Google Finally Lets You Swap Your Gmail Address

For the past 20 years, anyone with a @gmail[.]com address has learned the hard way that once you choose a name, it’s permanent. There is no way to alter, exchange, or receive a second chance to get it just perfect, even if what you created in your teens is simply cringe-worthy. People used to create completely new Gmail accounts only to start again, and then spend hours untangling their email, images, and files from the old one. But it appears that Google is ready to alleviate that headache with a small but significant upgrade.

According to a support page on Google India’s website, customers can now change their current @gmail.com address to something new, as long as it ends in @gmail[.]com. The old address is basically converted into an alias, so any emails sent to it will still arrive in the same inbox. Don’t even get started on the services that utilize your Gmail address to sign in, like as YouTube, Drive, Maps, and Play; they all continue to function normally.

Details on how this new system works have begun to emerge, albeit primarily in Hindi, as the first phase of testing is being conducted in India. Google has yet to make a major announcement, but it appears that one is on its way. Users who are curious can see if they can get in on the action right now. Simply sign into your Google account, navigate to Personal details, and search under Email. If you see a new choice to change it to a new address, choose one. The transition will be seamless, with no disruption.

To keep things in order, each account can only alter the address up to three times in total, resulting in four connected addresses. After any move, no new @gmail[.]com addresses can be added to the account for 12 months. During that time, neither the newly chosen address nor the previously used address can be erased. Users have complete ability to revert to an older address if necessary.
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