Migrating & merging Mastodon accounts

It’s not at all unusual to start out on one instance & decide to move to another, or to start out with multiple accounts and want to merge into one. It’s a minor miracle that this is possible at all (really!) so the fact that it takes a few steps is maybe not so bad in context.

Here are those steps. I don’t know what instances you’re on, so I’ll be using <old instance> for the hostname of the one you’re leaving, and <new instance> for the one you’re moving to. First thing to know is that you need to have both accounts already created before you get started. As you go through these instructions, substitute the specific hostname of each instance you’re on, as needed:

  • On the old account (the one you’re moving away from), go to <old instance>/settings/export and export, at minimum, your follows (ppl you follow), as well as any lists or mutes or whatever you might want to take with you
  • On the new account, go to <new instance>/settings/aliases and create an alias by inputting the full username of your old account into the box (i.e. <username>@<old instance>) and click the “create alias” button
  • On the old account, go to <old instance>/settings/migration and input the full username of your new account (i.e. <username>@<new instance>) and the password of the old account into the boxes, and click the “move followers” button
  • On the new account, go to <new instance>/settings/import and import the CSV files that you exported in the first step

Another, less permanent option is to simply set up a redirect from your old account’s profile to your new account. This doesn’t move your followers automagically like the above process does:

  • On the old account, go to <old instance>/settings/migration/redirect/new and input the full username of your new account (i.e. <username>@<new instance>) and the password of the old account into the boxes, and click the “set redirect” button

Migrating & merging Mastodon accounts

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