Google recently presented its users with a much sought after Christmas gift. In a major development, the search engine giant announced that gmail users who were previously stuck with their embarrassing personal email addresses from school can now change their email address without losing any data or going through the hassle of creating a new account.
According to an update on Google’s account help pages, users will be able to replace their existing Gmail address with a new one while retaining all emails, files, photos and linked services.
Notably, the updated guidance on email address changes appears only in the Hindi version of Google’s support page, suggesting the rollout may begin in India or Hindi-speaking markets.
Changing your google email: How does the new process work?
As per the updated policy, users who opt for a new Gmail address will automatically keep their old address as an alias. This means emails sent to the old ID will continue to land in the same inbox, and the original address will still work for signing in to Google services such as Drive, Maps and YouTube.
Previously, users seeking a new Gmail address had to set up a new account and transfer their data through a complicated and painstaking process that could disrupt integrations with third-party apps. The new feature allows users to modernise their online identity without breaking logins, subscriptions, or data links.
Limits set by Google
As per the Google account’s Hindi help page, once users have gone through the process of updating their Gmail address, they won’t be allowed to create another new address or delete the new chosen address for the next 12 months.
The support page said the feature is gradually rolling out to all users, suggesting full global adoption is coming, but could take some time. The English-language page retains prior guidance stating that @gmail.com addresses “usually cannot be changed.” Google has not issued a formal announcement or press release on the change.
