How to Hide Your Real Name on PayPal (Using a Business Account)

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Switch to a business account to hide your legal name on PayPal

Written by Darlene Antonelli, MA

Last Updated: December 20, 2024 Fact Checked

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Using a Business Account

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Changing Business Name

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Hiding from Seller Profile

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If you have a personal PayPal account, you are required to use your legal first and last name. Unfortunately, this means you can't hide your name when sending and receiving payments. But you can hide your name by switching to a PayPal Business account, which allows you to use your business name instead. This wikiHow article teaches you how to switch to a business account to protect your real name on PayPal, plus how to hide other personal information from your Seller Profile.

How to Hide Your Name on PayPal

Go into your PayPal account settings and upgrade to a Business account. When prompted, select the option to create the account with a new email address that doesn't include your real name.

Section 1 of 3:

Using a Business Account

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1
Create a new email address for your business. To create a business account, you'll need to make sure you're using an email address that doesn't have your real name attached to it. This ensures that nothing about your account will accidentally display your real name to the people you exchange money with.
- You will need to upload proof of your business name when using this method. So, if you don't actually have a business, you won't be able to hide your real name in PayPal with this method.
- Creating a new email address also allows you to keep your personal account open, which means you can continue using it with the people you don't mind knowing your real name. If you do use the same email address, PayPal will close your personal account and you'll only have your business account.^{[1]
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It's at the top-right corner. This takes you to your Settings.

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It's toward the bottom of the left panel.^{[2]
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Select Use a new email with your business account. It's the first option. This ensures you don't close your personal account.
- Alternatively, you can choose Use your current email address to switch to a business account if you don’t mind closing your personal account.
It's at the bottom of the page.
Now you'll be asked to provide details about your business.
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Follow the on-screen instructions to create your business account. During the setup process, you'll be asked to enter your business name (make sure it's something you don't want to hide), your contact information, and some basic information about your business.^{[3]
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Research source} Once your business account is created, you can use that to send and receive payments with PayPal instead of the account connected to your real name.
- You will be asked for your employer ID or sole proprietor ID. This is for tax purposes. If you don't have one, enter your social security number.
- After creating your business account, you can link your regular bank account. Even though your real name is connected to your bank account, nobody you do business with will see your name or banking information.

Section 2 of 3:

How to Change Your Business Name

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Go to https://www.paypal.com/businessmanage/account/aboutBusiness. If your real name still shows up on your invoices even though you're using a business account, you might need to change some settings to hide it.
- You may be prompted to provide documentation of your business name.^{[4]
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It's to the right of your business name.
You'll see this option in the top right corner of your business profile.
Find this under your business name in your profile.
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Select "Your contact name has changed" and click Continue. This might say "Your business name has changed" instead.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to submit your name change request.
- You can only deposit money from your business account into a bank account with a matching business name.

Section 3 of 3:

Hiding Your Name from Your Seller Profile

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It is not possible to hide your name from a PayPal Seller Profile. If you have a Seller Profile for selling goods and services on PayPal, your real name or business name will always appear. You can hide your phone number, email address, or location, but not your name.^{[5]
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Research source} To hide other information from your Seller Profile:
- Go to https://www.paypal.com/myaccount/settings/account to open your account settings.
- Select your seller profile and click Manage.
  - If you're using the mobile app, tap your profile icon and select Seller Profile instead.
- Click Edit and hide the elements you don't want to appear on your Seller Profile or invoices.
- Tap Save to save your changes.^{[6]
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