- The option to switch to another @gmail.com is rolled out
- It seems to be limited by region right now
- You will still be able to hang on to your existing email address
For as long as Gmail has existed—more than 20 years now—the primary email address you get when you first open the account has been the one you’ve had to stick with. Now it looks like that is about to change.
As spotted by the Google Pixel Hub group on Telegram (via 9to5Google ), there has been a change to the relevant support page in the official Google Accounts help documentation to say that it is possible to set up a new @gmail.com email address.
However, there are some caveats here: First, the updated help instructions are only displayed in Hindi at the moment. Second, the site says the new feature is “gradually rolling out to all users, so this option may not be available to you right now”.
With both of these caveats in mind, and no other official comment yet, it appears that Google is currently not fully committed to this move. However, it looks like there’s a good chance you’ll soon be able to get yourself a new Gmail address without having to create a whole new Google account at the same time.
The fine print
According to the support document, if you change a @gmail.com address to another, the old email address will remain as an alias. You’ll still be able to send and receive emails from the old address, and you’ll still be able to sign in to related apps and websites (such as Google Maps or YouTube) with your old or new address.
You can even switch back to having your old address as the primary address for your account if you want. However, once a new @gmail.com address is set as the primary address, you won’t be able to attach a new one for 12 months.
The primary @gmail.com for each Google Account can be changed three times in total – that would leave you with four @gmail.com addresses and aliases in total – so it’s worth spending time and thought on any new addresses you enter.
If you enter a new email address, the old one cannot be used by others and will still appear in some places (eg old Google Calendar events). Your email address can be changed via your Google Account page – but it’s not showing up for me yet.
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