then re-submit an application!