Instagram usernames are the first impression of someone visiting your profile.
You can get creative with them, but sometimes usernames are taken by inactive or ‘ghost’ accounts.
These users have mostly abandoned their accounts or are controlled by bots.
So what should you do to get an inactive username on Instagram?
To get an inactive Instagram username, you can report the account, try communicating with the owner, buy that username from the owner, or get a patent to earn rights for your desired username.
It’s possible to get hold of an inactive username, and this article will discuss the multiple ways to do so.
Methods of Obtaining an Inactive Instagram Username
These solutions can vary from making legal moves to finding alternatives to similar usernames.
Whatever method you adopt, the bottom line is that getting your hands on an inactive Instagram username is not impossible.
Let’s have a look at these methods.
Method #1: Buy the Username
It might be shocking for you, but popular-sounding usernames are actually for sale sometimes!
Some users have made a commercial income by generating and selling creative usernames. If that is the case for the Instagram username you’re interested in, you can strike off a deal with the account owner.
However, since this buying and selling is mainly off the record, you should be very careful while dealing with the account owners.
On several occasions, Instagram has banned hundreds of stolen accounts with barren activity. In these cases, the owners of these accounts have even been revealed as hackers, so you should be very careful.
Method #2: Message the Owner
If you are lucky, the Instagram username you are most interested in does not belong to a ghost owner.
In these cases, you can direct message the owner of the account and exchange usernames or strike a deal.
The limitation of this method is that they might not see your message until after some time, if they even get a notification for it.
But in these cases, you can look for alternative information, such as their email or any other contact information they might have mentioned in their Instagram bio.
Suppose someone has not included any such information. In that case, you can check for any links to their websites, blogs, or other Instagram accounts.
Obviously, all these methods are suitable for different situations where you might be trying to obtain an inactive Instagram username.
So if this method does not apply to your case, let’s look at another approach.
Method #3: Try Your Luck
This method just might be your lucky charm!
Instagram often deletes accounts that have been inactive for a long time. This is not a quick decision on Instagram’s end, but it does happen.
These “purges” often occur when Instagram receives many reports or discussions around inactive accounts.
They can also occur randomly, so you should always keep an eye out for the Instagram username you want to take.
Method #4: Take the Legal Route
If you are a patented company or a brand about to launch, you can get a trademark or copyright of the name. You can search online for the methods of getting a patent online.
After receiving the rights to a specific username, you can report the ghost account and get a username for your account.
Big businesses already do this, and it’s a successful method of obtaining your desired username.
You can even run a legal violation report against an account that doesn’t give up the username you want.
You might have a bigger problem if the account belongs to an active user. Still, if your company is based on a grander scale, you can afford to run an expensive copyright case.
However, the limitation is that you have to be in a position to request a patent. If you’re not, then the following method is undoubtedly for you!
Method #5: Try Something Similar
You can always choose a similar name!
Add an extra syllable, a unique character, or words like ‘official‘ to be in the same ballpark as your desired Instagram username.
This works in most cases for all kinds of accounts because you have higher chances of establishing your account versus an inactive one with a similar name instead of the original one.
Since Instagram usernames can be up to thirty characters and contain alphabets, periods, underscores, and numbers, there is much room for creativity.
Endnote
There are multiple ways to get an inactive Instagram username.
If you are a large-scale brand, you can opt for legal solutions, and Instagram can assist you with the process.
However, suppose you’re a private account or a blog and don’t want to get into the complexities of copyrights or trademarks.
In that case, you can change your characters or add something personal like your name, location, or branch of yourself to the username to make it unique.
