Have you ever been streaming and noticed that one of your viewers changed the color of their name? Or perhaps as a viewer you saw someone else switch from a green to a blue color for their Twitch handle and thought, "I want to do this!" Is it easy to change the color? Absolutely! Here is exactly how you can do it…
How to Change the Color of Your name on Twitch
There are two ways to change the color of your name on Twitch. The first is to go into the chat of a Twitch channel and click on the “Chat Identity” icon on the left of the chat message box. This will open a menu with an option to choose your name color. The other option is to type /color in chat, press enter and type in the exact color you’d like your name changed to (green, blue, etc.). It will also allow you to type in a color hex code.
Here’s a more detailed step by step guide to changing your name color on Twitch.
When you’re in the chat of any Twitch channel look to the left of the chat message box. The icon may look unique depending on the channel you’re in, but if you hover over it - it will say “Chat Identity” and you can click on it.
Once you click on “Chat Identity” you’ll arrive in a menu that if you scroll down you’ll have the option to change the global name color of your twitch name. There’s the option of about 15 primary colors.
It also gives you the option to choose “more colors,” but you can only choose a different color if you have either connected your Twitch account to your Amazon Prime account OR purchased Twitch Turbo for a monthly fee.
Once you’ve selected a color your Twitch name will change to the new color in ALL chats on Twitch. If you’re currently on a live channel it could take a few minutes for the color change to be updated and take place.
What is Twitch Turbo? It’s a monthly subscription package on Twitch that offers a few benefits. Perhaps the most important benefit is ad-free watching for ALL streams regardless if you are a subscriber or not. One of the other nice benefits of Twitch Turbo is the ability to use a custom chat username color. You’ll be able to choose any color that you desire.
For those of you who are curious, Twitch Turbo also allows you to choose between a few different emoticon sets for general emotes. Your username will have a different chat badge next to it, and you’ll also be able to extend your broadcast storage to 60 days instead of the standard 14.
The cool thing is you can still get these features by connecting your Amazon prime account to it. Honestly, if these are features you’d like access to I would connect your Amazon Prime to your Twitch account. It would be cheaper in the long run and give you access to free Amazon 2 day shipping. Just my opinion! You can read more about Twitch Turbo over at Twitch.com.
If when you type /chat #hexcolor or /color (color name) and it’s not a valid color you’ll receive an error that looks like the image below giving you a list of some of the available colors and telling you that it won’t allow you to put in the color you’ve requested.
The second option to change your Twitch username color is by typing /color in chat. When you type /color it’ll bring up a prompt suggestion telling you to type in the color you’d like your name to change to. For example, you could type in “/color blue” or “/color red”. You could also type in /color with a hex color # to be more specific.
What’s the benefit of changing your Twitch username color? The benefit is pure cosmetics and style. Changing your username does nothing, but make you stand out differently. The color you choose could be purely motivated by your favorite color or perhaps it is in line with the colors of your channel’s brand. Other than this - your username color does nothing, but make you look good.
Want to know exactly what Hex # to use? Here's a simple website that will allow you to choose exactly what color you want and see its respective hex #. You could also go to the Amazon Prime setting as seen below.
How to Make Your Twitch Name Black
To change your Twitch name to black in chat, you will either need to connect your Amazon prime account to your Twitch account or purchase Twitch Turbo. Once this is done you can change it to white in one of two ways. The first is to go to Twitch.com, next go to your settings, then select the “Prime Gaming Section” and you can choose the color white in the box of colors. The other option is to select the hex color code #ffffff. Make sure to click “confirm color” or it won’t take effect.
How to Make Your Twitch Name White
To change your Twitch name to white in chat, you will either need to connect your Amazon prime account to your Twitch account or purchase Twitch Turbo. Once this is done you can change it to white in one of two ways. The first is to go to Twitch.com, next go to your settings, then select the “Prime Gaming Section” and you can choose the color white in the box of colors. The other option is to select the hex color code #000000. Make sure to click “confirm color” or it won’t take effect.
Remember that the white username will make it VERY difficult for users and streamers to see your name unless they've toggled their theme to "Dark Mode." White name on a white background is literally invisible.
How to Make Your Twitch Name Glow
If you’ve been around Twitch you may remember seeing some Twitch names glowing and thought, “I want to do that!” Changing your Twitch username to glow in chat was a feature only available through a third party platform called BetterTTV or BTTV for short. While this was something that was done in the past, it’s no longer an available feature.
What color should my Twitch name be?
It is truly all preference of what you want your Twitch name to be. Some people intentionally choose a color or lack of (white) to be a troll and make it difficult for people to read their name. Personally I like to choose a color that meshes with the brand of my Twitch channel. But it truly is all frivolous and I don't believe it has any bearing on the growth of your stream.
Can you have emotes within your Twitch name?
Twitch doesn't allow any names to have emotes within them. While there's thousands of emotes that can be used within the chat box on Twitch you can't have your username include an emote. Maybe this will be a feature that they will add in the future, but currently it is not availble.
Viewers changed their color and as a streamer are you having a hard time reading?
There’s some colors that make it incredibly challenging to read against the white background on Twitch. If someone decides to change their Twitch name to a highly bright color or to white - it can be nearly impossible to see the name.
Fortunately there’s a number of techniques that you can utilize to make Twitch chat more readable. If you click the gear icon next to the chat message box, you can go to “Chat Appearance” and there’s a toggle for “Readable Colors” that will make the color of different users darker so that it’s easier to read.
Another option is to toggle "Dark Mode" within the Twitch platform which will change the white background to a darker background. Of course, this will make some names easier to see and make some darker colored names more difficult to read and see.
I wrote an entire article on how to read Twitch chat that also details a few other steps you can take to make reading chat easier as a viewer and streamer.
In Conclusion
Basic Twitch users have a limited number of options when it comes to choosing a color for their Twitch name. If you’re hoping to choose a more custom color you’ll need to purchase Twitch Turbo or connect your Amazon Prime to your Twitch account. The color you choose for your Twitch name is purely for looks and has no other bearing on your account. It’s just a nice way to set yourself apart from others.
Remember that the color of your Twitch name will have a bearing on how other users see it. IF you decide to choose a bright color that disguises well against Twitch’s default white background or if you choose the color white you’ll make it very difficult for other users to see your name.
This can be especially problematic for a streamer who is trying to see and read your name. I’ve seen many streamers just neglect or pass from saying a name, because they couldn’t see it well. But maybe this is what you’re going for? If not, choose a darker name that will be easier for others to read.
I hope this article was easy to understand and gave you exactly what you needed to do to be able to choose the perfect Twitch username color.
If you’re looking for more advice on how to grow a Twitch stream check out this article with over 40+ tips and tricks to get more viewers.