You May Soon Be Able to Change Your Gmail Address.

One of the most annoying limitations of Gmail is that once you choose an email address, you’re stuck with it forever. There are exceptions for third-party addresses, like work emails linked to a company domain, but for a regular @gmail.com account, this isn’t possible. Personally, I’ve had multiple loyalty programs and store accounts linked to a ridiculously cheeky email address from high school for decades, but I finally think I’ll be able to change it.

A recently updated Google support page states that the company is gradually rolling out the ability to change your Gmail address, with some limitations. Oddly, the page is currently only available in Hindi, so I’ve reached out to Google for clarification on where and when this feature will be available, and I’ll report back once I hear back. However, the support page (using machine translation) states that the feature will be available to “all users,” implying a global release at some point.

Just in case, I checked to see if I could change any of my personal Gmail addresses, but to no avail. But once this feature becomes available to you, here’s how you can do it.

1. On your computer or mobile device, go to myaccount.google.com/google-account-email .

2. At the top of the page, click or tap “Personal Information.” On mobile devices, this may appear as “Personal Information.”

3. Click or tap Google Account Email.

4. Then click or tap the “Change your Google Account email” button and enter your updated email address.

Please note that these instructions have been machine translated, so the exact wording may vary by region. I’ll update with official English instructions as soon as they become available, but the process itself seems fairly straightforward.

There are a couple of caveats, however. The main one is that emails sent to your old address will still be sent to your new one, and in some cases, your old email address may appear instead of the new one, such as in calendar events created before the address change. This is because your old name will be listed as an alias for the account, rather than deleted. This can be inconvenient if you’re trying to get rid of old contacts, but it also ensures that important contacts aren’t lost and prevents anyone from registering a new account with that email address. You’ll also still be able to use your old Gmail address to sign in to any associated accounts, and no matter what name you sign in with, you’ll still have access to all your messages, photos, and other files.

You can also return to your old address at any time, but changing your address is only allowed once a year and only three times. So, no weird Halloween address changes and then returning to your usual one in November.

Nevertheless, this should significantly improve usability and help Google’s email service better catch up with more accommodating email providers like Proton . No more snooty conversations with the cashier at Sephora.

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