Google is now allowing users to change their existing Gmail addresses while keeping their accounts intact, though PCWorld notes the feature is rolling out gradually.
Users can change from one @gmail.com address to another up to three times total, with a 12-month waiting period between changes.
The old email address becomes an alternative address that still receives messages, ensuring no service interruption for Google services and third-party logins.
You can now change your Gmail address! In other words, if you’ve been sending emails from [email protected], you can now continue to use your existing email account but with a different address—like [email protected]—without any problems or interruptions. This is a great option if you have an embarrassing email address but can’t abandon it.
Your Google Account email is the address you use to sign into Google services and to identify your account to you and others. If you choose, you can change your Google Account email that ends in gmail.com to a new address that ends in gmail.com.
Log into your Gmail account on your PC (use this link for convenience), click on your profile picture in the top right-hand corner, then click on “Manage your Google Account.” On the following page, click on “Personal info” in the left-hand menu, then select “Email” in the right-hand area. Under “Google Account email”, you can change your existing address via “Change Google Account email.”
Important: This feature is still rolling out, which means it isn’t yet available to all users. According to Google, “The ability to change your Google Account email is gradually rolling out to all users and this option may not be available to you yet.”
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If the option to change your Gmail address is already available, Google says to proceed as follows:
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Enter the new username you want to use. You must choose a name that isn’t already being used by another Google account and hasn’t been used by someone in the past and later deleted.
Click on “Change email address.”
Click on “Yes, change email address.”
Follow the steps on the screen.
Once the process is complete, you will have a new email address for your Google account and your old email address will be displayed as an alternative email address.
Can I go back to my old email address?
Changing your Gmail address may have unintended effects. For example, for certain Google services, for using Gmail to log into other websites, or for Chromebook users. If you want to revert back to your original email address, Google says the following:
Your previous Google Account email will remain as an alternate email address. You can switch back to it at any time.
To switch back, navigate back to your “Google Account email” page in your account settings, find your previous Google Account email, then select “Make this your Google Account email.”
Note, however, that you have a limited number of changes:
You can change back to your previous Google Account email at any time, but you can only create a new Google Account email that ends in @gmail.com once every 12 months and three times total.
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Google advises that you back up your data before changing your Gmail address. Some apps may also need to be reset. Emails sent to your old Gmail address should not be lost, but should also reach you at your new email address. Likewise, old (saved) emails will not be lost.
If you only want to change your display name, you can do this without a new Gmail address. Log into Gmail and change your display name via Settings > Show all settings > Accounts and import > Send as > Edit info.
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This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.
Hans-Christian Dirscherl began his IT life with Autoexec.bat and config.sys, Turbo-Pascal and C, Sinix and Wordperfect. He has been writing on almost all IT topics for around 25 years, covering everything from news to reviews and buying guides.
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