You Can Finally Transfer Purchases From One Apple Account to Another

While many of us only have one Apple account, many others have two and use both on their Apple devices. I know a person who once created an Apple account using an email address associated with an employer, and at some point created a second account with his personal ID. They now use two accounts on their devices: one associated with iCloud and Apple Music, and the other for all other apps.

If you’ve had Apple devices for a long time, you may have two Apple accounts of your own. Despite this, Apple did not allow users to combine purchases into one account. So, if you want to access purchases on your old Apple account, you’ll need to sign in to it, even if you’re using a newer account for everything else.

For people in similar situations,Apple finally has a solution – transferring purchases from one account to another. It’s not necessarily easy, but it can be done.

Understanding the risks involved

At first glance, the process of transferring your purchases from one Apple account to another may seem simple, but at the internal level it turns out to be quite complex. This is probably why it took Apple so long to make this feature available. Data migration is difficult. I remember people’s iTunes libraries getting corrupted when launching Apple Music , and not everyone found a working solution. This is why I believe it is best to migrate purchases slowly and gradually.

It’s also worth noting that once the migration is complete, your secondary Apple account will no longer be able to make any purchases, so you won’t be able to download any apps from the App Store. I also don’t recommend going through this process if you beta test many apps through TestFlight. If you agree to unenroll your device from all of these betas, you can begin transferring your purchases. This process is also not available in the three main regions – EU, UK and India. Apple hasn’t mentioned why this is happening, but it may have something to do with local payment and data regulations.

Check if you are eligible to transfer purchases

To successfully transfer your purchases to another Apple account, the company requires you to meet the following conditions:

• The main Apple account must be linked to iCloud and most features. This is the account where all your purchases will be combined.

• A secondary Apple account should only be used for media and purchases. Once the migration is complete, you will no longer be able to make purchases from this account.

• You must know the email address, phone numbers and passwords for both accounts.

• Your Apple accounts should not be shared with others.

• Your Apple accounts should not be created as child accounts using Family Sharing.

• If your primary Apple account has never been used for purchases or free downloads, it cannot be used to transfer purchases.

• Migration cannot be completed if both accounts have music library data associated with them.

• The Apple account should not be blocked or disabled. It also should not be part of special access programs for content applications (for example, associated with an employer to obtain special access to applications).

• An additional Apple account should not be used to test beta releases through TestFlight. Stop testing all applications before attempting migration.

How to transfer purchases from one Apple account to another

Before you can start transferring purchases, you need to do the following:

• Update iOS or iPadOS to the latest version on your iPhone or iPad.

• Make sure you’re signed in to your primary account on your device and your secondary Apple account for media and purchases. To verify this, go to Settings > YOUR NAME > Media & Purchases > View Account . If you see a different Apple account here than your main Apple account, you’re good to go. If not, you can sign out and sign in to the correct account.

• Make sure the secondary account is not part of the Family Sharing group.

• Make sure both accounts are set to the same country and region.

• Enable two-factor authentication for both accounts.

• If you have any unused Apple Account balance in your secondary account, use it all before you start migrating.

• Please wait until your rental content expires before you begin this process.

• If you have pre-ordered any content from a secondary account, you can either wait for the orders to be fulfilled or cancel them.

• Make sure the payment method associated with your sub account works and keep all of its details handy. Before this process is completed, you will need to confirm the payment from the second account.

Once all this is confirmed, you can follow these steps to start the process:

1. On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings > YOUR NAME > Media & Purchases > View Account .

2. Sign in to your account if prompted, then scroll down and select Transfer Purchases .

3. Review the information on both accounts and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the transfer of purchases to your primary account.

4. Once the process is complete, you will see a “Purchases have been transferred” message on your screen. You will also receive confirmation emails to both of your email addresses.

5. Check your Media & Purchases settings and sign in here with your primary Apple account.

6. You can now sign out of your secondary Apple account on all your Apple devices.

The migration process can only be completed once per account. Appleallows you to cancel your account migration by following the same steps, but you won’t be able to migrate your purchases again for one year.

More…