Google may finally be fixing one of Gmail’s longest-standing annoyances. According to a newly updated Google support page spotted by 9to5Google, the company is “gradually rolling out” a long-requested feature that will let users change their @gmail.com email address — something that has historically been impossible.
Until now, Google has only allowed email username changes if you were using a third-party address. If your account ended in @gmail.com, you were basically stuck with whatever username you chose years (or decades) ago. As Google bluntly put it on its own Support page: “If your account’s email address ends in @gmail.com, you usually can’t change it.” That “usually,” it seems, is doing a lot of new work.
As reported by 9to5Google, Google has quietly updated its Support documentation — currently only visible in Hindi — outlining a new process that will allow users to switch from one @gmail.com address to another.
“The email address associated with your Google Account is the address you use to sign in to Google services. This email address helps you and others identify your account. If you’d like, you can change your Google Account email address that ends in gmail.com to a new email address that ends in gmail.com,” the translated Support page reads. Google says the feature is “gradually rolling out to all users,” even though the company hasn’t formally announced it yet.
Once the feature goes live, users will be able to change their Gmail username while keeping their entire account intact. Your old email address will become an alias, meaning emails sent to both the old and new addresses will land in the same inbox. You’ll also be able to sign in with either address, and none of your data — Gmail, Photos, Drive, YouTube, the whole Google life bundle — will be affected.
There are some limits, though. You won’t be able to change or delete your new Gmail address for 12 months, and each account can only make the switch up to three times. Some older services, like Calendar for events created before the change, may still show your original email address as well.
Still, this is a massive quality-of-life upgrade. Soon, people may finally be free from email addresses they created as kids, teenagers, or adults who simply didn’t know any better. And for those with less embarrassing circumstances — like name changes since signing up — this is an equally welcome fix.
Interestingly, Gmail has been on an AI feature spree lately (what hasn’t?), rolling out Gemini-powered email summaries, smarter package tracking, and tools that can write emails in your own tone and style. But this change isn’t flashy AI — it’s just a long-overdue basic feature.
If and when this feature rolls out in Canada, users will be able to change their Gmail address via the “My Account” page. For now, it looks like Google let this one slip a little early.
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