iCloud This email is already in use with another Apple ID

[lordhamster]

Ok folks. I'm losing my mind here. I've been playing with iCloud custom domains since it came out (using a spare domain) and it has been working great. I finally decided to migrate my primary domain from Google.

My Apple "family" includes my wife, 2 kids, and my parents. I was able to set up everyone's custom emails except for my father.
His email is dad@domain.com, when I try to add his email I get "This email is already in use with another Apple ID"

Now in the past, my parent's iCloud accounts were actually dad@domain.com and mom@domain.com. I was able to go to mom's iCloud and just change her Apple ID to her @iCloud.com address. Dad on the other hand already had an @icloud address he is currently using... as well as a separate dad@domain.com Apple ID he hasn't used to years. I went to the unused appleID and changed the email to random@otherdomainIown.com.

I've also checked every single account anyone in the family owns, and nobody has dad@domain.com anywhere in their account (not for recovery, not for may be contacted at, etc).

Still then I try to set up Dad's new email address in iCloud I keep getting this error. I'm at my wit's end. As far as I know, that email address is currently not associated with any apple product anywhere. If I go to iforgot.apple.com it even tells me the email is not associated with an appleID.

Without being able to set up his email account, I can't migrate the family off Google as it would mean he'd have to change his email address he has used for years.

Has anyone experienced this? Any tips?

 

[Reefman]

Hi - same issue here. I am also trying to move to iCloud from gmail, but an old appleID using an email address with my domain is tripping me up. I changed the appleID to a unused email address, but still get the dreaded ”This email is already in use with another Apple ID.” error.

Not sure what to do next either, but please let me know if made any progress.

 

[NYCValkyrie]

Ok folks. I'm losing my mind here. I've been playing with iCloud custom domains since it came out (using a spare domain) and it has been working great. I finally decided to migrate my primary domain from Google.

My Apple "family" includes my wife, 2 kids, and my parents. I was able to set up everyone's custom emails except for my father.
His email is dad@domain.com, when I try to add his email I get "This email is already in use with another Apple ID"

Now in the past, my parent's iCloud accounts were actually dad@domain.com and mom@domain.com. I was able to go to mom's iCloud and just change her Apple ID to her @iCloud.com address. Dad on the other hand already had an @icloud address he is currently using... as well as a separate dad@domain.com Apple ID he hasn't used to years. I went to the unused appleID and changed the email to random@otherdomainIown.com.

I've also checked every single account anyone in the family owns, and nobody has dad@domain.com anywhere in their account (not for recovery, not for may be contacted at, etc).

Still then I try to set up Dad's new email address in iCloud I keep getting this error. I'm at my wit's end. As far as I know, that email address is currently not associated with any apple product anywhere. If I go to iforgot.apple.com it even tells me the email is not associated with an appleID.

Without being able to set up his email account, I can't migrate the family off Google as it would mean he'd have to change his email address he has used for years.

Has anyone experienced this? Any tips?

Once an email has been associated with another iCloud account, it can't be reused and you'll get that error message even if it isn't currently in use. I'm assuming it is the same iCloud account they originally had the @Doman emails on but now you are trying to add it as an iCloud+ alias, which it is probably recognizing as "new."

Apple is great at hardware and OS but they really suck in the digital services dept. I'd def call Apple to tell them about it, even if just to report how sucky their system is. Escalate to the Executive team if you can.

 

[lordhamster]

Once an email has been associated with another iCloud account, it can't be reused and you'll get that error message even if it isn't currently in use. I'm assuming it is the same iCloud account they originally had the @Doman emails on but now you are trying to add it as an iCloud+ alias, which it is probably recognizing as "new."

Apple is great at hardware and OS but they really suck in the digital services dept. I'd def call Apple to tell them about it, even if just to report how sucky their system is. Escalate to the Executive team if you can.

Finally got it resolved. Was able to get into my dad's old iCloud account (associated with my domain) and deleted that account. 7 days later, I was finally able to add him.

 

[petsk]

A simple solution is to login to the old apple id and then simply change the email address to another email address. This will free up the email address which is locked.

 

[0906742]

A simple solution is to login to the old apple id and then simply change the email address to another email address. This will free up the email address which is locked.

But can you actually change Apple ID email that already was something@icloud.com to somethingelse@icloud.com and then take that pre-existing something@icloud.com and make it ANOTHER Apple ID primary email (where this Apple ID was already existing but had third party email).

Again, simple example:
Apple ID 1: was something@icloud.com > change it to somethingelse@icloud.com
Apple ID 2: was thirdparty@email.com > change it to something@icloud.com

is that possible and what happens to icloud content that was linked to Apple ID 1 originally?
Has anyone actually tried that? Or even managed to change existing Apple ID @icloud.com to another @icloud.com so that it really works and original @icloud.com email is really freed from that Apple ID or icloud content?

 

[theob05]

But can you actually change Apple ID email that already was something@icloud.com to somethingelse@icloud.com and then take that pre-existing something@icloud.com and make it ANOTHER Apple ID primary email (where this Apple ID was already existing but had third party email).

Again, simple example:
Apple ID 1: was something@icloud.com > change it to somethingelse@icloud.com
Apple ID 2: was thirdparty@email.com > change it to something@icloud.com

is that possible and what happens to icloud content that was linked to Apple ID 1 originally?
Has anyone actually tried that? Or even managed to change existing Apple ID @icloud.com to another @icloud.com so that it really works and original @icloud.com email is really freed from that Apple ID or icloud content?

No, you can't. someusername@icloud.com will always belong only to the account on which it was created, this email can be disabled but it cannot be changed or deleted. Even if you delete the Apple ID completely, no one will be able to recreate this address. I had an account that I deleted a few years ago and I still can't create the same address on the new Apple ID.

 

[0906742]

No, you can't. someusername@icloud.com will always belong only to the account on which it was created, this email can be disabled but it cannot be changed or deleted. Even if you delete the Apple ID completely, no one will be able to recreate this address. I had an account that I deleted a few years ago and I still can't create the same address on the new Apple ID.

So you cannot take that "used" email to another Apple ID use even if you know the password for it?

 

[0906742]

No, you can't. someusername@icloud.com will always belong only to the account on which it was created, this email can be disabled but it cannot be changed or deleted. Even if you delete the Apple ID completely, no one will be able to recreate this address. I had an account that I deleted a few years ago and I still can't create the same address on the new Apple ID.

This article on Apple web site suggest that should be possible: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202667
Am I going to enter a world of pain trying to do that?
Basically I want to switch 2 different Apple ID's primary email between each other?

And one of those currently has @icloud.com email as primary and it is what I want to take to another Apple ID.

Is it actually even possible to change existing Apple ID primary @icloud.com email to another @icloud.com email?

 

[theob05]

This article on Apple web site suggest that should be possible: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202667
Am I going to enter a world of pain trying to do that?
Basically I want to switch 2 different Apple ID's primary email between each other?

And one of those currently has @icloud.com email as primary and it is what I want to take to another Apple ID.

Is it actually even possible to change existing Apple ID primary @icloud.com email to another @icloud.com email?

This is not possible with @icloud.com, this address will always belong to only one account, it cannot be used as an Apple ID with another account.

 

[0906742]

This is not possible with @icloud.com, this address will always belong to only one account, it cannot be used as an Apple ID with another account.

OK, I guess I have to think something else.
Just for fun I tried changing existing @icloud.com email and it let me input new one but I did not go thru the process as I feared it will lead to issues. My point, it did not right away give me error when trying to create new @icloud.com email!!

What if I do this instead?
I simply take this another existing Apple ID and login for myself and then give my current Apple ID to our family iPad and ATV use. I definitely need to keep my all many years collected health information from Apple Watch, my contacts, apps, iMessages and so on.

Do I just login to another ID and all what is in my iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch stay there and can be pushed to "new" iCloud if I want?
I did not see a way in Apple Watch to login to another Apple ID, so does it automatically use new one when I change in on my iPhone? If not, can I pairing Watch again (so essentially wiping it) to my iPhone actually still use the backup from previous Apple ID and does my iPhone even offer that in case I use another Apple ID this time?

I would be interesting to hear from those who have done that they switched 2 different Apple ID's between each other how it works and what I should consider before doing that. I know purchased Apps are only for that Apple ID you used originally but I can later use Family Share to get them to use with different Apple ID, if I understood correctly?

 

[0906742]

Is it possible to change Apple ID email from non iCloud like something@gmail.com to something@icloud.com?
I just created iCloud email in IOS iCloud settings and I can use it already to login to my iCloud (actually both emails work there now) but I want to change my Apple ID to this iCloud and remove original non iCloud email completely.

 

[theob05]

Is it possible to change Apple ID email from non iCloud like something@gmail.com to something@icloud.com?
I just created iCloud email in IOS iCloud settings and I can use it already to login to my iCloud (actually both emails work there now) but I want to change my Apple ID to this iCloud and remove original non iCloud email completely.

Yes, you can, but only a month after you created iCloud mail.

 

[0906742]

Yes, you can, but only a month after you created iCloud mail.

Great. Thanks for confirming that. It was relief to hear it is possible to do. I guess I’ll wait for one month and then try again change my Apple ID to that. I tried already and it said not possible at this time (I cannot remember exact message but it was vague message not much giving info what gives).

Just to make sure, my Apple ID after this become this iCloud email and my old third party email will be removed?

 

[theob05]

Great. Thanks for confirming that. It was relief to hear it is possible to do. I guess I’ll wait for one month and then try again change my Apple ID to that. I tried already and it said not possible at this time (I cannot remember exact message but it was vague message not much giving info what gives).

Just to make sure, my Apple ID after this become this iCloud email and my old third party email will be removed?

I received the same message, but exactly a month later I changed it to @iCloud.com without problems. I did it a couple of months ago and I don't think they changed this policy.

Yes, your Apple ID will be @iCloud.com. Perhaps the third party email will still remain as an additional address in the contacts or for 2-Step Verification, etc.

By the way, about deletion, not much off topic, but even after you have changed the email address, all the previous information will still be tied to your Apple ID. You can see it in the files if you request all the information about you at privacy.apple.com

 

[0906742]

I received the same message, but exactly a month later I changed it to @iCloud.com without problems. I did it a couple of months ago and I don't think they changed this policy.

Excellent, this is just like I want. Funny thing, I asked this from Apple couple of times and got different answer every time and the last time it sounded like it was not going to work and I was suggested to make third party email just for that. Good thing I did not rush in to conclusion and decided to wait.

Yes, your Apple ID will be @iCloud.com. Perhaps the third party email will still remain as an additional address in the contacts or for 2-Step Verification, etc.

Again just as I wanted and I also want to remove my old email from there completely.

By the way, about deletion, not much off topic, but even after you have changed the email address, all the previous information will still be tied to your Apple ID. You can see it in the files if you request all the information about you at privacy.apple.com

Good to know that too. I definitely just want to change my Apple ID login email and email which my Apple ID is tied to this new @icloud email I just created. I want to keep all my existing calendar events and also my purchases as before.

Did you need to do anything special when you finally changed your Apple ID to new @icloud email? Did you have to logout from every device before changing or does it work automatically? Also this does not make any difference in existing Family Sharing?

 

[theob05]

Did you need to do anything special when you finally changed your Apple ID to new @icloud email? Did you have to logout from every device before changing or does it work automatically? Also this does not make any difference in existing Family Sharing

I just changed the Apple ID at appleid.apple.com. On the web, the email changed immediately, as well as after a couple of hours everything automatically changed on the iPhone and Mac.

 

[0906742]

I just changed the Apple ID at appleid.apple.com. On the web, the email changed immediately, as well as after a couple of hours everything automatically changed on the iPhone and Mac.

OK, that is good to know. I get to try this myself in few weeks.