How to change the email address linked to your Apple ID

Posted:
in iCloud edited February 2017
If you own an iPad, iPhone, iPod or Mac, your Apple ID is the gateway to accessing the App Store, iCloud and iTunes, making it a crucial part of your digital identity. If you ever need to change the email address associated with your Apple ID, AppleInsider shows you how.




First, a word of caution. When you do this, you risk disassociation of "unlock"-style in-app purchases from your account. Consumables don't seem to be affected, but in many cases, a one-time expense will be removed from the new account, never to return. Proceed with caution!

Before anything else, log out of utterly everything associated with the Apple ID that's going to get modified. If "Find my iPhone" is enabled, then turn that off too.

Next, head over to appleid.apple.com, then sign in using your existing Apple ID.

Once logged in, press the small Edit button located in the upper-right corner of the Account section, followed by Change Email Address.




Enter your new email address and click Continue.




You will now be asked to input a verification code that's been sent to your new email address. After you've entered the 6-digit number, press Continue, then hit Done to save your changes.

In most cases, your Apple ID will be transferred between devices. But if you ever change email addresses, you'll want to be sure to update the address associated with your Apple ID to maintain control going forward.
[Deleted User]
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 36
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    If you own an iPad, iPhone, iPod or Mac, 
    Or Windows PC or Android...
  • Reply 2 of 36
    For some reason, when your original Apple ID is a .mac or .me address, you can't change your Apple ID or email. I clicked the edit button as suggested but I can't change my email. I would love to get rid of the .mac and .me addresses and just use the .icloud address but it won't allow me too. Any suggestions?
    sidricthevikingkylebebackcesco[Deleted User]
  • Reply 3 of 36
    Can you merge Apple IDs using this or any other technique?
    lostkiwi
  • Reply 4 of 36
    Any idea why an iCloud.com email address can't be used as an Apple ID? I ditched my long time internet providers' email and now I'm stuck with an old yahoo email as my Apple ID.
    sidricthevikinglostkiwiyojimbo007[Deleted User]watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 36
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    This is an improvement!
    This happened a few years back but:   I care for a friend's electronic gear and every two years her husband switched between Verizon cable and Comcast and changed her email address in the process.   So, she was stuck with using an email address that no longer existed as her Apple ID.   When I contacted Apple on how to change it, I was told you couldn't.

    I don't know when they added the ability to change it, but it was a good change.   Now, if they could just stop using email addresses as IDs!   Why?  An ID is an ID.   It doesn't need an @ sign!
    lostkiwiking editor the grate[Deleted User]watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 36
    mb0mb0 Posts: 1member
    You may want to start this process by logging out of your AppleID or at least turn off find my iPhone/iPad/Mac. 
    Failing to do so can lead to problems: in my case (did this a week ago) one of my devices (a mac with latest OS) failed to automatically update the icloud account to the new AppleID, and in order to sign out and do it myself, I was asked to provide the password to the AppleID email that was nonexistent already at that point in time.  One does not simply log out a turn off findmydevice with a single tap. And that makes sense.
    I ended up having to switch AppleID back to what it used to be, log off, confirm password to turn off findmymac, change it again, login again. All that pain with two factor auth... oh man, I wasted about an hour.

    Long story short: SIGN OUT before you change your AppleID or spend the fool's hour.

    mb
    bonobobpscooter63[Deleted User]GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMacwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 36
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    Now if they would just provide a mechanism to merge Apple IDs. I unwittingly created 2 years ago, now I'm forever locked into having one account for iTunes and another for iCloud. 
    patchythepiratelostkiwiyojimbo007[Deleted User]watto_cobramuppetry
  • Reply 8 of 36
    eriamjheriamjh Posts: 1,630member
    You must log out of all of your devices BEFORE You change it.  If you don't weird stuff happens.

    I know that if you borrow a program (copy) from another iTunes user or another account and that user change his or her password, you will not be able to activate that program anymore, especially if he or she changes her Apple ID.
  • Reply 9 of 36
    Mikes65Mikes65 Posts: 2unconfirmed, member
    A few years ago I changed my email on my apple id and after I did that some of my songs and apps are still asking for the old email address and won't work even though it is the same apple account. Any ideas on how to resolve that without re-purchasing the apps and songs? The Apple ID should be the key, a behind the scenes account number that never changes with the email just being an identifier. Simple database stuff. 
    lostkiwiyojimbo007[Deleted User]watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 36
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    MplsP said:
    Now if they would just provide a mechanism to merge Apple IDs. I unwittingly created 2 years ago, now I'm forever locked into having one account for iTunes and another for iCloud. 
    Wouldn't that be nice?  Share your Individual Apple Music membership with a spouse (cheaper than the Family membership) and keep your bookmarks private.
  • Reply 11 of 36
    There's one more important catch behind this and I had to learn it the hard way when I tried to change my Apple ID (and then had to revert back because of this). ALL in-app purchases you have ever made in any of your apps will be invalidated. You'll only be able to re-download apps that you paid for upfront (purchased for the full price directly from the App Store). Unfortunately the majority of apps that my family uses are free to download and you have to unlock their full content from within each app, but those types of purchases are forever linked to the Apple ID they were purchased with, so once you change it you have to re-purchase everything again. This is probably the most nonsense policy Apple ever implemented (or failed to fix for that matter) and there's no way around this whatsoever.
    lostkiwi[Deleted User]GeorgeBMacwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 36
    Any idea why an iCloud.com email address can't be used as an Apple ID? I ditched my long time internet providers' email and now I'm stuck with an old yahoo email as my Apple ID.
    This. Anyone that started an iTunes ID before getting an Apple ID, which I'm guessing applies to a lot of people, is screwed. How has Apple not fixed this yet? Especially after coming out with Apple Music, which required me to use my itunes ID (a gmail account I'm unable to ditch because of this). So frustrating. Not cool Apple.
    edited February 2017 lostkiwiwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 36
    This is an improvement!
    This happened a few years back but:   I care for a friend's electronic gear and every two years her husband switched between Verizon cable and Comcast and changed her email address in the process.   So, she was stuck with using an email address that no longer existed as her Apple ID.   When I contacted Apple on how to change it, I was told you couldn't.

    I don't know when they added the ability to change it, but it was a good change.   Now, if they could just stop using email addresses as IDs!   Why?  An ID is an ID.   It doesn't need an @ sign!
    I believe it's for two reasons:

    - to ensure you know where any help emails are going to go
    - to enable you to have a personal, memorable ID. 

    On #2, "[email protected]" is a nice username and easy to remember. But "jsmith62b" (or some derivative to ensure uniqueness) is not. Multiply that by every site you use and it becomes a nitemare.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 36

    cpsro said:
    MplsP said:
    Now if they would just provide a mechanism to merge Apple IDs. I unwittingly created 2 years ago, now I'm forever locked into having one account for iTunes and another for iCloud. 
    Wouldn't that be nice?  Share your Individual Apple Music membership with a spouse (cheaper than the Family membership) and keep your bookmarks private.
    Yeah pretty sure sharing your paid memberships isn't really a use case they're going to promote.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 36
    jabohnjabohn Posts: 582member
    tdeprenda said:
    For some reason, when your original Apple ID is a .mac or .me address, you can't change your Apple ID or email. I clicked the edit button as suggested but I can't change my email. I would love to get rid of the .mac and .me addresses and just use the .icloud address but it won't allow me too. Any suggestions?
    You shouldn't need to. If you want @icloud.com instead then just use it. @icloud, @mac and @me are interchangeable. My email address is @me.com which I prefer because its shorter, but using @icloud.com or someone emailing me with that will still work the same. This only applies to those who used to be with iTools and MobileMe.
    watto_cobraapplepieguy
  • Reply 16 of 36
    jabohnjabohn Posts: 582member
    Any idea why an iCloud.com email address can't be used as an Apple ID? I ditched my long time internet providers' email and now I'm stuck with an old yahoo email as my Apple ID.
    They can be used, however once you open an iCloud account it is already an AppleID on it's own, therefore you can't use it for another AppleID because technically it's already in use. This is why I have a separate email address for iCloud and another one for purchases etc. (created before iCloud existed).
    deadwing85
  • Reply 17 of 36
    jabohn said:
    tdeprenda said:
    For some reason, when your original Apple ID is a .mac or .me address, you can't change your Apple ID or email. I clicked the edit button as suggested but I can't change my email. I would love to get rid of the .mac and .me addresses and just use the .icloud address but it won't allow me too. Any suggestions?
    You shouldn't need to. If you want @icloud.com instead then just use it. @icloud, @mac and @me are interchangeable. My email address is @me.com which I prefer because its shorter, but using @icloud.com or someone emailing me with that will still work the same. This only applies to those who used to be with iTools and MobileMe.
    That part I understand, they all still work and all are still received using the .cloud.com banner... just would be cleaner to be able to get rid of them.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 36
    pepe779 said:
    There's one more important catch behind this and I had to learn it the hard way when I tried to change my Apple ID (and then had to revert back because of this). ALL in-app purchases you have ever made in any of your apps will be invalidated. You'll only be able to re-download apps that you paid for upfront (purchased for the full price directly from the App Store). Unfortunately the majority of apps that my family uses are free to download and you have to unlock their full content from within each app, but those types of purchases are forever linked to the Apple ID they were purchased with, so once you change it you have to re-purchase everything again. This is probably the most nonsense policy Apple ever implemented (or failed to fix for that matter) and there's no way around this whatsoever.
    Wait what? So you actually lose all of the in-app purchases permanently? That is insane.
    I have a feeling it has to do with the fact that vendors keep their own records maybe?
  • Reply 19 of 36
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    This is an improvement!
    This happened a few years back but:   I care for a friend's electronic gear and every two years her husband switched between Verizon cable and Comcast and changed her email address in the process.   So, she was stuck with using an email address that no longer existed as her Apple ID.   When I contacted Apple on how to change it, I was told you couldn't.

    I don't know when they added the ability to change it, but it was a good change.   Now, if they could just stop using email addresses as IDs!   Why?  An ID is an ID.   It doesn't need an @ sign!
    I believe it's for two reasons:

    - to ensure you know where any help emails are going to go
    - to enable you to have a personal, memorable ID. 

    On #2, "[email protected]" is a nice username and easy to remember. But "jsmith62b" (or some derivative to ensure uniqueness) is not. Multiply that by every site you use and it becomes a nitemare.
    Huh?
    ... Sorry, Apple is a hold out requiring an email address instead of an ID.   I have no problem remembering my ID.  I think it's safe to assume that most people don't make up stupid, hard to remember IDs.
  • Reply 20 of 36
    This is an improvement!
    This happened a few years back but:   I care for a friend's electronic gear and every two years her husband switched between Verizon cable and Comcast and changed her email address in the process.   So, she was stuck with using an email address that no longer existed as her Apple ID.   When I contacted Apple on how to change it, I was told you couldn't.

    I don't know when they added the ability to change it, but it was a good change.   Now, if they could just stop using email addresses as IDs!   Why?  An ID is an ID.   It doesn't need an @ sign!
    I believe it's for two reasons:

    - to ensure you know where any help emails are going to go
    - to enable you to have a personal, memorable ID. 

    On #2, "[email protected]" is a nice username and easy to remember. But "jsmith62b" (or some derivative to ensure uniqueness) is not. Multiply that by every site you use and it becomes a nitemare.
    Huh?
    ... Sorry, Apple is a hold out requiring an email address instead of an ID.   I have no problem remembering my ID.  I think it's safe to assume that most people don't make up stupid, hard to remember IDs.
    Huh what? Like I said, knowing your own email as the user ID is stone simple. 

    That's great for you. But with most common name combos being taken, people need to come up with something (first initial, last name, partial digits of birth year, plus anything else needed for uniqueness are all commonly used). And clearly people forget them as even as been said on this thread when somebody inadvertently created themselves two IDs. My senior friends sure as hell can't remember what usernames they were able to come up with on various systems -- but they can remember their email address which is static to them.

    As with most things Apple, it's about keeping it the most simple for the most people.
    watto_cobramuppetry
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