Hate your old Gmail ID? Google could finally let you change your email address – Here’s what you need to know

If there’s one thing millions of Gmail users around the world have longed for, it’s a way to change their email address. Well, as of today, you no longer have to live with a Gmail address that you hate or settled on many years ago. The tech giant is now allowing Gmail users to change their address without creating a new account, one of the most significant policy updates related to personal Gmail accounts in years.

Google support documentation, now visible to a subset of Gmail users and first noticed in a Hindi-language support page, states that Gmail users will soon be able to select a new username while retaining the same @gmail.com domain. This means if you currently have an email id, which you’re not proud of, such as [email protected]
, now’s your chance to switch it up to something more presentable – perhaps your actual name – without losing all your data.

How does the new feature work?

Google has provided some details on how the new feature will work, including:

Old email becomes an alias: Once you change your address, your previous Gmail ID doesn’t get deleted but instead becomes an alias. You can still use it to sign in and receive mail.
All email in one inbox: All mail received by either your old or new address will show up in the same Gmail inbox.
Account remains the same: Your Google Account (for services like Drive, YouTube, Maps, Play, etc.) will not be affected, and all of your files, photos, contacts, and history will remain intact.
Change is limited: Once you change your Gmail address, you generally cannot change it again for 12 months. Google is expected to allow up to three changes per account in total – meaning a total of four associated addresses in a lifetime.
Old address is never reused: Your old Gmail username also cannot be claimed by someone else – it will remain attached to your account as an alias.

Why is the feature important?

An email address has for many become more than just a way to communicate with friends and family – it’s a digital identity tied to years of emails, social accounts, subscriptions, work connections, and personal history. Until now, if a user had gotten a Gmail username they didn’t like or grew out of, the only solution was to start over with a new account, manually transfer data, and reconnect it all across Google services, a tedious and error-prone process.

With the new update, Google finally gives users the flexibility to change that identity without sacrificing all that’s been built up over the years on the account – likely to be welcome news for everyone from professionals to students who’ve outgrown their angsty teenage handles to anyone who simply settled on a Gmail address years ago and now regrets it.

Rollout status

The new feature is currently in a gradual rollout process, beginning with a subset of users in select regions. All users will see the feature eventually, but it may take some time for Google to finish rolling it out to everyone.