I am thinking about switching from my cable provider to FIOS for TV and Internet. If I make the change, I will have to change my Apple ID to another email address. I read the steps on Apple's website to change the email address, but it didn't mention anything about Two Factor. Apple's site said to log out of all iCloud and other services on all devices before making the change on the Apple ID site. However, if I log out on all devices, how would I be able to log back in on any of them because I wouldn't be able to get the Two Factor code? Am I missing something?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Changing Apple ID email?
- Thread starter I Need a Drink
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
It won't affect anything, it's just an extra layer of security.
Set up two-factor authentication. This means that when you log onto any Apple device that connects to iCloud, it will ask you to type in a six-digit code that will appear on your other Apple devices (like an iPhone.) You will also have the option of choosing to "Trust" the device, so you won't have to type in the code on that device in the future (although it will occasionally ask anyway).
Then go to Manage your Apple ID. Follow the instructions to change your Apple ID (sounds like you got this part already, sorry).
Then when you sign back into all of your Apple devices, you will see a pop-up on your other Apple devices, and you can authenticate with the six-digit code. This appeared to me even though I hadn't signed out of any of my other devices yet (I just did this when I did a clean reinstall of macOS. I had to change my email address in iCloud and had to "Trust" my devices all over again.) .
Set up two-factor authentication. This means that when you log onto any Apple device that connects to iCloud, it will ask you to type in a six-digit code that will appear on your other Apple devices (like an iPhone.) You will also have the option of choosing to "Trust" the device, so you won't have to type in the code on that device in the future (although it will occasionally ask anyway).
Then go to Manage your Apple ID. Follow the instructions to change your Apple ID (sounds like you got this part already, sorry).
Then when you sign back into all of your Apple devices, you will see a pop-up on your other Apple devices, and you can authenticate with the six-digit code. This appeared to me even though I hadn't signed out of any of my other devices yet (I just did this when I did a clean reinstall of macOS. I had to change my email address in iCloud and had to "Trust" my devices all over again.) .
I was concerned about this as well when I recently changed my Apple ID to my icloud.com address. AFAIK you cannot receive the verification codes on devices that aren't signed in to iCloud, so as a precaution I left my iPhone and one of my Macs logged in to avoid being locked out. Turns out it is not strictly necessary to log out your devices. The Apple ID on the phone and Mac magically changed to the new address and everything worked fine without any further action. If I had to do it again I wouldn't sign out on any device, and just sign out and back in after the change if there were any troubles.
BTW, I wish Apple would reintroduce the recovery key for all users of 2-factor authentication (also see this thread). At least you'd have a way back in if somehow you're left with no trusted devices without having to wait for Apple's week-long recovery process ...