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With all the features rollouts by Discord, display names are live on the platform.
Yes, you can now have display names apart from your username on Discord, just like on Snapchat.
This feature was only released to a few users years ago, but now it is rolled out for everyone.
If you are not seeing this feature yet, you need to update your Discord app.
This option will allow users to choose new names (not usernames) that friends can recognize them with.
That way you can change your Discord name anytime you feel like without having to touch your actual username.
With the way global display names work on other social media platforms, we believe you would be able to change it as many times as you like.
We think having a global display is a good move by Discord as long as they don’t go ahead with their plan to phase out the discriminator.
Backstory: Not long before this display name saga, Discord announced that they might be removing tags (discriminators) and replacing them with @usernames. Source
We are assuming that this new display name feature is their way of mollifying the backlash they got from users when they talked about phasing out username tags.
In this article, you will learn all the gist about the new feature on Discord: display names, the criticisms from users, and how to set it up on your Discord profile.
The Discord ‘Display Name’ Feature Criticisms
A lot of users believe the feature is not necessary; some are okay with it as long as username tags stay.
See also Can Discord Moderators Join Any Server They Want? Answer
Here are what a few Discord users had to say:
“Don’t ya’ll get too excited about a maybe turn back with discriminators. Staff already have the new usernames.” – Gaby5873 on Reddit
“It’s weird to me that they said we can’t have a display name system with discriminators, so we *have* to switch to a display name and username system instead. But it seems to be working pretty fine while people wait for usernames to roll out :/” – Milkyways on Reddit
How To Change Your Display Name On Discord
To change your Discord’s display name, you need to first update your app to the latest version, that way you would see the option.
After that continue with the steps below:
Step 1: Open your Discord and click or tap on your profile icon.
Step 2: Select “Account” scroll to “Display Name” and click on it.
Step 3: Add your new display name, you can add emojis if you want.
Step 4: Save your changes and that’s it.
Your new display name will now be shown to your everyone and even in servers.
Discord’s global display name will override servers that do not allow members to edit the server’s nicknames.
Conclusion
Yes, big changes are coming to Discord and no one knows what to expect at this point.
We think the display name is great but we would prefer if the username tags stay, it is part that makes Discord stand out from the others.
On this display name news, we will add an update to this post as soon as we hear anything related.
Brianna is based in Minnesota in the US at the moment, and has been writing since 2017. She is currently a 3rd Year med student at the time of writing this.
