Apple ID Apple Alias Converted to Primary Apple Account

[caolthedesigner]

Hello Everyone ✌🏻

I'm posting this here because Reddit mods are so sensitive and keep hiding my posts.

TLDR​

I have an [email@icloud.com](mailto:email@icloud.com) primary email address and was able to change this out for my icloud alias email under the same account, which worked across all devices and login. It's not a bug, it's a feature...for now!

UPDATE​

A Reddit commenter was able to replicate this and change their primary address after updating to iPadOS beta! It looks like being on beta is important to do this. They did note that their iCloud was receiving mail at the new alias and messages with the alias worked, but they were having a hard time updating the primary to alias in account settings. I personally did not have this problem, so beware!

Brief​

I recently changed my name to a mononym which I’m very excited about, and really wanted to update my name everywhere, naturally.

My original Apple ID used my last name but I made two aliases that I really enjoyed that used my first name only, which is possible through iCloud+.

I read an alias couldn’t be used as a primary account but on a beta and in the mood to try and break things in my favor, I tried changing my primary Apple ID to one of these aliases and it worked with no issue! This is surprising because everywhere I’ve read this is described as not possible - I’d love to hear from others if that’s changed.

I’m now in the position where my primary iCloud email is listed as an alias and can be deleted (probably not advisable to do that though).

Why this matters to you​

I wanted to hop on here to tell anyone that may be wanting to change their iCloud Apple ID (now Apple Account) that you may likely be able to now - and also see what any educated devs or IT workers think about deleting the primary email which is now listed as an alias.

I’m sharing this because everywhere I look, general guidance says this isn’t possible and I’d love to hear from others.

Sharing here because the mods at r/apple hid my post.

—

How To​

All the [instructions can be found on apple](https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/choose-a-default-email-address-mmbffbba6600/icloud) except for the part where they say an alias can not be changed to a primary account, you just change it to your primary account.

This didn’t involve jailbreaking, coding, or tricking the system in anyway.

DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!

001

Make an Alias

002

Change your primary email to the Alias

My primary email is an iCloud email. I have iCloud+.

I logged into Apple ID online, went into the mail app online and in settings I made an alias.
I believe your alias must be 30 days old. Most of this process you can find online directly from Apple.

My alias emails were registered under Sign In & Security and active for 30+ days.

I also have iCloud Advanced Data Protection & Access iCloud Data on the Web enabled, maybe important.

Then on about any Apple device with the latest OS (I was using a developer beta), I changed my Apple account primary email to the alias in account settings.

I had to log in on every device again (just entering my password) but the alias shows as the primary account very consistently. It shows I’m the store, making purchases, and is the default everywhere.

I don’t know if you can do this with other email extensions that aren’t iCloud, but worth a try.

 

[Sami13496]

I’ve changed my last name few years ago and wanted to change my Apple ID primary address since then. I’m really excited about this but will only do it if/when it becomes official feature.

It this possible on the official iOS 18 (non-beta)?

 

[caolthedesigner]

I’ve changed my last name few years ago and wanted to change my Apple ID primary address since then. I’m really excited about this but will only do it if/when it becomes official feature.

It this possible on the official iOS 18 (non-beta)?

So far it only seems possible in beta. There’s a chance this is a new feature, but it’s also potentially a bug waiting to be resolved. I worked with someone to help them change theirs, and it went perfectly.

I don’t blame you for being cautious and not wanting to try it, definitely better safe than sorry!

 

[Sami13496]

I really hope this is a new feature. Fingers crossed.

 

[GuillaumeB]

Yop,
As I explained on Reddit, I tried myself on an iPhone running iOS 18 stable it did not work.
I tried again on my Mac running macOS Sequoia 15.1 - therefore unstable - and it did not work either

I logged in with a @mac.com alias in order to replace my @mac.com Apple ID

 

[GuillaumeB]

I just updated my iPad to the latest dev build
This is what I got

 

[Dwalls90]

This worked for me! Thanks

 

[JeroenSchaper]

This is the error I’m getting while trying to switch my alias to my primary email. Running the latest beta on my iPhone. Haven’t tested this on my iPad yet.

 

[Dwalls90]

View attachment 2436437

This is the error I’m getting while trying to switch my alias to my primary email. Running the latest beta on my iPhone. Haven’t tested this on my iPad yet.

I did mine on iCloud.com and appleid.apple.com, not on a device

 

[JeroenSchaper]

Interesting. The addresses I want to remove seem to be aliases now, after trying to make the one I want to keep primary. Which was an alias before 🤔

 

[JeroenSchaper]

I did mine on iCloud.com and appleid.apple.com, not on a device

How? I don’t see the option to remove email addresses I don’t want from my account. On iCloud I can’t seem to change my primary email either.

 

[Dwalls90]

How? I don’t see the option to remove email addresses I don’t want from my account. On iCloud I can’t seem to change my primary email either.

You first need to add an email alias on iCloud Mail. Once that's completed, you are then able to add that alias as an Apple ID primary email. It's a two step process.

I don't think you can delete existing iCloud email addresses, but you can delete other aliases.

 

[JeroenSchaper]

You first need to add an email alias on iCloud Mail. Once that's completed, you are then able to add that alias as an Apple ID primary email. It's a two step process.

I don't think you can delete existing iCloud email addresses, but you can delete other aliases.

How did you go about adding it as a primary? Because I’m unable to do so on iCloud.com or the Apple ID website.

Wasn’t the idea of the feature in iOS 18.1 that you can remove unwanted emails?

 

[GuillaumeB]

Nope turning an alias into the main Apple ID is not available on iCloud.com or account.apple.com
What's available is :

1 - to choose your main email address from iCloud Mail settings that shows in the composer window.

2 - You can also remove an alias from account.apple.com > Sign in & Security > Email & phone numbers (see screenshot below)

@JeroenSchaper no removing alias has always been available.

The idea is to turn an alias into the main Apple account

So if you want to get rid of the address email that is currently linked to your main Apple ID, then you'll need to switch with one of your alias when it becomes available later.
From what I see it's just not working for any one but 1 or 2 people.

 

[JeroenSchaper]

Nope turning an alias into the main Apple ID is not available on iCloud.com or account.apple.com
What's available is :

1 - to choose your main email address from iCloud Mail settings that shows in the composer window.

2 - You can also remove an alias from account.apple.com > Sign in & Security > Email & phone numbers (see screenshot below)

@JeroenSchaper no removing alias has always been available.

View attachment 2436670

The idea is to turn an alias into the main Apple account

So if you want to get rid of the address email that is currently linked to your main Apple ID, then you'll need to switch with one of your alias when it becomes available later.
From what I see it's just not working for any one but 1 or 2 people.

This is what I am trying to do. But I can’t seem to remove/switch the original @iCloud.com email address to swap it with the alias. The alias is older than 30 days, I’ve had it for a long time now.

 

[caolthedesigner]

I just updated my iPad to the latest dev build
This is what I got
View attachment 2434818 View attachment 2434819 View attachment 2434820

I don’t believe this works with legacy Apple emails, sorry! Others have had same issue.

I can no longer update this post, so I recommend reading updates here.

 

[caolthedesigner]

This is what I am trying to do. But I can’t seem to remove/switch the original @iCloud.com email address to swap it with the alias. The alias is older than 30 days, I’ve had it for a long time now.

In my experience, all I had to do was make the alias my primary account in the settings on my iMac, iPad or iPhone running the latest beta. I recommend thoroughly reading through, there may be some caveats like iCloud+ and certain security settings.

I wasn't able to change from one alias to another - I had to revert back to my primary address or an alternate address before changing to an alias again. I recommend adding a gmail account, trying to make that primary, and then trying to swap to your preferred alias. Only emails ending in @iCloud.com.

I hope this helps.

 

[JeroenSchaper]

In my experience, all I had to do was make the alias my primary account in the settings on my iMac, iPad or iPhone running the latest beta. I recommend thoroughly reading through, there may be some caveats like iCloud+ and certain security settings.

I wasn't able to change from one alias to another - I had to revert back to my primary address or an alternate address before changing to an alias again. I recommend adding a gmail account, trying to make that primary, and then trying to swap to your preferred alias. Only emails ending in @iCloud.com.

I hope this helps.

My Gmail is currently my primary email adres. I can’t set anything else to primary without the error saying it can’t connect to iCloud.

Which security settings? And what do I need to read thoroughly? There aren’t any official steps for this to read about which security setting to disable on iCloud+.

I have attached the list I have.

 

[caolthedesigner]

My Gmail is currently my primary email adres. I can’t set anything else to primary without the error saying it can’t connect to iCloud.

Which security settings? And what do I need to read thoroughly? There aren’t any official steps for this to read about which security setting to disable on iCloud+.

I have attached the list I have.

You asked what to read. Read this post, read an updated version of this post here. Read carefully, look for details and discrepancies between your efforts and what I've been updating.

I changed my @icloud.com email address to my alias @icloud.com address, that's what's working for everyone here.

If you created your apple account using a Gmail, that could be the problem.

Tell us more about the iCloud addresses you have on your account, are they separate accounts or were they made in the Apple Mail as aliases?

Please also bear in mind that this may be a software bug, all of this. And because it could be a bug, nothing is certain!

I'd recommend trying on other devices and experimenting. Let us know what your experience is.

 

[JeroenSchaper]

You asked what to read. Read this post, read an updated version of this post here. Read carefully, look for details and discrepancies between your efforts and what I've been updating.

I changed my @icloud.com email address to my alias @icloud.com address, that's what's working for everyone here.

If you created your apple account using a Gmail, that could be the problem.

Tell us more about the iCloud addresses you have on your account, are they separate accounts or were they made in the Apple Mail as aliases?

Please also bear in mind that this may be a software bug, all of this. And because it could be a bug, nothing is certain!

I'd recommend trying on other devices and experimenting. Let us know what your experience is.

There’s nothing there that would affect my effort. Nor are there iCloud+ settings I’d need to change according to your post there.

I did create my account with the Gmail address. But would that also mean I can’t remove the @icloud.com and @me.com addresses? When I want to delete either of the two it’s asking me if I want to change it to the alias I want that account to me changed to. It’s then that I get the issue.

I’m sure you don’t mean I need to change things with Sign in with Apple or Passkeys?

 

[caolthedesigner]

There’s nothing there that would affect my effort. Nor are there iCloud+ settings I’d need to change according to your post there.

I did create my account with the Gmail address. But would that also mean I can’t remove the @icloud.com and @me.com addresses? When I want to delete either of the two it’s asking me if I want to change it to the alias I want that account to me changed to. It’s then that I get the issue.

I’m sure you don’t mean I need to change things with Sign in with Apple or Passkeys?

Thanks for sharing this.

I've been reading everyone's replies and it looks like if your account was created with a third party email suffix and not using iCloud, this will not work. I'm very sorry about that, but it also seemingly confirms this is a bug and not a feature. I feel like a feature update would account for this, with a proper error code.

And for users who are able to change their iCloud to an alias, it's not instantly updated in those apps ie reflects your original email.

 

[ZEEN0j]

Not sure it's related but when 18.1 was released to the public I could finally change my primary to an alias. I got an error before. My appleid was made with a gmail adress. Years later I changed my appleid to an iCloud mail, it was the same name as my gmail account but @icloud (the one that was automatically created for me when I enabled iCloud mail). Later I created an alias that I've wanted as my main Apple ID mail but wasn't possible until now. After the change I deleted my old iCloud mail adress. Everything is working great and all device show my old alias as my primary

 

[Sami13496]

Not sure it's related but when 18.1 was released to the public I could finally change my primary to an alias. I got an error before. My appleid was made with a gmail adress. Years later I changed my appleid to an iCloud mail, it was the same name as my gmail account but @icloud (the one that was automatically created for me when I enabled iCloud mail). Later I created an alias that I've wanted as my main Apple ID mail but wasn't possible until now. After the change I deleted my old iCloud mail adress. Everything is working great and all device show my old alias as my primary

Where in the settings this could be done? I want to try this.

 

[JeroenSchaper]

For me it worked now that 18.1 has been released. I was able to swap my iCloud email with the alias I wanted to use. After they I was able to make it my primary email adres 👍🏻

 

[Cliantyeo]

Not sure it's related but when 18.1 was released to the public I could finally change my primary to an alias. I got an error before. My appleid was made with a gmail adress. Years later I changed my appleid to an iCloud mail, it was the same name as my gmail account but @icloud (the one that was automatically created for me when I enabled iCloud mail). Later I created an alias that I've wanted as my main Apple ID mail but wasn't possible until now. After the change I deleted my old iCloud mail adress. Everything is working great and all device show my old alias as my primary

That’s what I wanted to do… just wondering the exact steps you took as I tried it several times yesterday… both from my iPad and iPhone running 18.1
It would allow me to set my alias as the primary email… (and it would show my Alias email as my Primary Apple Account email), however…. Mail stopped working correctly both in the mail app, and iCloud Webmail. It wouldn’t let me delete, send or open emails. With various error messages coming up…


When I looked at the mail settings it was still showing my original iCloud email as my primary (so conflicted with what my Apple account was showing).

Apple support said others reported the same.

I’m wondering, as my original iCloud email also has a @me.com email whether that is causing issues?

The only way to get mail working again was to revert the Primary back to my normal iCloud email (not the alias).