If you're annoyed about Instagram not letting you change your username, you've come to the right place!

We've all faced this issue before, and we're here to tell you why it's happening. So, there are two plausible reasons for this problem: Either the username you want is already in use, or you exceeded the 14-day username limit.

The first one is simple to understand. If you're attempting to change your Instagram username to one that's already taken, the app will not allow it and will fail to save your modifications. Now, if you discover the username you want is associated with an inactive account, Instagram still won't allow you to claim it as your own.

According to the Instagram Help Center, "If a username you want is being used by an account that seems inactive, you can choose an available version of the username. You can add periods, numbers, underscores, or abbreviations to help you come up with a username that's not already in use."

As for the other reason, Instagram made a substantial change to its guidelines in 2019. The policy stated users could only change their username twice within 14 days. So, if you attempt to change your username for a third time, it won't work.

There is some good news, though. This guideline change included a feature that automatically locks in old usernames for 14 days, meaning that you can claim your previous username within the two-week grace period.