Apple ID PSA: you can now change your Apple ID from an iCloud email address to any email address you want!

[BlueMoose]

I just changed my iCloud Apple ID to a Gmail email address. This was not possible before.

I didn't know that it was not possible... but on December 18, 2019, I ordered a Simple Mobile iPhone 7 from Simple Mobile's website. When it arrived, I activated it with my existing iCloud account.(xxxxxxxx@icloud.com)

About a week later, I decided that I didn't want to associate this spare phone with my main iCloud account, so I created a new Gmail acct and changed that iPhone 7's iClound log in to this new Gmail address.... (which I've been using since then) The reason was that I used this iPhone 7 in my car, which did not have Android Auto... only Apple Car Play on the factory radio. I kept the iPhone 7 without a password in the car's center armrest and it never left the car since then.

like I said, I didn't know that it was not allowed... or was it just a random YMMV?

 

[macintoshmac]

I did not have it listed in “reachable in”.

I had my iCloud email address and phone number there, the iCloud email address being the Apple ID. Prior to very recently, you could not change the Apple ID from iCloud to a non-iCloud email - that’s what this thread is about. See the link I posted above, it was still the case back in May.

I don’t see how having it listed in reachable in makes a difference anyway, that has no impact on the email for your actual Apple ID.

I completely understand where you are coming from. It was listed by Apple that once you set an iCloud email address as your Apple ID, you cannot change it, and that limitation being lifted is what you are talking about. This is good. But, like @Apple_Robert asked and you now replied, we just wanted to know if the email address you replaced iCloud address with was listed already since if you had, we would have asked you to see if you can use an unrelated email address.

It is entirely possible that you could be allowed to change from an iCloud address to another provided it is listed under "reachable at" and that is all we wanted to know. However, it seems this is not the case fortunately as you mention, and any email address can be used. This also means that I can now change my father's Apple ID to his regular email address.

 

[macintoshmac]

I'm confused by this discussion.

My AppleID uses my gmail account, and it has been that way for a long time (years). My iCloud e-mail is also active but not used for logging into my AppleID account.

I suppose that I set it up this way in the beginning, but it has been such a long time ago that I don't recall.

I’ve been using an AOL email address for my Apple ID for over 14 years. What am I missing here?

What's going on here is this:

Suppose your Apple ID is bazookaboyhoohaa @godforsakenmail.com. You could change it to any other .TLD, including an @icloud.com address. However, once you set your Apple ID to an iCloud address, Apple did not allow you to change it to any other email address. It was then set in the Apple Arbitrary Stone.

This limitation seems to have been lifted.

 

[Caliber26]

What's going on here is this:

Suppose your Apple ID is bazookaboyhoohaa @godforsakenmail.com. You could change it to any other .TLD, including an @icloud.com address. However, once you set your Apple ID to an iCloud address, Apple did not allow you to change it to any other email address. It was then set in the Apple Arbitrary Stone.

This limitation seems to have been lifted.

Ah, I see now. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Caliber26]

If you had changed that to an iCloud email address, you would not have been able to change it back to your AOL email address until very recently. Your only options were changing to another iCloud email. That’s the change.

Thanks -- that makes sense now.

 

[johnnytravels]

Please let me know once it's possible to merge different Apple ID accounts.

 

[RobbieTT]

If you never changed it to an iCloud address, you’ve always been able to change it to another email. It’s that if you changed it to an iCloud address in the past, you could never change it to another email (non-iCloud) ever again.

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Flying Grayson]

That’s half the replies. The answer is no. Cannot merge accounts and nothing you ever do to your second "iCloud" Apple ID will merge it with the first or give it access to the purchase history of the first.

Thanks for clarifying. Disappointing that they still haven't solved this, arguably, simple problem that must affect many users. I worked for Apple up until 8 years ago and when I started in 2009 you had to do Apple Certified Training that resulted in you being gifted a MobileMe account (remember that they used to cost money to have!?). I remember us all even back then being baffled when iCloud came along that we couldn't merge AppleIDs and iCloud accounts.

 

[RonD69]

For a very long time, it has not been possible to change your Apple ID email address if it was an iCloud email address, say from iCloud to Gmail.

I've just discovered it's now possible, you can change your email to any email address you want - and back again. I note Apple's Support pages have also quietly removed any reference to this (now removed) limitation.

This has been a pain point for me for years, so I am thrilled Apple has now resolved it!

Edit: hello to our Reddit friends!

I have always had a third party email as my Apple ID email. This article is a surprise to me because I thought always supported third party emails for an Apple ID.

 

[GigabitEthernet]

I have always had a third party email as my Apple ID email. This article is a surprise to me because I thought always supported third party emails for an Apple ID.

That's not the point, please read it again.

 

[Tozovac]

Please let me know once it's possible to merge different Apple ID accounts.

Me too.

link of frustration

 

[brianmowrey]

Thanks for clarifying. Disappointing that they still haven't solved this, arguably, simple problem that must affect many users. I worked for Apple up until 8 years ago and when I started in 2009 you had to do Apple Certified Training that resulted in you being gifted a MobileMe account (remember that they used to cost money to have!?). I remember us all even back then being baffled when iCloud came along that we couldn't merge AppleIDs and iCloud accounts.

That's the same timeframe I did. I supported that garbage, horrible service. Not a single problem was fixed with MobileMe except the ones engineers found in their light testing. I issued plenty of refunds.

Now "we" pay for iCloud when we buy new devices. With careful backing up you can move all iCloud sync services to the main Apple ID, and Mac OS / iOS make it very easy to keep the second Apple ID for iCloud Mail only. But App/iTunes purchases can never be moved.

 

[acctman]

I’ll leave mine set to the .me address I have since no one knows of it which makes it extra secure. People should think twice before switch to a common email address. Anyone gaining access to your iCloud will be a pain to clean up the mess it could cause.

 

[aplnub]

I’ve been using an AOL email address for my Apple ID for over 14 years. What am I missing here?

You didn't start out with a .mac, .me, etc. email and then decide you wanted to change it.

 

[sniffies]

I have a problem:

My Apple ID used to be applefanboy123@mac.com

A couple of weeks ago, I changed it to beckywithgoodhair@gmail.com

Now I would like to change it back to applefanboy123@mac.com

But every time I do, it says “Sorry, this email address can not be used at this time.”

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[ChrisBos]

I will never give up my Mac.com AppleId.

 

[brianmowrey]

I have a problem:

That's not surprising. Either your @Mac email is listed as the reachable for a different Apple ID that you have used at some point, or there's an undocumented wait period before it becomes available again. Or, pending some change, it won't be available again at any point because the Apple ID server lists it as "taken" by your own account.

This kind of inception-level messiness is largely why Apple waited so long to allow changes at all. You shouldn't expect that an email you remove from your Apple ID name will be available to replace as the name later. Also, it's just a string of characters. Your iCloud account and your @mac.com email are still the same.

 

[egrimo]

Have any of those 6 emails ever been used on the AppleID site as recovery email addresses etc?

I was suspecting of that, so I used a new email which I never used it before and it also get the same error.

Did you ever get around this? I am having the same issue.

Sadly, no. I could not change my icloud apple id to any mail adress

 

[anthony13]

Here for Plus 1 to merging Apple ID's. I'd really love MacRumors, 9to5, MacInsider, MacWorld, Machasgoodhairbutnotasgoodasmine, to run a story about how awful it is that you cant merge ID's. It's a constant pain when you get a new machine, it's a problem for my apple family account, it's just really inadequate and Apple's just prancing a long in a field like LALALA NOTHING TO SEE HERE.

WE WANT TO MERGE Apple IDS!

 

[reubs]

Interesting. My wife still uses her AOL account from long ago her original iTunes account, but I'd LOVE to get it back on her gmail account or even an iCloud account (I'm not ready to move all the way from Gmail to iCloud, but I'd love to be away from Google and into something more private, even paid for).

Anyway, I'll have to check on this to see if that's possible to go from AOL to something more current.

 

[anthonymoody]

I have an iCloud email address that I use for all iCloud stuff. I have a Gmail address for the App Store. Has anyone successfully changed their App Store email to their iCloud email successfully without losing any purchases?

I’d love to use my iCloud email for both/everything but I’m scared to try as I have a lot of purchased content attached to my Gmail email.

@rocknblogger as @iSara says, set up family sharing from your Gmail (store) address to your iCloud address. That'll give you access to your prior purchases. This definitely worked (works) for me.

The most you could do is set up Family Sharing with your Gmail address and start using iCloud for all purchases moving forward. You will still retain access to the purchases through Gmail via Family Sharing.

That’s half the replies. The answer is no. Cannot merge accounts and nothing you ever do to your second "iCloud" Apple ID will merge it with the first or give it access to the purchase history of the first.

The part I italicized is not true. See comments above. Unless I misunderstand you.

 

[brianmowrey]

The part I italicized is not true. See comments above. Unless I misunderstand you.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I'll take your word for it and strikethrough

 

[usr0]

I have a problem:

My Apple ID used to be applefanboy123@mac.com

A couple of weeks ago, I changed it to beckywithgoodhair@gmail.com

Now I would like to change it back to applefanboy123@mac.com

But every time I do, it says “Sorry, this email address can not be used at this time.”

Has anyone else experienced this?

I have, can't seem to freely change back and forth between two email addresses.

 

[sniffies]

I have, can't seem to freely change back and forth between two email addresses.

Have you tried waiting 30 days and changing then?

 

[eonaeon]

When I first signed my wife up to iCloud years ago, she got a ***@icloud.com From the above, it sounds like potentially I can change her iCloud account to her hotmail address... she never uses her icloud for anything, but that leads me to the next question.

Will this cause any issues with iMessages? iMessages is intrinsically linked to the Apple ID (+ phone number)... and sometimes you can message people directly to their "email" address or "apple ID"... ideally, the underlying "id" in the iMessages system is not the visible email address but something else, so it should still work?