Commons:Changing username/Proof of ownership

If your request is to adopt the same name on Commons that you already have on your home wiki, you must provide evidence that you control the corresponding account on the other wiki. You can do that as follows:

1. Login to your home wiki using the same username that you wish to use on Commons;

2. On your User or User talk page, make an edit to add the following, replacing username with the name you are currently known by on Commons:

I am requesting a rename on Commons. My current Commons name is username. ~~~~

3. Save the page;

4. Go to page history, and select "compare selected versions" to generate a comparison between the current page version and the version just before you made the edit;

5. Copy from your browser the full URL (this will be a long string ending in a nine digit number). This is called a "diff" (short for difference);

6. Return to Commons, and paste the URL into your username change request at the relevant section of the page Commons:Changing username/Current requests.

Once you are done, you can delete the edit you have made to your home user page if you wish (the diff still remains valid, even after the edit has been removed).