Do you want to keep your business and personal lives separate on Twitter? Perhaps you want to get political, create a parody account, or try your hand at being an influencer. Instead of mixing business and pleasure, just create a second (or third) Twitter account and switch between them.
You can create as many Twitter accounts as you want, but you can only connect up to five accounts. However, most people should find two accounts—one personal and one professional—to be sufficient. If that isn’t cutting it, you can always expand.
Each account needs to have a different username, but they can all be linked to the same phone number. If you want to use the same Gmail for multiple accounts, just add a dot anywhere in the username (pcmag.twitter@gmail.com vs. pcmagtwitter@gmail.com, for example). Twitter will read these tweaked addresses as completely different users despite the fact they all point to the same account. If you use Yahoo, Outlook, or any other email service, you will have to use different addresses for each account.
Here is how to create and manage multiple accounts on the web or through the Twitter mobile app for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.
Create a Twitter Account
If you don’t already have a Twitter account, head to Twitter.com or open the mobile app and click the Sign Up button. The service will then lead you through the setup process. Enter your name; this can be whatever you want, but Twitter will ultimately design a username based on it. Then enter either a phone number or email address and click Next on the top right.
You are then asked if you want to be tracked when you see Twitter content on other websites. Turn off this option by checking the box next to Track where you see Twitter content across the web, then click Next.
Confirm your name, phone number (or email address), and date of birth. Click the Sign up button and then click the OK button to receive a verification code via email or text. Enter the code into the verification code field and click Next. You can then create a password.
You will then have the option to add a profile photo and bio. While you can skip adding a bio for now, we do recommend adding a photo because Twitter lets people block notifications from accounts with the default profile photo. The recommended dimensions for a profile photo on Twitter are 400-by-400 pixels.
You can then choose your interests, and Twitter will suggest accounts you might want to follow. Click the Follow button next to any names that interest you, or click the Follow button at the top of the screen to follow them all. At the next screen, you can skip notifications.
If you’re on your phone, you can sync Twitter with your contacts to find friends on the platform and select those you want to follow.
Twitter then places you at your timeline page. Your display name and username (your @ handle) are visible at the bottom of the left pane. You may want to change these monikers to something more suitable, though. To do so, click the More icon in the left page and select Settings and privacy.
In the Your Account section, click the entry for Account information and then click Username. You can now change it to something else. Your username must be 15 characters or less and contain only letters, numbers, and underscores with no spaces. As you fashion your username, Twitter alerts you if you're using an unsupported character or if the name is already taken. When you create an acceptable name, Twitter will stop flagging it. Click Save.
To change your display name, navigate to your Twitter page (twitter.com/[your username]), click Edit Profile, and enter something new under Name. You can change your username and display name on the web or in the mobile app.
Add a Second Twitter Account
Now, if you want to create a second account, the process is slightly different in the app versus on the web. Open the Twitter app and sign in with your existing account. On an iPhone, tap the hamburger menu in the upper left and tap the three-dot Profile icon. On an iPad, tap the More icon and then tap the Profile icon. If you’re on an Android device, tap the profile icon in the upper left and then tap the down arrow.
Tap Create a new account. Twitter will take you through the account setup process and request the same information it does when creating your first account. You can tap Add an existing account to link your second existing Twitter account to your phone. Once you sign in, you should see multiple accounts listed in the app.
Unlike the app, Twitter on the web will only let you add an existing account. If you need to create a new account, you will have to log out and create it first. You can add an existing account by clicking the three-dot icon next to your display name in the bottom-left corner. Click Add an existing account and sign into that account.
How to Switch Accounts
After you’ve set up your second account, it's time to figure out how to juggle both of your Twitter accounts. On the website, click your username in the bottom-left corner to view all your connected accounts. Click the one you want to view and you will change Twitter accounts.
Switching between accounts on mobile varies slightly based on the device you’re using. On an iPhone, tap the hamburger menu and then tap the Profile icon of the account you want. On an iPad, tap the More icon and then tap the ellipsis icon. Android users can tap the Profile icon, then tap the down arrow. You can then select a username to switch accounts.
Keep in mind that if you connect an account on the web, you will also need to connect it in the app, and vice versa.
Disconnect an Account
If you decide you no longer want to juggle multiple Twitter accounts, you can log out of your extra account to make it disappear from the list. A more permanent solution would be to deactivate it entirely. Open the account you wish to remove and enter Settings and privacy > Account, then select Deactivate your account. Follow the steps to deactivate the account. You’ll need to enter your Twitter password before you can make it official.
Finally, having multiple accounts is a good way to keep your business and professional lives separate, but creating fake accounts to harass or hassle people is not okay and is against Twitter policy. If that’s your goal, it might be time for you to get a life, not a new Twitter account.