How to change your username

Your username (the part before @private.ki) is your unique identity on Private.Ki. This cannot be changed once set, because it’s how our system references your account (and how other users know you).

Apart from that, your PGP encryption key is attached to this email identity. By changing it, you would lose access to all your previous messages.

Therefore, Private.Ki does not allow changing the primary email address for security and logistics.

If you absolutely need a different address (say you used a personal name and now want a more professional one), the common solution is to create a new account, then migrate your data if needed. You could set up forwarding from old to new or simply inform contacts of the new address.

But you can always change your display name.

However, Private.Ki might offer a one-time courtesy change in very special cases (for example, if your username exposes personal info and you have very serious privacy concerns). This would require contacting support. We would verify ownership and feasibility. If allowed, it’s an involved process on the backend (updating records, keys, etc.). But this is a process for very special extenuating circumstances. Don’t count on this being available – it’s easier to use an alias or new account.