LIVE ARTICLE - REGULARLY UPDATED. Meta is rolling out usernames in phases throughout 2026. We update this page every time new information is officially confirmed. Last updated: March 2026.
Meta is rolling out WhatsApp usernames throughout 2026. This article covers what that means for your systems, your customers, and what you need to do
TL;DR: WhatsApp usernames explained
Read this if you have 60 seconds. Come back to the full article when you’re ready to act.
Meta is introducing WhatsApp usernames. Customers will be able to hide their phone numbers when messaging businesses.
When that happens, you’ll need to use a new identifier called Business-Scoped User IDs (BSUID) instead of phone numbers.
For an easier transition & intercompatibility between BSUIDs and phone numbers, Meta will also launch a feature called the Contact Book. It automatically maps customers’ phone numbers to BSUIDs from conversation events even before username adoption begins, so most of your base is already protected automatically.
The April - June period will be a live testing and adoption window. BSUIDs will be visible in webhooks, Contact Books will be building up mappings, but username adoption won’t start yet. Use this time to understand the change, not to panic-build.
Nothing breaks until username adoption begins in June 2026 and even then, only for net new conversations from users who have adopted usernames.
360Dialog will provide full specs, examples, and implementation support as the rollout happens. You won’t have to figure this out alone.
Phone numbers are not disappearing. Existing customers and outbound messaging to known numbers are not affected.
What is actually changing with WhatsApp usernames and why
For years, WhatsApp has worked on a simple principle: your phone number is your identity. Every account, every conversation, every business interaction has been tied to a number.
That is about to change by design, and for a good reason.
Meta research showed that control over personal information is one of users’ top concerns when using WhatsApp. Many people don’t want to share their phone number with every business they message. Usernames give them that choice.
Starting mid-2026, users will be able to choose a username (a handle like @AliceWhitman) and use it to message businesses without revealing their phone number. It is optional. Adoption will be gradual. And the platform has been designed with a transition period specifically so businesses can adapt without disruption.
In practice, this means your system will start receiving a Business-Scoped User ID (BSUID) alongside phone numbers, and later on only BSUIDs after the user in question adopts a username. Understanding the changes and how they will be rolling out is what this guide is for.
Two things you need to understand first
Before getting into timelines and what to update, two concepts need to be clear. Everything else builds on them.
1. Usernames are not the same as Display Names
This is the most common point of confusion, so let’s be clear about it.
Your Display Name is the business name your customers see inside the WhatsApp chat. It is tied to your business profile and phone number. This will not be changing.
Usernames are different. For regular WhatsApp users, they’re searchable handles, a new entry point that lets them find and start conversations with their friends and businesses without needing a phone number. Think of it like a @handle on Instagram or Telegram.
One important thing to clarify: Businesses won’t be able to target users via usernames. Business messaging will continue to work through platform identifiers (phone numbers and BSUIDs). What changes is how conversations start, and what identifier arrives when they do.
2. What is a BSUID and why does it matter
The simplest way to think about this: WhatsApp is moving away from “phone number = identity.”
When a user adopts a username, their phone number is no longer automatically shared with businesses. WhatsApp sends a Business-Scoped User ID (BSUID) instead, a unique identifier that represents that user specifically within the context of your business portfolio.
Three things to know about BSUIDs:
They are unique. No two users share the same BSUID.
They are scoped to your business portfolio. The same customer has a different BSUID with every business they interact with. This is intentional, it keeps identity stable inside your conversations without exposing a universal key.
They will appear in all webhooks from March 31 onwards, regardless of whether a user has adopted a username. This gives you time to see them, test your parsing, and understand what they look like in real webhook payloads before anything actually depends on them.
How the transition to username works
This is the part that matters most for understanding your real exposure and why the timeline is more forgiving than it may seem.
April - June 2026: the adoption window
When the Contact Book launches in April, it immediately starts doing something valuable: it automatically stores the mapping between your customers’ phone numbers and their BSUIDs every time you have an interaction with them.
This happens in the background, by default, for all businesses. You don’t need to build anything for it to work.
During the April - June period, usernames won’t be available for users to claim. This means that BSUIDs will become visible in your webhooks for all message events, Contact Books will build up mappings, but customers will still be identified by phone numbers in your existing flows. In practice, nothing changes for your messaging during this period.
This window exists so you can observe BSUIDs in real webhook data, understand what they look like, and start planning your implementation at your own pace, with real examples to work from.
In practice, this means: even if you don’t implement any BSUID handling during April and May, your Contact Book has already been building mappings for all your existing customers. When you do implement (whether that’s in May, June, or later) you’ll have a solid foundation of mapped identifiers already waiting for you.
From June 2026: when username adoption begins
This is when usernames become available to users in test countries, and gradually expand globally. As users adopt usernames, their phone numbers stop being automatically shared with businesses they message.
At this point, two flows will break for users who have adopted a username if your system isn’t handling BSUIDs:
Messages from click-to-WhatsApp (CTWA) ads
Inbound service messages
The key qualifier: username adoption will be gradual. At launch, it will affect a small fraction of your inbound traffic. For existing customers whose phone numbers are already in your Contact Book, continuity is preserved automatically.
What does not change
It is equally important to know what stays the same, regardless of username adoption:
Authentication messages will continue to be sent to phone numbers only, as today.
Customers who have not adopted a username will still be targetable via phone numbers. You continue to receive their phone number in webhook events as normal as well.
Outbound messaging to phone numbers you interacted with in the adoption period still works - you can continue sending marketing, utility, and authentication messages to known numbers, thanks to the Contact Book.
The Contact Book: your transition safety net
The Contact Book is the feature that makes this transition manageable and it’s enabled by default for all businesses.
From April 2026, every time you send or receive a message with a customer’s phone number, WhatsApp automatically stores the mapping between that phone number and their BSUID in your Contact Book. No action required from you.
What this means in practice: if a customer later adopts a username, you will still be able to reach out to them using their phone number, as the Contact Book will have their phone number mapped to their BSUID in the background. Your existing customer relationships are protected automatically.
The one thing to be aware of: for this to work, you must keep the Contact Book enabled. It is on by default, and we recommend leaving it that way. You can manage this setting in Business Manager starting March 16,, 2026, although it won’t start collecting any data until the webhooks are enriched with the BSUID on March 31t, 2026.
What to do and when
There is no single deadline for everyone. The right timing depends on your setup and how much traffic you expect from new username-adopting users at launch.
Here is how to think about it:
If you want to get ahead of it
From March 31st, BSUIDs will appear in live webhook responses. This is the ideal time to:
Read the user_id field in your webhook responses and log the values, no need to act on them yet, just observe
Add BSUID as a field in your customer profiles alongside phone number
Start mapping BSUIDs to existing records so your CRM is ready when username adoption begins
Update chatbot flows to request phone number via the new native CTA button, for workflows that depend on it
If you’re not ready to implement yet
That’s fine. The Contact Book is already protecting your existing customer base by default. You’re not missing anything critical during the April - June adoption window.
360Dialog will be releasing full implementation specs, real webhook examples, and step-by-step guidance as the rollout progresses. You don’t need to implement against hypothetical payloads today. We’ll make sure you have everything you need – with real data to work from – before it actually matters for your flows.
Our commitment: we’re between you and the complexity of this rollout so you don’t have to be. We’ll provide docs, examples, and support at every stage. Follow this page for updates as they’re confirmed.
A note for businesses managing multiple portfolios
BSUIDs are scoped to a business portfolio, not globally. The same customer will have a different BSUID in each portfolio they interact with.
If you manage multiple clients across different portfolios, this affects identity mapping at scale. The solution is parent BSUIDs a shared identifier across linked portfolios under a parent business account. Reach out to your Meta POC to set this up if it applies to your setup.
Rollout timeline
Based on Meta’s official partner communications and 360Dialog’s direct briefings.
February 16, 2026 – BSUID visible in test webhooks via Meta dashboard. Start getting familiar with the format.
March 16, 2026 – Contact Book setting is manageable in Business Manager. Keep it enabled.
March 31, 2026 – BSUIDs appear in all live webhook responses. Testing window opens. Use this period to observe, log, and plan.
April 2026 – Contact Book starts recording phone-number-to-BSUID mappings automatically. Your existing customer base begins building its safety net.
May 2026 – WhatsApp Business API support for sending messages via BSUID (pending final confirmation from Meta).
June 2026 – Country-level username testing begins. First users start adopting usernames in test countries.
Rest of 2026 – Global rollout. Username adoption expands for both users and businesses.
Frequently Asked Questions
If my customer adopts a username, can I still message them?
Do my clients have to do anything? And do I?
Which of my messaging flows could break – and when?
What is a BSUID and why does my system need to handle it?
The Contact Book is enabled by default – do I need to do anything?
We use click-to-WhatsApp ads. What changes for us?
We built our CRM around phone numbers. Where do we start?
What is the real deadline?
We manage multiple clients across different portfolios. Will the same customer have a different ID in each one?
If a customer sets a username key, can I still reach them?
