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Apple ID Apple Alias Converted to Primary Apple Account
- Thread starter caolthedesigner
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No, not wiping the device… but logged out and logged back into iCloud (web) everything was ok apart from mail.
I did this: https://support.apple.com/en-us/109353
And it went great. Old email myfirstname.myoldlastname@icloud.com is gone and I successfully added new myfirstname.mynewlastname@icloud.com address. Also checked account.apple.com on browser and the old address was gone, new address is there. So it seems that old address is gone from the account just like I wanted.
But. When I go to iMessage or FaceTime settings the old address is still in the list under “You can be reached at”.
Any idea why? I tried to delete FaceTime app and download it again, didn’t help.
And it went great. Old email myfirstname.myoldlastname@icloud.com is gone and I successfully added new myfirstname.mynewlastname@icloud.com address. Also checked account.apple.com on browser and the old address was gone, new address is there. So it seems that old address is gone from the account just like I wanted.
But. When I go to iMessage or FaceTime settings the old address is still in the list under “You can be reached at”.
Any idea why? I tried to delete FaceTime app and download it again, didn’t help.
I did try again this morning (following Apples guide above), and still the same (worse if anything) - I'm sure when I did it the other day my changed address showed everywhere apart from in iCloud Mail - however, this time it was still showing my original email everywhere.
As soon as I change it, mail everywhere stops working both on iPhone, iPad, Mac and web iCloud.
Mac shows the mailbox as offline (I've tried turning mail off after 20 secs and back on like someone else posted - but didn't have any affect).
It's frustrating that it doesn't 'just work', and worse that it actually causes things to break.
My situation is trying to change oldemailaddress@icloud.com to my (long standing) myalias@icloud.com
One thing which I think may be getting in the way, when looking in Mail I have:
oldemailaddress@icloud.com
oldemailaddress@me.com
basically showing as one thing... I'm not sure if that's the issue.
When changing the Primary back to oldemailaddress@icloud.com mail starts working again fine.
As soon as I change it, mail everywhere stops working both on iPhone, iPad, Mac and web iCloud.
Mac shows the mailbox as offline (I've tried turning mail off after 20 secs and back on like someone else posted - but didn't have any affect).
It's frustrating that it doesn't 'just work', and worse that it actually causes things to break.
My situation is trying to change oldemailaddress@icloud.com to my (long standing) myalias@icloud.com
One thing which I think may be getting in the way, when looking in Mail I have:
oldemailaddress@icloud.com
oldemailaddress@me.com
basically showing as one thing... I'm not sure if that's the issue.
When changing the Primary back to oldemailaddress@icloud.com mail starts working again fine.
Last edited:
All I did was (my phone is not set to English)
Open settings
Tap your name
Sign in and security
In the top list I tapped my alias and checked the box setting it as my primary
Then I deleted my old primary email from this list
Then opened iCloud settings
Tap mail
Account information - emails/addresses
In here I could still see my old primary so I deleted it here as well
I've had no issues with sending or receiving emails. No idea if other combinations of account creations could be the cause of some people still having issues. Before 18.1 released I got an error after step 4.
Check my steps above. I think I had the same issue and that's the reason I deleted the old primary from iCloud mail settings.I did this: https://support.apple.com/en-us/109353
And it went great. Old email myfirstname.myoldlastname@icloud.com is gone and I successfully added new myfirstname.mynewlastname@icloud.com address. Also checked account.apple.com on browser and the old address was gone, new address is there. So it seems that old address is gone from the account just like I wanted.
But. When I go to iMessage or FaceTime settings the old address is still in the list under “You can be reached at”.
Any idea why? I tried to delete FaceTime app and download it again, didn’t help.
Thank you…. The only thing I didn’t do was delete my original iCloud address, I guess I’m worried if I do that and it doesn’t work then I may stop everyth8mg working and/or get locked out of my account completely.
Thanks. Very interesting. I didn't have old primary under iCloud>Mail>Account information>Addresses. But still when I go to iMessage or FaceTime settings the old address is still in the list under “You can be reached at”. Very strange.
Hey, actually, this just resolved itself after I went online with my iPad and Mac. Apparently, since those devices still had the old information (while offline), things showed up a bit mixed in the iMessage and FaceTime settings on my iPhone. But once those devices connected to the internet and everything synced, the old address no longer shows up in the iMessage or FaceTime settings. Yay!
this thread has been a great source of info.
its been some time since the last post in this thread.
but maybe i can use this thread to clarify some questions about changing my primary apple account ID.
goal: i want to use one of my current email alias as my primary account ID, and, i would like to entirely delete the primary account ID that i have been using.
current primary account id is a@icloud.com
i also have the a@mac.com and a@me.com "legacy alias" as well
i have 2 email alias (b@icloud.com and c@cloud.com)
both of these were created while i have had the current primary account ID, so these are "associated" with my current primary account.
i am clear that i can easily change my current apple account id to one of my current email alias.
my questions concern what happens to my current primary account ID:
1 does that account ID become available as just an email alias ?
or, is it completely disappeared and I dont need to worry about it? (that would be the best for me).
2 if the current account ID doesn't just disappear and becomes available as an email alias, if i delete it does it also delete the current associated email alias as well ?
i am assuming that if i delete the primary account id or it gets disappeared through the process, then the legacy alias of @Mac and @Me Also go away right?
thanks so much for your advice.
its been some time since the last post in this thread.
but maybe i can use this thread to clarify some questions about changing my primary apple account ID.
goal: i want to use one of my current email alias as my primary account ID, and, i would like to entirely delete the primary account ID that i have been using.
current primary account id is a@icloud.com
i also have the a@mac.com and a@me.com "legacy alias" as well
i have 2 email alias (b@icloud.com and c@cloud.com)
both of these were created while i have had the current primary account ID, so these are "associated" with my current primary account.
i am clear that i can easily change my current apple account id to one of my current email alias.
my questions concern what happens to my current primary account ID:
1 does that account ID become available as just an email alias ?
or, is it completely disappeared and I dont need to worry about it? (that would be the best for me).
2 if the current account ID doesn't just disappear and becomes available as an email alias, if i delete it does it also delete the current associated email alias as well ?
i am assuming that if i delete the primary account id or it gets disappeared through the process, then the legacy alias of @Mac and @Me Also go away right?
thanks so much for your advice.
I’m not entirely sure….
I changed an Alias to a Primary, although I initially had issues accessing and sending emails it did sort itself out (think it just needed time to sync).
I’m sure, my original AppleID shows then as an Alias (the the previous alias showing as primary).
However, this is what I’m not sure about…. I randomly went in to look at my Alias’s and could no longer see my original primary Apple ID listed there, although I did continue to receive emails sent to it.
I wanted to keep it listed as an Alias (just in case!), but was able to add it back as an alias.
I don’t know why it was there initially and deleted itself out and/or if it would just continue working anyway.
hi
thanks for your reply. glad it worked out for you.
here is what happened when i went ahead and did it.
all steps done on iPhone:
1 in apple account/sign in & security: i selected my primary account id and switched off it being the primary id. on the same panel it immediately asked me which of my current accessible email accounts i wanted to use as my primary id. i chose one of the other iCloud email alias.
2 my former primary account id was still usable. and i continued to receive email. it was moved aside and just became an email address.
3 i then deleted that former primary id and along with it (as was assumed), its associated @mac.com and @me.com addresses also were deleted along with it.
4 after waiting 1 week, it allowed me to make a 3rd iCloud alias.
it was very straightforward.
doing this process anywhere else than on the iPhone in the apple account/sign in & security tabs would have been much more confusing to me.
thanks for your reply. glad it worked out for you.
here is what happened when i went ahead and did it.
all steps done on iPhone:
1 in apple account/sign in & security: i selected my primary account id and switched off it being the primary id. on the same panel it immediately asked me which of my current accessible email accounts i wanted to use as my primary id. i chose one of the other iCloud email alias.
2 my former primary account id was still usable. and i continued to receive email. it was moved aside and just became an email address.
3 i then deleted that former primary id and along with it (as was assumed), its associated @mac.com and @me.com addresses also were deleted along with it.
4 after waiting 1 week, it allowed me to make a 3rd iCloud alias.
it was very straightforward.
doing this process anywhere else than on the iPhone in the apple account/sign in & security tabs would have been much more confusing to me.