Google to Soon Let You Change Gmail Address Without Losing Access to Your Account

Google appears to be preparing for the rollout of a major change that will impact millions of users, but in a good way. The Mountain View-based tech giant has updated its support page, which mentions that users can finally change their Gmail address without losing access to their account. The first part of the email address, prior to @gmail.com, can be changed by the user, and their Google account will stay the same, including contacts, Drive files, emails, and photos.

Changing Gmail Address

Up until now, Google allowed users to change their email addresses, but only if they were using a third-party one. If it ended in @gmail.com, they had no option but to delete the old one and create a new Gmail address. That, however, is now set to change (via 9to5Google).

The company has updated its support page to inform users about an upcoming change where they will be able to select a new Gmail address. This functionality is said to be “gradually rolling out” and can be found in Google Account settings.

“If you'd like, you can change your Google Account email address that ends in gmail.com to a new email address that ends in gmail.com,” the page reads.

Once the user selects a new Gmail address, their existing one will be treated as an alias. All of the contacts, Drive files, emails, photos, purchases and subscriptions will remain intact, as per the company. The old email address will continue to work, and emails sent to it will still arrive in the inbox. Users can sign in using either their old or new Gmail address. 

Existing sign-in access for services like Gmail, Drive, YouTube, and Maps will remain unaffected.

The support page outlines several key details about how the address change will work once available. To begin with, users can change their Gmail address once every 12 months. It can be changed a total of three times, which means four email addresses per account. Google says that the old Gmail address cannot be taken by anyone else and will stay linked to the existing account.

The company further explained that switching to a new Gmail address may lead to issues using Google's services and features. Those who use Chromebooks, sign in with Google Convenience, and Remote Desktop, must follow some extra steps, as detailed on the support page.

Google has also advised them to back up their data and to be cautious about app settings potentially being reset. “It's just like signing in on a new device,” the company further noted.