Change Primary Email Address of AppleID Account

[A1MB1G]

I originally signed up to my Apple ID using a .outlook email address. I have since created a new icloud email address that is tied to the same apple ID. However, I'm trying to find a way to to remove the outlook contact information altogether and just use my icloud email. I may want to close the outlook account and don't want Apple contacting me at that email address at all.

I was on a call with tech support and they keep telling me that my icloud email address is already part of my AppleID but they didn't quite understand that I simply want to strip the outlook.com email address from the account altogether. Is there any way of doing this? I don't mind having to use the outlook.com as my official apple ID but I don't want Apple or anyone else emailing me at that address as I don't plan on using it moving forward.

 

[0128672]

If I understand what you want to do, it sounds like you need to change your Apple ID to the icloud.com email you created on appleid.apple.com. You wouldn't be creating a new AppleID, just changing your existing account. If you log in there, go to the Account section, tap Edit, do you see a link to Change Your Apple ID?

After you do that, you should be able to delete the outlook.com email address if it still shows in the related email list.

But if what you're asking is can you keep the outlook.com email as your AppleID but not have it be the primary email address, the answer is no.

Here's the related Apple Support article:

Change your Apple Account primary email address - Apple Support

Learn how to change the primary email address that you use to sign in to your Apple Account.

support.apple.com

 

[A1MB1G]

If I understand what you want to do, it sounds like you need to change your Apple ID to the icloud.com email you created on appleid.apple.com. You wouldn't be creating a new AppleID, just changing your existing account. If you log in there, go to the Account section, tap Edit, do you see a link to Change Your Apple ID?

After you do that, you should be able to delete the outlook.com email address if it still shows in the related email list.

That's the issue. I see the ability to edit my appleid and enter a new one, I choose my icloud.com email address but it says that it cannot be used as an AppleID. When I spoke to the support person, he said you can only change the AppleID to a 3rd party email provider like gmail or yahoo, but not an icloud email which is so ridiculous, unless he doesn't know what he's talking about.

My icloud.com email does show up in my profile but interestingly it says "Alias" next to it. I can login to my apple ID using either the outlook.com or icloud.com email address but I want the icloud account to be the primary point of contact. This shouldn't be so hard.

 

[0128672]

That's the issue. I see the ability to edit my appleid and enter a new one, I choose my icloud.com email address but it says that it cannot be used as an AppleID. When I spoke to the support person, he said you can only change the AppleID to a 3rd party email provider like gmail or yahoo, but not an icloud email which is so ridiculous, unless he doesn't know what he's talking about.

My icloud.com email does show up in my profile but interestingly it says "Alias" next to it. I can login to my apple ID using either the outlook.com or icloud.com email address but I want the icloud account to be the primary point of contact. This shouldn't be so hard.

Thanks for this detail; I understand better now what the issue is. Yes, aliases can't be used for Apple IDs. Do you currently use iCloud.com for your email? If not, there's a way to create a new @icloud.com address after enabling Mail (on iOS or Mac).

Edited: sorry, actually because you can already log into your Apple ID with your @icloud.com alias, this may not work and you're probably using it already for Mail. I'm thinking the only way to do it is to create a new Apple ID, which of course has some downsides.

I agree 100% it should be easier.

 

[A1MB1G]

Thanks for this detail; I understand better now what the issue is. Yes, aliases can't be used for Apple IDs. Do you currently use iCloud.com for your email? If not, there's a way to create a new @icloud.com address after enabling Mail (on iOS or Mac).

Edited: sorry, actually because you can already log into your Apple ID with your @icloud.com alias, this may not work.

That's exactly what I did to create this new @icloud.com email address. Through iOS, I turned on MAIL which prompted to me create a new icloud email address. I think there may have even been a prompt somewhere that said once I make this change or addition, it cannot be changed, I proceeded to complete the process.

Now, I'm able to login to my Apple ID using either the @icloud.com or @outlook.com email address but I can't for the life of me remove the outlook.com email from the account at all.

 

[0128672]

That's exactly what I did to create this new @icloud.com email address. Through iOS, I turned on MAIL which prompted to me create a new icloud email address. I think there may have even been a prompt somewhere that said once I make this change or addition, it cannot be changed, I proceeded to complete the process.

Now, I'm able to login to my Apple ID using either the @icloud.com or @outlook.com email address but I can't for the life of me remove the outlook.com email from the account at all.

Well, what about creating another third party email? I realize that's not an idea solution though.

 

[A1MB1G]

Well, what about creating another third party email? I realize that's not an idea solution though.

That kind of defeats what I want to do. Just want to use my iCloud account for privacy while also reducing my data imprint on the web. Want less accounts out there, not more.

 

[0128672]

That kind of defeats what I want to do. Just want to use my iCloud account for privacy while also reducing my data imprint on the web. Want less accounts out there, not more.

For sure ... I feel the same way. I guess your only other option is to create a new Apple ID.

 

[A1MB1G]

For sure ... I feel the same way. I guess your only other option is to create a new Apple ID.

That would be too big of a transition. I think I will just setup a rule to forward all email from my outlook account to iCloud and call it a day. Not ideal but probably the only option at this point.

 

[KALLT]

I have just managed to do what you are trying to on an old Apple ID with a Yahoo email address and an iCloud email alias and changed the Apple ID to the iCloud email alias. The Yahoo email address is now no longer attached to that account.

 

[A1MB1G]

I have just managed to do what you are trying to on an old Apple ID with a Yahoo email address and an iCloud email alias and changed the Apple ID to the iCloud email alias. The Yahoo email address is now no longer attached to that account.

That is so weird. So your Yahoo email address was your Apple ID? Then you created a new icloud email account by turning mail ON in the icloud settings, creating a new apple icloud email address and then submitting a request to change your apple id to that new icloud account?

When you requested to change your apple id, was the new icloud email already on your profile listed as an alias email address?

 

[KALLT]

That is so weird. So your Yahoo email address was your Apple ID? Then you created a new icloud email account by turning mail ON in the icloud settings, creating a new apple icloud email address and then submitting a request to change your apple id to that new icloud account?

When you requested to change your apple id, was the new icloud email already on your profile listed as an alias email address?

Yes, the primary email address was a Yahoo email account. I cannot recall how I enabled iCloud back then (it was many years ago after all), but it was listed as the “alias” on the Apple ID webpage. I didn’t have to request anything other than changing the email address of the Apple ID.

I specifically tried this, because I was 99% sure that this was not possible. To my surprise, it was.

The above mentioned Apple Support webpage alludes to this being possible: “Enter the email address that you want to use. If you choose a me.com, mac.com, or iCloud.com address, you won't be able to change your Apple ID email address again.” This explanation makes only sense if the iCloud email address is not a primary Apple ID already, so it must only be possible if the iCloud email address is secondary; i.e. an alias.

 

[0128672]

Very interesting. One way to check whether it's a true mail alias is by logging into iCloud.com and go to the Mail settings where I believe (Mac-less for now) there's an Alias tab. That might shed light on whether it's a true alias.

 

[A1MB1G]

Very interesting. One way to check whether it's a true mail alias is by logging into iCloud.com and go to the Mail settings where I believe (Mac-less for now) there's an Alias tab. That might shed light on whether it's a true alias.

It shows as an account when logging into icloud.com and going into the mail preferences. I've been at this for the past few hours and even checked a few other message boards which state you should be able to do this but it's simply not working. I even tried logging out of all devices but the damn thing just refuses to accept my icloud email address as my apple id. It's beyond frustrating because I can't even change the primary email address. All Apple notices/emails go to the old Outlook account.

This is half a** backwards, what if the person loses access to that primary email address account or chooses to close it down? You telling me there's no way to change the primary email address of an Apple ID that was opened using a 3rd party email address? That's crazy!!

 

[Rigby]

You telling me there's no way to change the primary email address of an Apple ID that was opened using a 3rd party email address? That's crazy!!

This normally works (however, once you change to an iCloud mail address you can no longer change to a 3rd party address). I changed from an outlook.com to an icloud.com address a few years ago without issues.

Are you absolutely sure it's the main iCloud address and not an alias? If you go to the mail preferences on icloud.com, there's an Accounts tab where you can see all addresses. For me the main address says "iCloud IMAP" and the one alias that I have says "iCloud Mail Alias".

The only other reason I can think of why the change is refused is if the iCloud address is less than 30 days old.

 

[A1MB1G]

The only other reason I can think of why the change is refused is if the iCloud address is less than 30 days old.

Is this a real thing? 30 day window? Because I did create my @icloud.com email address less than 30 days ago. You saying if I wait until after 30 days it should work? I can confirm that it shows up as an iCloud IMAP account and not an alias.

 

[0128672]

Is this a real thing? 30 day window? Because I did create my @icloud.com email address less than 30 days ago. You saying if I wait until after 30 days it should work? I can confirm that it shows up as an iCloud IMAP account and not an alias.

Yeah, it says so in that support article link, but you should have received a message to the effect of "try again later." I didn't mention the 30 days because that wasn't the message you said was displayed, so I assumed you'd had that account for > 30 days. Interesting (or not actually) that the Apple support person didn't mention this too.

 

[A1MB1G]

Yeah, it says so in that support article link, but you should have received a message to the effect of "try again later." I didn't mention the 30 days because that wasn't the message you said was displayed, so I assumed you'd had that account for > 30 days. Interesting (or not actually) that the Apple support person didn't mention this too.

I definitely didn't get that message. Only message I got was that I could not use my @icloud.com address when trying to change the Apple ID. I'll try again in another 20 days or so after the 30 days and hope for the best. Otherwise, not sure what I'll do moving forward. Really don't want to rely on having my primary email address tied to an @outlook.com account I'll never use in the future.

 

[0128672]

I definitely didn't get that message. Only message I got was that I could not use my @icloud.com address when trying to change the Apple ID. I'll try again in another 20 days or so after the 30 days and hope for the best. Otherwise, not sure what I'll do moving forward. Really don't want to rely on having my primary email address tied to an @outlook.com account I'll never use in the future.

I hope you'll post back here to let us know the outcome. I may be feeling more optimistic than you are at the moment that it will work. Here's hoping ...

 

[A1MB1G]

I hope you'll post back here to let us know the outcome. I may be feeling more optimistic than you are at the moment that it will work. Here's hoping ...

Thanks, will definitely report back in a few weeks.

 

[Madonepro]

I have gone through a similar thing a few years back, when I wanted to change my Apple ID to a new iCloud Account. You simply cannot, iCloud is an Apple ID, so changing your current Apple ID to an iCloud account, is the same as changing an Apple ID for another Apple ID. I simply had to bite the bullet, and accept that purchases made on my other account were gone.

 

[0128672]

I have gone through a similar thing a few years back, when I wanted to change my Apple ID to a new iCloud Account. You simply cannot, iCloud is an Apple ID, so changing your current Apple ID to an iCloud account, is the same as changing an Apple ID for another Apple ID. I simply had to bite the bullet, and accept that purchases made on my other account were gone.

Apple provides the steps and conditions how to do this in the article pasted above. It is indeed possible to do it.

 

[A1MB1G]

Apple provides the steps and conditions how to do this in the article pasted above. It is indeed possible to do it.

I spoke with two different support specialists at Apple yesterday evening, both said it's not possible. The article above would indicate otherwise. I've also seen other articles online saying some have been able to do it. I have no idea why some are successful and others aren't, you would think Apple would want to encourage people to use their own email service instead of relying on a third party platform.

 

[Rigby]

I have gone through a similar thing a few years back, when I wanted to change my Apple ID to a new iCloud Account. You simply cannot, iCloud is an Apple ID, so changing your current Apple ID to an iCloud account, is the same as changing an Apple ID for another Apple ID. I simply had to bite the bullet, and accept that purchases made on my other account were gone.

This is different. What we are talking about here is using an iCloud email address as Apple ID for the same Apple account that the address was created in. It's definitely possible, I and others here have done it.

 

[A1MB1G]

This is different. What we are talking about here is using an iCloud email address as Apple ID for the same Apple account that the address was created in. It's definitely possible, I and others here have done it.

If it's possible, it's not working for me. I've tried logging out of all devices, then using the online manage appleID website to change my appleID and it says I cannot use the @icloud.com as my apple ID. I've also tried making the change on my iPhone instead by deleting my old @outlook.com from my Apple profile, at which point it prompts me for a new address to make as my Apple ID, I enter the @icloud.com, it accepts it and says it cannot be reversed, but then just reverts back to the @outlook.com address.