Q: Why can't I use my iCloud email address as my Apple ID

If you had an existing (non-apple) apple id before icloud, apple gave people the ability to have an icloud (email) account attached to it.  By signing into an icloud enabled device, and checking off mail, you are given the option to create an @icloud address (formerly an @me.com one), that is associated with that apple id.  This allowed people to continue to use the apple id that had all their purchases, and have an @icloud address.  You can sign into any apple services using this address and pretty much ignore the originating non-apple address if you want.  If that originating address is no longer valid... well, that's not really apples fault.  You can maintain it, or create a new non-apple address to change it to (only reason you'd really need to do this is for the sake of rescue emails).

If you don't have an apple id, and wanted to use icloud, you can create an icloud apple id by signing into an icloud enabled device.  This is an apple id in its own right, and therefore cannot be used to change the address of an existing non-apple id.

This is essentially how it works, and is pretty easy to understand.

Now, what you guys are wanting is a new feature, which DOES make sense.  I'm with you guys on this.  You want to be able to remove the non-apple address from your accounts, and just use the @icloud address permanently, without a non-apple address.  After all, new icloud signups can do this...

Anyone wanting this new feature should request it at apple.com/feedback.

We too wish to use our existing @icloud.com as the primary email.  After years of numerous email accounts, consolidation makes good business sense for my wife and I. We just wanted to weigh in on this discussion and add our vote.

This consolidation concept must be happening with phones, too. My Verizon account manager tells us that many are dropping cell phones and going back to a home line... One single home phone. Hmmm...

We vote for the ability to use our existing @icloud.com as the primary email. Please!

Hi I am in the same boat, I originally used my gmail account from my old phone previous email provider, I have now deleted the gmail account and no longer use it.

Now I am forced to continue to use an obsolete email address to log into my Apple account which in my opinion is completely unnecessary.

It only makes sense to sign into icloud.com with your icloud email address and use it as the Apple ID, its absolutely stupid that Apple will not allow you to use their own domain, where is the logic behind that? its just simply frustrating.

I'm in a similar position , I've just been told my current email supplier is cancelling their .co.uk accounts. So sensibly I though I'd use my apple email address for everything. Ironically itunes is the one place it appears I can't use it. Once it's gone will my receipts etv be sent to my secondary email?

I don't get this either. A lot of folks were saying it's due to the danger of losing your icloud.com login information and you won't be able to retrieve the information. But the same can be said about any other web service. That's why Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc have all those double, triple security measures like security questions, alternative email address and whathaveyou.

This is the only reason I never use my iCloud.com email. I don't want to have to tend to too many email address. Since I have to do that with my primary Apple Id, I'm not gonna bother with the icloud.com alternative address. Being on the Apple system everywhere else, I would love to be able to use icloud.com email all the time for reasons of aesthetics and uniformity.

Thanks, just saved me trying to compose feedback.  Just sent off.

Any follow up from Apple on this issue?

Same boat, would like to remove my old gmail account from my Apple ID, as I no longer use gmail.

Hello Guys!

The answer to that is no, you will not be able to use your iCloud email to update any of your existing Apple IDs. The reason for that, as I mentioned earlier, is that emails created in iCloud are already considered Apple IDs. For example if you have a non-working gmail appleID, you can go to appleid.apple.com to update it to a new email (as long as the one that you will used to update it is not own by Apple @icloud.com, @me.com and @mac.com).

To make it simple, the only time that you can use your iCloud Apple ID in the iTunes Store is if you're creating a new account.

As per Apple, it is also not possible to merge two apple ids together. For me this is more convenient because if your entire household is using one Apple ID that means sharing everything including private messages.

The only disadvantage of using multiple Apple Ids is when you also use them all in the iTunes Store. I believe this is something to do with anti-piracy. When you purchase something in the iTunes Store you will need to authorize the item using the iTunes Store account used to purchase it.

just to remove the confusion, an apple ID is NOT an iTunes Store account until you register it in the iTunes Store. And an iTunes Store account is already an Apple ID.

iTunes Store account is an Apple ID

iCLoud account is an Apple ID

Therefore, you cannot update an Apple ID with another Apple ID

Thank you.

Hi -

As per reitermoritz's reply to my comment on the 20th March 2013, I feel s_rafida has again missed the point slightly and is still being misunderstood. Like the other other Apple customers here, we don't want to have 2, 3, 10 or 7 email addresses. We want ONE. Because we had (now in hindsight directly caused this problem) by using a NON-APPLE email intially as the ID and then an @icloud address for the icloud account and email, we are the ones NOT in a position to get rid of the email associated with the ID and move it to the icloud email address. There are fortunate people out there who have set-up new accounts, devices from scratch who were not Apple customers before that have been able to from the very beginning have their icloud address as their Apple ID, and therefore ONE account.

This means that us poor sods have to go through the inconvenince and frankly seamingly unecessary pain to create digital clutter in our lives and be forced to open some unused email account simply to use it as an Apple ID. What an utterly perposterous and cumbersome system.

I think it is ridiculous.

Again, we are weighing in on this important thread...

We do not want our icloud master account tied to an offshore email account anymore. We want to use our icloud account as our MASTER EMAIL ACCOUNT.

Cudos to those in this thread who get that. Thank you for weighing in, too.

However, we are entertaining the idea that it might not matter if our icloud account is tied to an offshore account. What if my offshore account goes out of business? Will that KILL my master icloud account?

Great question, huh?

You can change the non-Apple email address which forms your iCloud login to another non-Apple email address.

Firstly, if you have 'Find My iPhone/iPad/iMac' enabled on any of your devices, turn it off.

Create a new email address, for example  at Yahoo or Gmail, or anywhere convenient (or you can use an existing address as long as it has never been associated with an Apple ID).

Go to http://appleid.apple.com and click 'Manage your Apple ID'. Sign in with the current ID.

Where it says 'Apple ID and primary email address' and gives your current ID email address, click 'edit'.

Enter your new address and click 'Save changes'.

Now you will need to go to each of your devices and sign out in System Preferences (or Settings)>iCloud - 'Sign out' on a Mac, 'Delete this account' on an iOS device (this will not delete the account from the server).

Then sign back in with your new ID. Your iCloud data will disappear from your devices when you sign out, but reappear when you sign back in.

I re-iterate: before you start, turn off 'Find My Mac' (or whatever) or you will need the services of Support.