Apple Now Letting Apple IDs With Third-Party Email Addresses Be Updated to Apple Email Addresses

[dahacouk]

Can the Dillon who sent the email to Apple step forward? Is it @dillonbradley4 or @dillonm ? Perhaps we can get some other stuff sorted too. Like being able to change the iCloud email address associated with the Apple ID or just remove it altogether. Cheers Daniel

 

[cmonkey1976]

Still not working for me.... just get the message to say the AppleID can't end in icloud.com

 

[Xray50]

I give up, impossible mission, I will stay with my very old account

 

[rneglia]

I'm not going to read through 15 pages of replies to make sure no one's said this already but here's my two cents:

1) Trying to change the email address associated with your Apple ID is a royal pain in the ass, because the new email address doesn't flow out to everywhere you're logged in, and you end up needing to log out and back in, essentially with the same account.

2) What someone said about having a non-apple recovery email address is a good point.

3) When will they let us merge two Apple IDs? Everyone who did MobileMe is still stuck with two.

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

Been after them forever on this one. It just confuses the tech-challenged.

Mom! Answer the screen sharing request! We've got some tech stuff to do!

 

[davidg4781]

Are we good as far as security to do this? Say months down the road if there is a security breach, is there a way to get my account back in order if I took my gmail account off? If it’s just Apple accounts and I can’t get into Apple mail that would be a problem.

 

[OutGolfn]

So this might help some. Its recommended you log out of all but its not required as the usual prompts will appear on your devices once you update your Apple ID. I did everything within safari on a mac.

Follow the steps in the Apple Support document in post 1. Looks like for me only being able to change to the current Apple ID @icloud.com that was originally setup, not aliases or others listed in the reachable at area. Once you type your main Apple ID .icloud.com or @me.com should bring up a small confirm screen. Worked for me

This is definitely a welcomed change and long been requested!

 

[Civic Minded]

So this might help some. Its recommended you log out of all but its not required as the usual prompts will appear on your devices once you update your Apple ID. I did everything within safari on a mac.

Follow the steps in the Apple Support document in post 1. Looks like for me only being able to change to the current Apple ID @icloud.com that was originally setup, not aliases or others listed in the reachable at area. Once you type your main Apple ID .icloud.com or @me.com should bring up a small confirm screen. Worked for me

This is definitely a welcomed change and long been requested!

That seems to be the case for me as well. I only wish it would allow me to use one of my alias accounts as my Apple ID. There are people throughout this thread claiming they were allowed to change theirs to an alias email address, but I'm having zero luck with it.

 

[andre_db90]

When I sign into AppleID I don't see a primary email; just AppleID and reachable at different email addresses.

A while ago, I set my @icloud.com address to be my primary address.. which allowed me to sign in to itunes,appstore ect. using this address instead of my apple ID (third party address) - I used this as a work around because I didn't like my @yahoo address.

If you have trouble setting the @icloud.com address as your Apple ID, I would suggest to make sure it isn't anywhere in use at the moment. Log out of any services just as app store, itunes, icloud and also imessage, facetime ect.

that's what I did, in order to make it work. good luck!

 

[wolfshades]

So this might help some. Its recommended you log out of all but its not required as the usual prompts will appear on your devices once you update your Apple ID. I did everything within safari on a mac.

Follow the steps in the Apple Support document in post 1. Looks like for me only being able to change to the current Apple ID @icloud.com that was originally setup, not aliases or others listed in the reachable at area. Once you type your main Apple ID .icloud.com or @me.com should bring up a small confirm screen. Worked for me

This is definitely a welcomed change and long been requested!

This is exactly what I tried to do, but got the same error everyone else is talking about. It simply would not allow me to use my original Apple email address, nor would it let me use anything with .mac .me or .icloud The one thing I haven't tried was creating a brand new Apple email account.

At this point I've spent enough time on it. It might be that they're rolling out the change. May give it another try in a month's time.

 

[whsbuss]

A while ago, I set my @icloud.com address to be my primary address.. which allowed me to sign in to itunes,appstore ect. using this address instead of my apple ID (third party address) - I used this as a work around because I didn't like my @yahoo address.

If you have trouble setting the @icloud.com address as your Apple ID, I would suggest to make sure it isn't anywhere in use at the moment. Log out of any services just as app store, itunes, icloud and also imessage, facetime ect.

that's what I did, in order to make it work. good luck!

Thanks, but I'm concerned because I am the family sharing admin. I will wait till I hear from other family share users.

 

[MacBH928]

I thought Apple canceled their email services?

 

[nicmonsh]

Hi everyone, long time reader, but first time poster! Joined this forum after reading this article and all the replies and I’m still confused about what I can/can’t do with changing my Apple ID so thought I’d ask for help! I have 2 Apple IDs, one old one from Mobile Me days, (the actual ID is @me and it has an @icloud alias attached to it), and the other Apple ID is my outlook account (@live.com). The @live.com one has everything attached to it, iCloud and iTunes, so it holds years of all my purchases that I’d hate to have to re-purchase. I’ve only kept the @live.com account because of my Apple ID, does anyone know if I can change the @live.com one to the @icloud alias that is attached to the other Apple ID? I was thinking maybe I’d just need to remove the alias first to free it up?

 

[andre_db90]

Thanks, but I'm concerned because I am the family sharing admin. I will wait till I hear from other family share users.

Sure.

Just fyi. I'm also a family member admin. After changing the address, it updated automatically and just showed up correctly on my family member's devices. I did not experience any issues.

 

[akbarali.ch]

zajp'

Still not working for me.... just get the message to say the AppleID can't end in icloud.com

I was in the same situation and while tinkering with it, i got into mess where Apple was trying to send me verification email which i was not receiving it. I had to call Apple Support and while on the phone i was sharing my screen to her. She walked me through entire thing and changed my apple ID to @icloud one. I'll list out the steps below. But be warned you might get locked out and it will be on you. Obviously you can always get help from Apple support.

Scenario : My @gmail Id was my apple ID. @icloud was my primary ID.

steps
1. I tried changing the Apple ID (@gmail) to @icoud. It threw error that my apple id cant end in @icloud.com.
2. I tried changing my primary email to my @gmail account, which was again not happening.
3. Then i changed the primary email (@icloud) to @outlook (which was never associated with Apple ever - i dont know if that is required.) So now @icloud ID is not in the scene anymore. Apple ID is still @gmail but now primary ID is @outlook.
4. This is where i got stuck. Now when i I tried loging back into icloud.com, which would sent me verification over my iphone. After this verification code, there was one more verifcation code sent to me @gmail ID. BUT this email never reached. I tried multiple times and asked to resend multiple times. But i would not get that verification email. I would always get pass the 1st verifcation (on the iphone - which shows a little map and asks to allow etc.) But just wouldn't get the 2nd verfication code over email. I checked spam, trash, deleted all my filters which i created over so many years, but nothing.

Now its time to call Apple. She walked me through the process. we were on the phone as well as i was screen sharing my comp. She was able to see and annotate over screen

5. First I tried logging on the appleid.apple.com. Which again, got through the first verifcation over the phone. When the second verification box shows up, there she told me to changed the @gmail ID to @outlook ID which i did and pressed continue (to recieve the code on this @outlook ID instead). This time it went through without requiring the verification code and i was able to login and i could see my account page with the all the info.

6. So now, it showed @outlook as my Apple ID. So basically with all these ups n down, all i managed was to get from one third party email to another third party.

7. Then i told her that i wanted my @icloud ID as my apple id and others can be primary.

7. She asked me for a support pin verifcation to check my identication in order move further. Which i did.

8. After this support pin verification she asked me click on change Apple ID. Which showed a box to enter the new one (just like before). I typed my @icloud ID and clicked continue/ok. THIS TIME IT SIMPLY ACCEPTED.
9. So finally, now, it shows @icloud ID as Apple ID.

 

[wxiao1993]

zajp'


I was in the same situation and while tinkering with it, i got into mess where Apple was trying to send me verification email which i was not receiving it. I had to call Apple Support and while on the phone i was sharing my screen to her. She walked me through entire thing and changed my apple ID to @icloud one. I'll list out the steps below. But be warned you might get locked out and it will be on you. Obviously you can always get help from Apple support.

Scenario : My @gmail Id was my apple ID. @icloud was my primary ID.

steps
1. I tried changing the Apple ID (@gmail) to @icoud. It threw error that my apple id cant end in @icloud.com.
2. I tried changing my primary email to my @gmail account, which was again not happening.

Thanks for sharing. Two questions: how did you change your “primary email” address? In my account, there does not seem to be such a term anywhere. Why did you want to change your primary email from one 3rd party email to another? What purpose does it serve? Thank you.

 

[cfurlin]

Yet it still don't work.

Which is why I chose to use the word "seems" ;-)

 

[Civic Minded]

zajp'


I was in the same situation and while tinkering with it, i got into mess where Apple was trying to send me verification email which i was not receiving it. I had to call Apple Support and while on the phone i was sharing my screen to her. She walked me through entire thing and changed my apple ID to @icloud one. I'll list out the steps below. But be warned you might get locked out and it will be on you. Obviously you can always get help from Apple support.

Scenario : My @gmail Id was my apple ID. @icloud was my primary ID.

steps
1. I tried changing the Apple ID (@gmail) to @icoud. It threw error that my apple id cant end in @icloud.com.
2. I tried changing my primary email to my @gmail account, which was again not happening.
3. Then i changed the primary email (@icloud) to @outlook (which was never associated with Apple ever - i dont know if that is required.) So now @icloud ID is not in the scene anymore. Apple ID is still @gmail but now primary ID is @outlook.
4. This is where i got stuck. Now when i I tried loging back into icloud.com, which would sent me verification over my iphone. After this verification code, there was one more verifcation code sent to me @gmail ID. BUT this email never reached. I tried multiple times and asked to resend multiple times. But i would not get that verification email. I would always get pass the 1st verifcation (on the iphone - which shows a little map and asks to allow etc.) But just wouldn't get the 2nd verfication code over email. I checked spam, trash, deleted all my filters which i created over so many years, but nothing.

Now its time to call Apple. She walked me through the process. we were on the phone as well as i was screen sharing my comp. She was able to see and annotate over screen

5. First I tried logging on the appleid.apple.com. Which again, got through the first verifcation over the phone. When the second verification box shows up, there she told me to changed the @gmail ID to @outlook ID which i did and pressed continue (to recieve the code on this @outlook ID instead). This time it went through without requiring the verification code and i was able to login and i could see my account page with the all the info.

6. So now, it showed @outlook as my Apple ID. So basically with all these ups n down, all i managed was to get from one third party email to another third party.

7. Then i told her that i wanted my @icloud ID as my apple id and others can be primary.

7. She asked me for a support pin verifcation to check my identication in order move further. Which i did.

8. After this support pin verification she asked me click on change Apple ID. Which showed a box to enter the new one (just like before). I typed my @icloud ID and clicked continue/ok. THIS TIME IT SIMPLY ACCEPTED.
9. So finally, now, it shows @icloud ID as Apple ID.

What an absolute PITA that is. I'm glad you got it working, and also appreciate your sharing this info with us, but there's absolutely no way I'm going through all this just to change my login info. Absurd, Apple. Absurd.
[doublepost=1509724696][/doublepost]

Hi everyone, long time reader, but first time poster! Joined this forum after reading this article and all the replies and I’m still confused about what I can/can’t do with changing my Apple ID so thought I’d ask for help! I have 2 Apple IDs, one old one from Mobile Me days, (the actual ID is @me and it has an @icloud alias attached to it), and the other Apple ID is my outlook account (@live.com). The @live.com one has everything attached to it, iCloud and iTunes, so it holds years of all my purchases that I’d hate to have to re-purchase. I’ve only kept the @live.com account because of my Apple ID, does anyone know if I can change the @live.com one to the @icloud alias that is attached to the other Apple ID? I was thinking maybe I’d just need to remove the alias first to free it up?

This is the issue that the other half of the people in this thread would like to see resolved. To answer your question, no, it's not possible to do what you're trying to do. A lot of people have been desperate for Apple to allow them to merge accounts together for a long time, but Apple seem determined to not allow it for their users.

 

[vannix]

I've got a big big problem, I can't fully restore my iCloud backup to my new iPx because (after changing the ID to iCloud) the iPhone says that some apps was downloaded as my old Alias, when I put the password it says wrong password, and then that the account doesn't exist and I can't go further... what to do?

 

[Doctor Q]

I really cannot understand why Apple does not permit the merger of two or more accounts. I have a .me/.icloud and a private email address accounts for historical reasons. There is no reason whatsoever that they should not be merged, which as lots of others have said, makes life simpler for everyone. I have been asking for this for years but of course, Apple is the ultimate practicer of NIH (Not Invented Here). I suspect it derives from one of Jobs' more wacky prejudices and nobody at Apple is brave enough to change it.

Here are some possible explanations for why Apple hasn't let us merge our old iTunes accounts with our newer iCloud accounts:

1. Apple likes to purposely frustrate and confuse us.

I doubt this is the case.​

2. Apple isn't aware of the demand for merging accounts.

There's evidence to the contrary.​

3. Apple hasn't bothered to make this possible because it won't increase their bottom line.

Maybe that's the case. If so, shame shame.​

4. Apple hasn't done it because of technical hurdles.

If so, what could the issue be? The one that comes to mind is that the ID used to make iTunes purchases is embedded in the media files you receive. So when I buy "William Hung: All Time Greatest Hits" with my iTunes ID of doctorq@doctorq.net, I get audio files with "doctorq@doctorq.net" encoded into the metadata, linking it back to my account. If they let me merge my iTunes account into my doctorq@icloud.com account, my audio files would no longer point to my account. On the other hand, this problem would already occur if you changed your outside email address to another outside email address. And if they let you merge accounts, they could still look up one from the other. So this explanation doesn't really pan out.

What other technical hurdle could there be?​

What other theories about the whole issue are there?

 

[steve62388]

Here are some possible explanations for why Apple hasn't let us merge our old iTunes accounts with our newer iCloud accounts:

1. Apple likes to purposely frustrate and confuse us.

I doubt this is the case.​

2. Apple isn't aware of the demand for merging accounts.

There's evidence to the contrary.​

3. Apple hasn't bothered to make this possible because it won't increase their bottom line.

Maybe that's the case. If so, shame shame.​

4. Apple hasn't done it because of technical hurdles.

If so, what could the issue be? The one that comes to mind is that the ID used to make iTunes purchases is embedded in the media files you receive. So when I buy "William Hung: All Time Greatest Hits" with my iTunes ID of doctorq@doctorq.net, I get audio files with "doctorq@doctorq.net" encoded into the metadata, linking it back to my account. If they let me merge my iTunes account into my doctorq@icloud.com account, my audio files would no longer point to my account. On the other hand, this problem would already occur if you changed your outside email address to another outside email address. And if they let you merge accounts, they could still look up one from the other. So this explanation doesn't really pan out.

What other technical hurdle could there be?​

What other theories about the whole issue are there?

In reference to your fourth point I can inform you that your supposition is incorrect. I have just changed my login from @gmail.com to @icloud.com with the method outlined in this article. When you remove your files and download them again they are correctly attributed to your new @icloud.com address.

 

[Doctor Q]

In reference to your fourth point I can inform you that your supposition is incorrect. I have just changed my login from @gmail.com to @icloud.com with the method outlined in this article. When you remove your files and download them again they are correctly attributed to your new @icloud.com address.

That's what we'd expect, so we still need plausible theories about the reason Apple hasn't solved this customer issue.

 

[Grayburn]

Which is why I chose to use the word "seems" ;-)

I got it to work in the end though, did you???

 

[akbarali.ch]

Thanks for sharing. Two questions: how did you change your “primary email” address? In my account, there does not seem to be such a term anywhere. Why did you want to change your primary email from one 3rd party email to another? What purpose does it serve? Thank you.

i didn't wanted to change my primary address, i just wanted to have my @icloud id to be my apple id and be displayed that way. It was always confusing which id to use @gmail or @icloud, when and wherever i had to use Apple ID. I didn't care what my primary ID is/was.

Also earlier it showed @icloud as primary email id but now it doesn't anymore. No idea.

 

[Jayson A]

i didn't wanted to change my primary address, i just wanted to have my @icloud id to be my apple id and be displayed that way. It was always confusing which id to use @gmail or @icloud, when and wherever i had to use Apple ID. I didn't care what my primary ID is/was.

Also earlier it showed @icloud as primary email id but now it doesn't anymore. No idea.

Are all your purchases still intact? I can log into iTunes as my Apple ID, but I've only got like 13 songs under that ID.
[doublepost=1509766155][/doublepost]Just got off the phone with Apple. There is no possible way to change your non-Apple email to an existing Apple ID.

He said it's impossible to merge 2 Apple IDs together as one because that would be a huge security risk.

This is from that support document:

"If you can't change your Apple ID
You can change your Apple ID to any other email address* you control, as long as it's not already in use as an Apple ID. If your email address ends with @icloud.com, @me.com, or @mac.com, you can't change your Apple ID to a third-party email address. You also won't see Change Apple ID on your account page or the option to delete your email on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 10.3 or later."

However, what this document is saying is that you can change your non Apple email ID to say blahblahblah@icloud.com if you want as long as it's not already an Apple ID in use.