How to move your Mastodon account to another server
Move your followers to a new Mastodon server, import your follows, lists and blocks, and update links, verification and posts scheduled for the old account.
To move a Mastodon account to another server, create an account on the new server, add your old handle to it as an alias, then start the move from the old account’s settings. Followers switch to the new account if their server supports moves. Your posts stay behind, and follows, lists, bookmarks, blocks and mutes come over only if you export and import them.
This guide follows one example through every step, including the links, bios and scheduled posts that still point to the old address. It uses Mastodon’s web version and doesn’t cover deleting an account.
Know what moves and what stays
Mastodon’s guide to moving accounts describes what a move does:
| Item | What happens |
|---|---|
| Followers | Switched to the new account, if their server’s software supports moves |
| Posts and media | Stay on the old server; Mastodon can’t import them |
| Follows, lists, bookmarks, blocks, mutes, blocked domains | Export as CSV files, then import |
| Old profile | Shows a notice pointing to the new account and can’t post |
| Moving again | Not possible for 30 days |
The example is made up: Juniper, a community radio volunteer, moves from @juniper@oldwaves.example to @juniper@newwaves.example. Three things point to her old account: a link in her website’s footer, her Bluesky bio and three posts scheduled in a publishing tool for next week.
Set up the new account and export your data
Choose a new server, read its rules and sign up. Set the name, bio, avatar and profile links, so followers recognize you when they arrive.
On the old account, open Preferences > Import and export > Export and download the CSV files you need. You can also request an archive of your posts and media there, as a copy for yourself.
Read any notifications and direct messages you still need now. Mastodon’s guide warns that you lose access to the old account once the move starts.
Import your follows, lists and blocks
On the new account, open Preferences > Import and export > Import. Choose the type of data, select the matching CSV file and choose merge or overwrite. Merge adds to what the account already has; overwrite replaces it. Repeat for each file. Juniper merges her follows, because her new account already follows the station’s profile.
People who approve their followers must approve you again. When the imports finish, check that the following count matches your export, apart from pending requests.
Create the alias and start the move
- On the new account, open Preferences > Account. Under “Moving from a different account”, choose “create an account alias”. Juniper enters her old handle, @juniper@oldwaves.example, and chooses “Create alias”.
- On the old account, open Preferences > Account. Under “Move to a different account”, choose “configure it here”. Juniper enters her new handle, @juniper@newwaves.example, and her old account’s password, then chooses “Move followers”.
- If you see “not an alias of this account”, check the alias on the new account. You may need to wait up to 24 hours and try again.
Followers may arrive in batches, and the switch can’t be undone.
If you only want the moved notice, without moving followers, choose “only put up a redirect on your profile” on the page from step 2 instead, then “Set redirect”. The old account can’t post while it redirects, and you can cancel the redirect any time.
Update everything that points to the old account
Links elsewhere don’t update themselves:
- Website verification: Mastodon shows a checkmark when your site links to your exact profile URL with
rel="me", as its profile documentation explains. Juniper changes her footer link tohttps://newwaves.example/@juniper, then adds her website to the new profile and saves it. The verification guide has the details. - Link-in-bio pages: replace the old profile link. See the link-in-bio guide.
- Other networks: Juniper updates the handle in her Bluesky bio.
- Email signatures and anywhere else you paste your handle.
- Scheduled posts: the old account can’t post after the move. Juniper switches her three scheduled posts to the new account. The scheduler switching guide shows how to avoid duplicates.
Check the move a week later
- The new account’s follower count has grown, and the old profile shows the moved notice.
- The new profile shows a checkmark next to your website. If not, remove the link, save, add it again and save.
- A test mention from a friend reaches your new account.
- No scheduled post still targets the old account, and the first one for the new account went out. The Mastodon scheduling guide has a test you can repeat.
In Studio, you add the new account by typing its handle, a profile link or the server, and you’re sent there to sign in. Open each scheduled note from the Schedule page, open Platforms, switch the old account off and the new one on, then press Schedule. Switching an account off deletes the custom text written for it, so copy any you want to keep first. Then unlink the old account: Studio stops publishing to it and stops updating insights for its notes, and you can’t undo that. Studio doesn’t move followers or posts. It isn’t available yet, but you can join the waitlist.
