Editing Encyclopedia:Username policy (section)

== Changing your username ==
{{policy shortcut|WP:UNC}}
Usernames can be changed by [[m:Global renamer|global renamers]]; requests should be made at [[Wikipedia:Changing username]]. User accounts with few or no edits might not be renamed, as it is quicker and easier to simply {{signup|create a new account}}.

Once a username has been changed, existing contributions will be listed under the new name in [[Help:Page history|page histories]], [[Help:Diff|diffs]], [[Special:Log|logs]], and [[Special:Contributions|user contributions]]. Signatures on discussion pages will continue to use the old name; while these can be changed manually, it is not recommended unless a contributor wishes to remove as much information as possible about their former name for privacy reasons. In such situations the old name will still be available in old versions of discussion pages, unless [[WP:REVDEL|revision deletion]] is used and log entries are hidden from public view. Username changes are listed in the [[Special:Log/renameuser|user rename log]] and the [[m:Special:Log/gblrename|global rename log]].

=== {{anchor|Deleting an account}}Deleting and merging accounts ===
It is not possible to delete user accounts, as all contributions must be assigned to some identifier, either a username or an [[IP address]].<ref>See [[phab:T34815|bug T34815]]</ref> Editors seeking privacy per [[WP:Courtesy vanishing|courtesy vanishing]] / [[m:Right to Vanish|right to vanish]] can usually have their accounts renamed and their user pages (and, in exceptional cases, user talk pages) [[Wikipedia:User pages#Deleting others' user pages|deleted]].

It is not currently possible to merge more than one user account together and combine them into one user account on the English Wikipedia.