Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google now lets Search Profile users change their handle, the short @name attached to the page. The control lives inside the profile’s own edit screen, not a separate settings panel.
To use it, open Edit profile, then select Edit next to the existing @handle, or Edit handle if none exists yet. Users then choose from a set of available handles. Google’s guidance notes that linking an additional social account can add more names to that set. The chosen handle appears on the public profile right away.
Google paired the change with four new FAQ entries. They now sit inside the Search Profiles help documentation. Two cover mechanics: which outside accounts a profile can connect to, and why the handle field cannot be freely typed. Two cover moderation: how Google decides on a suggested profile edit, and why a suggested change can sit unresolved.
A handle is how a profile gets found. Letting people change it, even from a limited list, hands users real control over an identity surface Google otherwise runs alone.
Search Engine Roundtable’s Barry Schwartz reported the update on August 18, 2026.
