Goodbye, embarrassing email address: Gmail finally lets you change your address without losing your data

Depending on when you created your Gmail user account, and how old you were at the time, you may have outgrown your original username. Fortunately, you can now change what seemed like a great email address at the time but that hasn’t aged well, or is a bit embarrassing, without having to create an entirely brand new account.

In April, the tech giant announced that after 22 years it has set up a system whereby Gmail users can change their regrettable email address name without losing any of their data. “2004 was a good year, but your Gmail address doesn’t need to be stuck in it,” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a post on X.

The new email address will be your publicly facing one, but any mail sent to your old email address will still end up in your new inbox. That’s because the two will live side by side and you’ll be able to sign in with either one.

A few simple steps and you can goodbye to your old embarrassing email address

The process is quite simple; you just need to go to your Google Account settings and choose any name available to transition one address that ends in @gmail to another that ends in @gmail. The company has provided a support page with further instructions if you wish to get rid of your Gmail account or add alternative non-Gmail addresses.

If your account was set up through a third party, work, school, etc. you will have to contact the administrator if you wish to change that email address, the company notes.

Also, Google says that while you can change back to your previous address at any time, you won’t be able to create another new Gmail address for the next 12 months, nor can you delete your new email address. Both the new and the old address can be used to log onto other Google services, like Maps, YouTube, Google Play or Drive, besides Gmail.

PC Mag provides a couple of warnings about switching your Google account email address. Firstly, some third-party apps may not recognize it when you sign in with Google. Also, it’s recommended that you back up your local data on your Chromebook, if you own one, before changing your Gmail address.

The company advises Chromebook users to remove your account from the device and then add the new one after you’ve changed your Google account email address.

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