Good news for those who regret the Gmail address they came up with when they signed up for an account: Google now lets you change it.
Google began quietly rolling out the change late last year in India, noting in a blog post this week that it could now apply to all Google Account users in the United States. There are no details on when it will be available to users in other countries.
Google’s CEO said the update will be welcomed by those who want to keep their accounts, but left behind the awkward, embarrassing or meaningless Gmail usernames they created after the service launched 22 years ago.
“2004 was a good year, but your Gmail address shouldn’t be pinned on it,” Sundar Pichai wrote in a post on
The company also updated its help page to reflect the new policy. This is a quick overview:
It’s a simple process
The execution procedure is quite simple. First, go to your Google Account page. On the Google home page in your computer browser or in the Google mobile app, click the account icon in the upper-right corner, then click or tap Manage Google Accounts, Personal Information, and then Email.
You should be able to click Change Google Account email address. If you don’t see it, you may not have the opportunity yet. Google indicates that this is “gradually rolling out to all users.”
You will now need to enter your new address, so make sure you know which one you need. Then click to confirm that you want to make changes. Google notes that addresses cannot be identical to any existing address or one that has been “used by someone in the past and then deleted.”
If you change your mind
But what if you missed your old Gmail address? Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to access it because Google actually creates a second Gmail address.
The old address will remain as an alternate, and messages sent to both the old and new addresses will appear in your Gmail inbox. To find out to which address the letter was sent, check the “To” box.
You can go back to your old address by changing your settings in your Google Account.
If you don’t like the new Gmail address you’ve created, unfortunately there’s not much you can do, at least for the next year. Google won’t let you create another Gmail address for your account until 12 months have passed. And you can do it only three times.
Possible issues to consider
Gmail addresses are also used to sign in to other Google services, such as YouTube and Google Docs, as well as third-party websites and apps. But the company warns that some non-Google apps and services may not recognize you with a new Gmail address, so it’s provided some troubleshooting tips on its help page.
Google also says that Chromebook users may experience issues, though many resolve within a few hours. It advises users to check the troubleshooting page, but warns that if the difficulties persist, “you may need to switch back to your old Google Account email”, although the new address can still be used to send and receive messages.
