How to Change Your Riot ID in 2026 – Full Guide

Change Riot ID for free. It’s a 90-day cooldown between changes, and the actual process is like two minutes of clicking. Summoner Names are gone since late 2023, so now a single Riot ID sticks with you across League of Legends, VALORANT, TFT, 2XKO, and everything else Riot makes. You do it through account.riotgames.com. I’ll cover the steps, naming rules, blocked taglines, and what to do when errors pop up.

How to Change Your Riot ID (Step-by-Step)

Just go to the Riot website. You change it there, not in any game client.

1. Go to account.riotgames.com. Log in.
2. Find the Riot ID section. Your current Game Name and Tagline are right there.
3. Click the fields. Type your new Game Name (3-16 characters) and Tagline (3-5 characters).
4. Hit Save Changes.

That’s the whole process. New name usually appears across your games in under five minutes. Still seeing the old one? Close the Riot Client fully and reopen it.

Quick heads up: the account page won’t let you edit anything while the Riot Client is running. You have to close it first. Not minimize. Actually close it from the system tray. A lot of people (myself included) sit there refreshing the page wondering why nothing works before they realize the client is still open in the background.

How to Change Riot ID from Inside League of Legends

League and TFT players on PC have a quicker way. The client has a button that sends you straight to the right page.

1. Open the League client, log in.
2. Click Store (top-right).
3. Hit the Account tab.
4. Scroll down. You’ll see a Riot ID Change box. Click that.
5. It opens your browser to the Riot Account page. Edit your name there.

You end up on the same account.riotgames.com page either way. The in-client button is just a redirect. Tested it on Patch 26.06, works on Windows and Mac without issues.

Riot ID Change Quick Reference

Detail	Info
Cost	Free (no RP, no BE)
Cooldown	90 days between changes
Where to change	account.riotgames.com or LoL client Store > Account
Game Name length	3 to 16 alphanumeric characters
Tagline length	3 to 5 alphanumeric characters
Unique name required?	No (Game Name can match others, but full ID must be unique)
Affects rank/skins?	No, display name only
Works across games?	Yes (LoL, VALORANT, TFT, 2XKO, Wild Rift, LoR)
Can change while client is open?	No, close the Riot Client first
Old system (Summoner Names)	Retired November 20, 2023

90-Day Cooldown: You Can’t Pay to Skip It

After a name change, the next free one opens up exactly 90 days later. Riot won’t let you pay to skip the wait. Not RP, not Blue Essence, nothing. Clock starts when you save.

November 20, 2023 is when all of this changed. Riot killed Summoner Names that day and pushed everyone to the Riot ID system. Name changes used to happen every 30 days, and before that Riot actually floated a 365-day cooldown with a $10 paid skip. Players on Reddit and Twitter went ballistic, so Riot dropped the paid option and settled on 90 days.

One exception exists. If your current name is causing harassment and you already changed it less than 90 days ago, submit a support ticket. Riot reviews these individually and can reset the cooldown for you. Based on what I’ve seen on Reddit, they approve most legit harassment claims within a day or two. You’ll need to explain the situation and provide some context, like screenshots of the abuse or specific incidents.

Riot ID Rules: Game Name and Tagline

A Riot ID has two parts. Example: StormBlade#rush. The StormBlade part is your Game Name, the #rush part is your Tagline. Different rules for each.

Game Name Requirements (3 to 16 Characters)

3 to 16 characters. Letters and numbers only, no symbols. Riot runs a filter that auto-blocks offensive names and can force-change yours later if it slips through. The big thing people don’t realize: Game Names are NOT unique. You and nine other people can all be “Yasuo” if you each have different Taglines.

Tagline Requirements (3 to 5 Characters)

3 to 5 characters after the # sign. Letters and numbers only. New accounts get a region code by default (#NA1, #EUW, etc). You can swap it to anything you want. But the catch: once you leave a region code, you can never go back to any region code. This is permanent.

These tags are permanently off-limits once you’ve changed yours:

• BR, BR1, LAN, LA1, LAS, LA2
• NA, NA1, EUW, EUNE
• OCE, OC1, TR, RU, KR, JP
• PBE, ME, TW, VN, SEA

Trying any of these gives you an “already in use” error. It’s misleading. No one took them. Riot just reserves all region codes. Pick literally anything else and it’ll work.

Riot ID vs. Login Username: They’re Different

Tons of people on Reddit ask this, so: these are two separate things.

Your login username is the name you type to sign into the client. It’s invisible to other players. Can’t be changed. Your Riot ID is what shows up in games, on friend lists, in lobbies. That’s what you’re changing every 90 days.

Your Riot ID is the same everywhere. Rename yourself in League and you’ll see that new name in VALORANT, TFT, Legends of Runeterra, Wild Rift, and 2XKO too. Got multiple accounts? Log into the correct one before you touch anything.

Does a Riot ID Change Affect Rank, Skins, or MMR?

Nothing changes except the name itself. Your ranked tier, MMR, champion pool, skins, match history, honor level, all of it stays exactly where it was. Friends see the new name right away without re-adding you. Might want to message them though, or they’ll be confused about the random name in their list.

How to Fix Common Errors When Changing Your Riot ID

Stuff breaks sometimes. You hit save and get a weird error, or the name just won’t show up in-game. I’ve seen all of these pop up on Reddit threads and ran into a couple myself.

“This Riot ID is already in use” — Someone already grabbed that exact Game Name + Tagline pair. Your Game Name can match theirs, but the combo has to be unique. Switch the Tagline and try again. Also check you’re not accidentally typing a blocked region code.

“You have changed your Riot ID recently” — Your 90-day cooldown hasn’t expired yet. Wait it out. Only way around it is a harassment ticket to Riot Support, and even that’s not guaranteed.

Name won’t update in-game — Full restart of the Riot Client. Not the X button. Tray icon > right-click > close. Reopen and log in again. The name sometimes needs a few minutes to push through to every server, up to about 10.

“Riot ID change unavailable” — Your Riot Client is open somewhere in the background. The website and the client can’t both access your account settings at once. Kill the client, refresh the page.

How to Pick a Riot ID You Won’t Regret

You’re stuck with whatever you pick for three months. Worth spending an extra minute thinking about it.

Keep it short. Names in the 4 to 10 character range look the best on scoreboards and in chat. Stuff like “xXDarkSlayer2847Xx” just turns into visual noise that nobody remembers.

Careful with anything that could be read as offensive. Riot’s automated filter catches the obvious ones, but manual reviewers go through flagged names too. If Riot force-changes your name, that burns your free swap. Then you’re waiting another 90 days.

No real names, phone numbers, or email addresses in your ID. Riot will change those without asking, and it’s a bad idea anyway from a privacy standpoint.

You can’t use “Riot” anywhere in the name. Even stuff like “R1ot” or “Ri0t” gets blocked. Same goes for impersonating pro players or esports figures. Riot will just change it and you won’t get a warning first.

Riot ID vs. Old Summoner Names

League used Summoner Names for over a decade. Every name had to be unique on your server. “Yasuo” taken? Tough luck, go find something else. Riot did recycle names from abandoned accounts sometimes, but the system was messy and unreliable.

The Riot ID system killed all of that. Multiple people can share the same Game Name now because the Tagline makes each ID unique. Riot stopped recycling inactive names too.

Cost comparison: old system was 1300 RP (around $10) per name change. Now it costs nothing, you just wait 90 days. Bought a LoL smurf account and want to rename it? Same steps, same free price.

Can I Get My Old Summoner Name Back?

Yeah, probably. When the switch happened, your Summoner Name got turned into the Game Name half of your Riot ID. Your server region became the tagline (#NA1, #EUW, whatever). Game Names aren’t unique anymore, so your old name is almost certainly up for grabs. Pair it with a custom tag and you’re set.

The one thing you can’t do: go back to a region-code tagline like #NA1 after you’ve changed it. That’s locked permanently. But YourOldName#abc or any other 3-5 character tag will work.

Lock Down Your Account After the Name Change

While you’re on the account page anyway, turn on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). It adds a six-digit code to logins from new devices. Someone grabs your password? They still can’t log in without the code. Takes maybe 30 seconds to enable.

Check your recovery email too. Lose access to that email and you’re locked out for good. You can update it right on the same page.

Name Change vs. Region Transfer

Different things entirely. A name change swaps your display name. A region transfer physically moves your account to another server and costs 2600 RP in League.

You can do either one without the other. But if you transfer to a new region and then change your Riot ID, the blocked tagline list still applies. Your old region tag is gone for good once you pick a custom one.

Or if you’d rather start fresh on a different server, creating a new LoL account is free. You just lose all your champions, skins, and ranked progress.

What Happens If I Delete My Riot Account After Changing My Name?

Deleting your Riot Account wipes everything. Riot ID, email, username, all released back into the pool. Anybody can grab your old name after that. Riot gives you a 30-day window to cancel before it’s permanent. During those 30 days you can still play normally, but once the timer runs out, it’s done. No undo. A name change costs you 90 days of waiting. Deletion costs you everything on the account. Big difference.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often can I change my Riot ID?

Every 90 days. Free. No paid skip. Harassment cases go through Riot Support for an exception.

Does changing my Riot ID affect my rank or skins?

No. Rank, MMR, skins, champions, match history, honor, all untouched. Just the display name swaps.

Can I change my Riot ID from inside League of Legends?

Yes. Store > Account > Riot ID Change. Opens account.riotgames.com in your browser to finish up.

Why does it say my Riot ID is already in use?

Someone grabbed that Game Name + Tagline pair already, or you typed a blocked region code (NA1, EUW, KR, etc.) as the tagline. Swap the tag and save again.

Is my Riot ID the same as my login username?

No. Riot ID is what people see in-game. Login username is private, for signing in only. You can change your Riot ID but not your login username.

Can I get my old Summoner Name back as my Riot ID?

Usually. Game Names aren’t unique now, so your old name is likely free. Pair it with a custom tag. Only region-code taglines like #NA1 can’t be reclaimed.

Does the Riot ID change carry across all Riot games?

Yes. League, VALORANT, TFT, Legends of Runeterra, 2XKO, Wild Rift. One save, all games updated.

Max Daelon, AgataSmurf.com. Last updated April 2026.