You'll want to think outside the box regarding spelling, grammar and the utility of special characters. Be aware that from time to time, high quality usernames will suddenly appear and be made available. There's always a chance that you'll be able to use our tool to find an incredibly high quality username that people will be jealous of. Keep trying and eventually, you’ll find the username that best suits your brand or personal page.

That's the entire purpose of this page: we've put together a tool that gives you the vital information you need to know whether or not the username of your dreams is available. Simply scroll to the very top of this page and you'll find an Instagram username availability checker that works incredibly quick and conveniently. Enter an unlimited number of names and you'll find out in an instant whether or not they're available.

SocialPlug's tool has been built from the ground up with your convenience in mind. Not only that, but we understand that time is of the essence – that's why our response speed to queries is superior to that of other tools out there. If you want to run a username checker for Instagram that's fast and free, this is the best option available.

Yes: SocialPlug has made this username checker for Instagram completely free for anyone to access and use. The technology isn't exactly complicated, but we've put a lot of time and effort into creating something that's functional, easy to use and above all else – free for everyone. Our website will always be online and offer the best response times possible, so if you've always wanted a way to quickly check for Instagram usernames, this is as good as it gets.

Trust us: we looked at what the other Instagram username availability checkers out there were doing and learned what mistakes to avoid!

This does happen, but the exact circumstances around when it happens are a bit of a mystery. Sometimes referred to as a 'name purge', Instagram does these at random periods and it's not exactly clear how inactive an account needs to be before the name becomes available. It's also not clear if the availability of account names is instant or rolled out over a period of several hours or days. SocialPlug has engaged in some research regarding this process, but at the moment, we're keeping what we know a secret to give our team an edge when acquiring usernames for our clients.

Instagram has never publicly explained what an 'inactive' account actually is, but if you yourself have a valuable username and you want to protect it, ensure that you log in frequently and engage with at least some pieces of content on the platform. It's likely that they utilize a combination of factors when deciding whether or not a name is suitable for release. If you're hoping to acquire an inactive name, fingers crossed that the owner never bothers to log in anymore!

Four letter account names on Instagram are highly valuable – even those that don't make a specific word or acronym. SocialPlug has created a special program to check every single four-letter account name combination and there are none available. As with all usernames, it's possible that some may eventually be freed up in the future, but as things currently stand, it'll be almost impossible to find any genuine 4-letter account names on Instagram if you try to manually search for them.

Is there a particular four letter Instagram username that you'd like? SocialPlug has a bespoke service available where we will work hard to get you the handle of your dreams. Reach out to us for more information and a quote.

Under very specific circumstances, it's possible for you to acquire usernames on Instagram that have already been registered. For incredibly large and notable brands, Instagram may make your name available to you – especially if the original owner of the username isn't using the handle. However, this is an incredibly rare service, and more often than not, Instagram won't assist.

It's also possible for usernames to become available over the course of months and years. Instagram periodically releases names that you might want to own, so check back frequently for whatever it is that you want and you might one day find that it's on offer. Just remember: highly coveted names are checked regularly, so if you're serious about getting a name, be proactive!

SocialPlug offers a bespoke username acquisition service: in most instances, we're the best shot you have at getting the specific name that you desire. Reach out to our friendly team and we'll do whatever we can to assist with your Instagram username needs.

Firstly, don't panic: the reason why is because there are a few ways for you to get your business's name on Instagram. Second – contact our team here at SocialPlug and we'll give you the information you need so that you have the best shot possible at getting the account name you want. We've shown time and time again that our ability to acquire the names our customers need is second to none. We cannot promise that we'll get it every time, but what we do know is that our chances are the highest in the industry.

Although we would like to explain the best ways to go about doing this – because we run a bespoke service, it's important for us to keep our methods as secret as possible. There are half a dozen or so approaches to getting the handle that you want: we won't do anything illegal, but we'll work incredibly hard to try and acquire the username that you desire.

SocialPlug has tested the services of rivals to see just how good they are: suffice to say, we go above and beyond what the others are willing to do. If you're actually serious about getting the Instagram username of your dreams, there's only one provider that you need to know about.