Google is finally letting you change that embarrassing old Gmail address

[midian182]

Why it matters: Good news for those people whose Gmail address includes a reference to something that was pretty cool when they were young but is fairly embarrassing these days. Google is rolling out a feature that allows users to change their @gmail addresses.

According to an update to Google's account help page, Gmail users can now change their existing Gmail address to a new one without losing all the associated data and services.

The Google support document that identified the change is written in Hindi, suggesting it is arriving for users in India first. A note states that the feature is rolling out gradually to everyone, so it may take some time before all Gmail users see the option appear in their account settings.

Under the new system, users can select a new @gmail.com username while keeping the same Google account. That means emails, contacts, Drive files, Photos, subscriptions, and other Google services remain intact. The original email address continues to function as an alias, so messages sent to it will still arrive in the same inbox, and users can sign in using either address.

There are some limitations, however. Once a Gmail address is changed, it generally can't be changed again for a set period, and accounts are restricted to a limited number of changes overall. Some services, such as older calendar invites or shared documents, may also continue displaying the original address for a while.

Until now, users stuck with outdated or embarrassing Gmail handles had to rely on workarounds like aliases, dot variations, or plus addressing.

Being able to properly change a Gmail address without starting from scratch is a long-overdue feature – one that finally brings Gmail closer to what competing platforms have offered for years. I personally look forward to changing mine so it no longer references a once-popular 1990s pop-punk band and niche horror movie from the same decade.

Google hasn't made a formal announcement yet, and the rollout appears deliberately low-key. But for anyone haunted by a username they picked in their teens, this could be the most welcome Google update in a long time.

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Google is finally letting you change that embarrassing old Gmail address

 

[AlexIL]

Good news for gmail users. Personally I bypass businesses using gmail as their email and any communication from gmails taken with salt.

After all that’s been discovered regarding not evil company ads practices discussing anything through that guarantee next three weeks ads on topics of the discussion. Muchas Gracias

 

[Loadedaxe]

Good news for gmail users. Personally I bypass businesses using gmail as their email and any communication from gmails taken with salt.

After all that’s been discovered regarding not evil company ads practices discussing anything through that guarantee next three weeks ads on topics of the discussion. Muchas Gracias

If Gmail were “reading emails for ads,” Google wouldn’t need machine learning...they’d need an army of humans and a permanent consent decree stapled to every inbox. Ads are driven by account activity, not some live transcript of your emails.

 

[TheBigFatClown]

"Google hasn't made a formal announcement yet, and the rollout appears deliberately low-key. But for anyone haunted by a username they picked in their teens, this could be the most welcome Google update in a long time."

If you are a GMail user who fits the description in the above paragraph...why not just ditch that email and create a new one?

 

[hahahanoobs]

If you have an embarrassing email address, maybe it's time to grow up and make a new one from scratch.

 

[airbornex]

The old address staying as an alias is both thoughtful and terrifying. You can grow as a person, but NarutoFan1999 will always be able to find you.

 

[AlexIL]

If Gmail were “reading emails for ads,” Google wouldn’t need machine learning...they’d need an army of humans and a permanent consent decree stapled to every inbox. Ads are driven by account activity, not some live transcript of your emails.

I thought so too just as you do. A row of discoveries made by researchers changed my mind.

Google doesn’t have to read your emails to serve precisely aimed ads to you. It works a little differently.

 

[FaTaL]

Only took 20 years. gg.

 

[Loadedaxe]

I thought so too just as you do. A row of discoveries made by researchers changed my mind.

Google doesn’t have to read your emails to serve precisely aimed ads to you. It works a little differently.

That’s exactly the point...Gmail doesn’t need to read your emails. Ads come from account metadata, behavioral signals, and cross site tracking, same inputs used across the entire ad ecosystem.

Framing that as some Gmail specific discovery is just misunderstanding how targeting works.

 

[Win7user]

I've had three Gmail accounts for over 15 yrs now. That, was when you weren't forced to include a phone number. Something, they will never get. So, I had three Gmail email address, about 15 yrs old. Google, took one of them, about a year ago, they insisted a phone number! Typical of Google. So, I now have two Gmail accounts left, with a fake name, birthday, and no phone number. A, friend of mine built me an Acer desktop back in the day, 1998. The, only thing he told me, NEVER put in any real information online when signing up for ANYTHING, because you can't pull it back. I've held to that for almost twenty-eight now! This renaming of an older Gmail email account, is to get your information, especially a phone number.

 

[Gars]

Meh...
let me know when they allow you to delete "15GB of the Unknown files" in your gdrive

 

[mbk34]

If you have an embarrassing email address, maybe it's time to grow up and make a new one from scratch.

Some of us are clinging to our long lost youth

 

[Underdog]

Whichever way you slice it. If Google is doing it, it will be for their benefit not yours.