How To Find Twitter User’s Old Usernames

Have you ever wondered what a twitter username was before they changed it? How do you find out their old usernames without creeping? How can someone spy on people’s Twitter progressions to see their previous and current usernames?

This article will show you three detailed and explained steps on how to spy on people’s Twitter accounts. We’d show you how to learn their username progression. Also, find out if they have had any deleted accounts in the past.

Yes, it is difficult to do so with deleted accounts, but the process is simpler with currently active, public accounts. It will, however, necessitate a lot of hard work and learning, so if you are not willing to put in the effort, you might not be able to do this.

So without further ado, here are the ways to find a twitter user’s old usernames.

Methods To Find Twitter User’s Old Usernames

1. Bookmarking the unique ID

Before we explain how to use this method, let’s first form up a quick scenario.

Let’s say there is a Twitter account you’re trying to keep tabs on for some reason, or you want to monitor their Twitter username progression, and they have blocked you; how can you still monitor them? You can just bookmark their account’s unique ID.

This method will not help you to trace the twitter account previous username changes, it will only help you keep tabs on their future username progression. If you suspect a user is up to something malicious, this is the right method/trick for you to use.

The first step you need to take is to copy the URL below and paste it into a new browser tab (Do not enter the URL yet).

htt‌ps://twitter.com/intent/user?user_id=

Now, you can open another tab and visit http://tweeterid.com/ or an alternative Twitter user ID generator tool.

How To Find A Twitter User's Old Usernames using tweeterID

The second step is to visit the Twitter account you want to track and copy its current username, paste it into the box above and click on convert, and you will then be given their Twitter account unique ID.

Copy the unique ID, then visit the first tab you open, paste the ID number at the end of the URL address.

For instance, the account’s unique ID is 190970659; the URL will now be htt‌ps://twitter.com/intent/user?190970659=

You can now press enter; when you do so, the user’s Twitter account will appear on your screen.

Once you’ve found the user’s page, bookmark it, and you’re done. Whatever the user does with the account now, as long as its unique ID hasn’t changed, you’ll be able to discover them quickly.

2. Conversation Reversal

We’ve let you know how you can now track a Twitter account’s future username progression; how about checking their Twitter account past username changes? Let’s look into that.

When you search for a username on Twitter, the search results may display every tweet from that account that contains that username at the time of your search. The problem is that every outcome will appear as if it were shared under the current username. Meaning, you won’t be able to view previous usernames, and you won’t be able to search the responses or mentions for any former usernames you don’t know.

However, if the account is still public and not private, and the user hasn’t deleted past tweets, username changes can be tracked using the conversation reversal method.

Conversation reversal is as simple as looking for an old conversational tweet by your chosen person and tapping on it to witness the conversation. In tweets forming the opposite side of the dialogue, the former handle will be visible.

For example, there is a @Techsng Twitter account formerly called @Techsnigeria. All tweets that will be found under the tab will be @Techsng, but tweets replying to the account will be seen under the former Twitter username, which is @Techsnigeria. 

As a result, you can now search @Techsnigeria  and @Techsng responses to get to know their previous usernames.

But how can you know when the Twitter username changed so you can tap into an old conversation? I am sure you don’t want to go through many tweets, haphazardly tapping here and there?

Now, let’s take a look at the step-by-step guide on how to do it

Step 1: Start by copying the search phrase below into the Twitter search bar.

Until:2018-01-01 To:@Techsng

Step 2: Make sure to do the searches on a desktop computer; click on More Options > Tweets.

That is all you need to do. It is so easy, right? Just two simple steps. Let’s proceed to look at how the third method is done.

In the example above, the prior username may appear in plain text rather than as a link, which will aid in its discovery. This is not always the case, though. It works because if the previous account is no longer active on Twitter, it will remove the link and display the username in plain text, such as @Techsng.

If the prior username has now been adopted by someone else and so exists on Twitter again (albeit under a new account), it will still appear as a link, such as @Techsng.

Summary

All the simple search commands we’ve taken a look at in this article will allow you to extract a tremendous amount of data from Twitter, which most people assumed was no longer available. You must utilize your intellect and think like a detective, but the resources are available.

On Twitter, there’s very little that matters that doesn’t leave some sort of permanent imprint. So, if you care enough about someone to search for their previous username, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to track it down. Good luck with your search.

Hi, I'm Benny, Ben for short. I am a content writer/tech enthusiast covering technology topics. I love football, music, hiking, and books.