Gmail finally lets you fix that cringey old email address
The old address doesn’t disappear into the void, it becomes an alternate email tied to your account.
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For nearly two decades, Gmail users have lived with a quiet but powerful truth: the email address you picked at 2 AM in 2006, possibly involving a nickname, was forever.
Google, famously, did not let you change a @gmail.com address once it was created.
You could reset passwords, recover accounts, even rename your device, but your email handle? Immutable. That era may finally be ending.
Just in time for the new year, Google appears to be rolling out a long-awaited feature that lets users change their Gmail address while keeping the beloved (and professionally acceptable) @gmail.com ending.
The evidence surfaced quietly, as these things often do: a recently updated help page spotted by users in a Google Pixel Hub Telegram group.
The catch? The update first appeared on the Hindi-language version of Google’s support site, not the English one.
According to a translated version of the page, Google is “gradually rolling out” the ability to change a Google Account email address, which means some users may see the option before others.
That language has since popped up on help pages in several other languages, including Spanish, French, and Japanese.
The English version, meanwhile, still insists that Gmail addresses usually can’t be changed.
The updated pages clarify that eligible users may switch their existing Gmail address to a new one, still ending in @gmail.com.
The old address doesn’t disappear into the void, either. Instead, it becomes an alternate email tied to your account.
Messages sent to either address will land in the same inbox, and both can be used to sign in to Google services like YouTube, Maps, and Drive.
Importantly, none of your data, emails, photos, and files goes anywhere.
There are limits, of course, because, you guessed it, Google. Once you make the switch, you’re locked out of creating another new Gmail address for that account for 12 months.
One fresh start per year. Sighs!
If you’re curious whether you’re among the chosen few, head to your Google Account settings, navigate to Personal Information, then Email, and look for a “Change Google Account email” button.
If it’s there, congratulations: your teenage email regrets may finally be behind you.
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