Gmail finally lets you fix that cringey old email address

Watch Gmail finally lets you fix that cringey old email address - Rizzle on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Gmail finally lets you fix that cringy old email address.

00:04For nearly two decades, Gmail users have lived with a quiet but powerful truth.

00:09The email address you picked at 2 a.m. in 2006, possibly involving a nickname, was forever.

00:16Google, famously, did not let you change a at gmail.com address once it was created.

00:21You could reset passwords, recover accounts, and even rename your device, but your email handle?

00:26Immutable. That era may finally be ending.

00:30Just in time for the new year, Google appears to be rolling out a long-awaited feature

00:34that lets users change their Gmail address while keeping the beloved and professionally acceptable at gmail.com ending.

00:41The evidence surfaced quietly, as these things often do,

00:44a recently updated help page spotted by users in a Google Pixel Hub Telegram group.

00:49The catch?

00:50The update first appeared on the Hindi-language version of Google's support site, not the English one.

00:56According to a translated version of the page, Google is gradually rolling out the ability

01:01to change a Google account email address, which means some users may see the option before others.

01:06That language has since popped up on help pages in several other languages, including Spanish, French, and Japanese.

01:12The English version, meanwhile, still insists that Gmail addresses usually can't be changed.

01:18The updated pages clarify that eligible users may switch their existing Gmail address to a new one,

01:24still ending in at gmail.com.

01:26The old address doesn't disappear into the void either.

01:29Instead, it becomes an alternate email tied to your account.

01:33Messages sent to either address go to the same inbox,

01:36and both can be used to sign in to Google services like YouTube, Maps, and Drive.

01:40Your data stays unchanged.

01:43However, after switching, you can't create a new Gmail address for that account for 12 months.

01:49One fresh start per year.

01:51If you're curious whether you're among the chosen few, head to your Google account settings,

01:55navigate to Personal Information, then email, and look for a Change Google Account email button.

02:01If it's there, congratulations.

02:03Your teenage email regrets may finally be behind you.