Screen name, account name, account id, profile name? What's the difference?

[hoob]

Okay, getting really confused about all these different names. What are my different names, what do they do, where are they displayed, which do friends need to type in to add me? Which of these can I change? So many questions :(

Thanks.

[Starbury]

flowa7 , all of them ( Profile Name , Account Name , Account ID ) can be used by your friends to find you but you may have your profile name used by multiple steam users while that is not possible with your Account Name/ID. So It will be easier for the person who wants to reach you to have your Account name or ID. Another difference between the Account and Profile Name is that It is not possible to change your Account Name.

[hoob]

Ok, thanks :)

[Seretti]

Account name is the name you use to log into Steam and cannot be changed. No one can see this name but you.
Your profile name is the one I can see in your profile, posts that you make etc. This can be changed from your profile settings.
Your profile ID is a name or number displayed in your profile link, like this: http://steamcommunity.com/id/kallianwithwings

[Astraea Kisaragi]

1. account name - used as login - cannot be changed. Can be used as ID too.
2. displayed Steam profile name - any name you want - can be changed anytime
3. Steam profile URL - a unique string of numbers, gained when you register - cannot be changed. Used either as ID or in a link to your profile.

There is appreantly also a Steam3ID and SteamID32 number, but those cannot be seen on default and I'm not sure what they exactly do.

[hoob]

great, thanks everyone :)

[le_frelon_sean]

If I'm playing pubg then, my profile name is the one that will appear right?

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von 3D18L3S:

If I'm playing pubg then, my profile name is the one that will appear right?

I thought you created your own name there and had to stick with that one forever...?

Ask in the PUBG forum instead.

[homies4life]

im confused

[Kalousca]

What is the username then??

[The Lofian]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kalousca:

What is the username then??

I've been asking the same question for too long. Which name is actually used as the username?

[Muppet among Puppets]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Wei2Fast·唯快不破:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kalousca:

What is the username then??

I've been asking the same question for too long. Which name is actually used as the username?

What is the username in your eyes?
The login name or display name?

[The Lofian]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Muppet among Puppets:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Wei2Fast·唯快不破:

I've been asking the same question for too long. Which name is actually used as the username?

What is the username in your eyes?
The login name or display name?

The display name aka the profile name.

[Muppet among Puppets]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Wei2Fast·唯快不破:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Muppet among Puppets:

What is the username in your eyes?
The login name or display name?

The display name aka the profile name.

Then the account name is the login name.

[Bobman]

I wish we could change our login name, simply because bad people gotten ahold of mine and now I randomly get notifications that my account trying to be accessed from a new location, while they never have gained access to my account do to 2 step verification it's still annoying to have to constantly change my password everytime it happens, and If I could simply just change my login name to something else it would stop.

[JPMcMillen]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Bobman:

I wish we could change our login name, simply because bad people gotten ahold of mine and now I randomly get notifications that my account trying to be accessed from a new location, while they never have gained access to my account do to 2 step verification it's still annoying to have to constantly change my password everytime it happens, and If I could simply just change my login name to something else it would stop.

That only happens if either your password keeps getting leaked OR they are just phishing emails because they know that some Steam account is linked to that email. When you get one of those login emails if it doesn't list the actual login name, it's just a phishing scam. And even if it does, they could still just be phishing emails from someone that knows that the login and email are linked. Change the accounts email and see if the new notifications go to the new email or the old one. Also, maybe change the password on your email account as well.

As for the login name itself, due to Valves shortsightedness, they didn't setup the user database in a way that would ever allow the login name to be changed. Instead they made the login name the primary key, and changing that would completely break a users account. Valve discovered this well over a decade ago and hasn't made any real effort to change it.