Chris Dondanville

Q: Can I merge 2 Apple IDs?

Apple is recommending that we use 1 Apple ID for iCloud and Purchases.  I want to do that.  However I have 2 IDs now.  An Apple ID that I use for iTunes which is not an email address.  The second ID is my .mac/MobileMe address (which is an email address, or 2 addresses, technically.)  I would like to continue with my iTunes ID, since all my purchases are tied to that one.  How can I tie that ID to my MobileMe and hence iCloud.  I have 7 more months of iCloud free that I will lose if I just bail on the .me address.

 

I am confused here.

 

Chris

Posted on Oct 12, 2011 4:52 PM

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Q: Can I merge 2 Apple IDs?

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  • by merman93,Helpful

    merman93 merman93 Feb 23, 2014 1:15 PM in response to Picador
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Apple TV
    Feb 23, 2014 1:15 PM in response to Picador

    I received a year of "no charge" 20 GB of icloud due to prepaying for several years of mobile me service. It dropped to 5 gb recently so I upgraded. However, I think I upgraded the wrong Apple ID account, as all on the thread are aware that it is easy to open a second one by mistake. I am in a situation now where it appears I have iTunes Match with 95% of my music on one Apple ID, (without the email added to the id name), and 15 gbs of cloud storage for the pictures, numbers/pages documents, home videos, etc for another Apple ID,( exactly the same except the addition of @me.com).

     

    Somehow I was unaware of this as I had selected the same password for both. Recently I was forced to change the password, and i had to have 1 uppercase, and at least 1 number etc. and couldn't use the one I used previously. When I decided to upgrade the cloud storage, I was confused that I kept failing to log in, and checking and double checking that I knew this new password. I tried the old one for kicks, and it took it. It wasn't until I see this thread that I realized

    I have two accounts, and as I said, most purchases on one, and the cloud storage upgrade on another.

     

    At least my Apple TV allows me to have both accounts available for imatch, etc.

  • by trolt,Helpful

    trolt trolt Mar 26, 2014 9:41 AM in response to Chris Dondanville
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 26, 2014 9:41 AM in response to Chris Dondanville

    Very frustrated here and same issues as above. As a long-time Mac user, I too have MULTIPLE ids for various reasons. I'm ****** that music I LEGALLY purchased prior to 2009 is tied to a mac.com address that I can no longer access, and I don't have the password anymore so I can't burn copies of them (due to said lack of password). With the evolution of Apple, and technology, and not realizing that my purchases were tied to an email address that is now defunct, and devices that have been wiped and sold, I feel like my hands are tied.

     

    Suggestions for retrieval?

  • by LesMikesell,Helpful

    LesMikesell LesMikesell Mar 26, 2014 9:52 AM in response to trolt
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 26, 2014 9:52 AM in response to trolt

    I think all you can do is learn the lesson that you aren't really purchasing something as long as someone else controls access to it. 

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Mar 26, 2014 1:26 PM in response to trolt
    Level 7 (26,129 points)
    iCloud
    Mar 26, 2014 1:26 PM in response to trolt

    Go to Manage your Apple ID, click on Reset Password, and type in your old @mac.com Apple ID in the Apple ID field:

     

    Apple - My Apple ID

     

    It will ask you to answer your security questions. If you can't remember the answers to them, then you can contact Apple Support and have them reset them for you. Then, once you are able to get into the Apple ID account that goes with that old email, update your password to match whatever password you are using on your current Apple ID:

     

    APPLE ID SECURITY CONTACT NUMBERS

     

     

    Also, make sure you have authorized your computer with each of the IDs signed onto iTunes.

     

    Now, you have access to purchsed items for both IDs in the same iTunes library, and when you need to provide a password for doing App and other updates, you will type in the same password regardless of which ID is displaying for the update.

     

    Apple IDs don't go away, so even if you have an Apple ID that is using a defunct email address, you can still access it, and the items that were purchased under it.

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Mar 26, 2014 1:27 PM in response to LesMikesell
    Level 7 (26,129 points)
    iCloud
    Mar 26, 2014 1:27 PM in response to LesMikesell

    Hogwash...if you understand how to manage your own ID, then you know how to gain access to any purchases you have ever made (unless they are no longer available in the iTunes store - which is something Apple has no control over....that's why we recommend backups....)

     

    GB

  • by trolt,

    trolt trolt Mar 26, 2014 1:43 PM in response to gail from maine
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 26, 2014 1:43 PM in response to gail from maine

    gail from maine,

    I did speak to Apple support and they were unable to reset the password question. They were of little help really and basically told me that it was hopeless to retrieve the songs unless I know the password since the account I had originally set up 7 years ago did not have an alternate email address (the email I provided was a Mac.com account). Basically SOL unless by some miracle I remember the password.

  • by LesMikesell,

    LesMikesell LesMikesell Mar 26, 2014 1:49 PM in response to gail from maine
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 26, 2014 1:49 PM in response to gail from maine

    In my case I haven't really lost access.  I just want to shift things from an appleid that is not an email address to a different, existing appleid that is my email address - because apple no longer likes the old appleids that they permitted earlier.  But I can't.  And there is no way to split/merge ownership as anyone with a family knows will inevitably be needed.

  • by dancingrabbit,

    dancingrabbit dancingrabbit May 19, 2014 11:26 AM in response to T. Allen Quinn
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 19, 2014 11:26 AM in response to T. Allen Quinn

    I am an older person not all that conversant in operating in the digital world.  But  to me it is disengenous on the sellers part that music I purchased is unplayable because I have replaced a pc etc.  They tell me I have no license. Had I been sufficently sophisticated and worldly enough to know my hard drive would fail, I could have located my licenses and saved them on a back-up device.  There might be some workarounds but I suspect the main motivation is to prevent theft of music that takes precendence over straight forward retension of rights.  (And the notion of selling the media twice to the same purchaser)  It's akin to denying many the right to vote under the guise of preventing voter fraud.

  • by dancingrabbit,

    dancingrabbit dancingrabbit May 19, 2014 11:29 AM in response to LesMikesell
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 19, 2014 11:29 AM in response to LesMikesell

    Yes, you are viewing it, not personally owning a copy.  This is progress?

  • by Jillc23,

    Jillc23 Jillc23 Jul 8, 2015 5:54 AM in response to illinifan29
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 8, 2015 5:54 AM in response to illinifan29

    Absolutely! Totally agree - this ***** SO much!

  • by daveyates,

    daveyates daveyates Aug 27, 2015 5:34 AM in response to Chris Dondanville
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 27, 2015 5:34 AM in response to Chris Dondanville

    This is going to haunt Apple. Similarly, I have loads of music, I have some how had several Apple IDs, I don't know how, but it seems they have sprung up some how. I recently was on the phone as Aplle support managed to wipe 3500 songs, I saw them disappear in front of my eyes with a logout-login action. They were very 'regretful' and arranged for a call to be made to me. lots of fiddling about, but I never got the stuff back. The vast majority of it was from my old music collection originally bought on disc or tape and converted to MO3.  I don't have many of the originals any more, some of the stuff was actually quite rare as well.

     

    So that was me getting my fingers burned. Music is different to software. I can get my head around paying a sub for software. But music is mine. As a kid I bought vinyl and played it as often as I wanted ...and so it went all the way up to CDs and even MP3 files on a drive. But now, I feel that I have had my record collection stolen and rented back to me. ...or in my case lost by the ******* who stole it.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Aug 27, 2015 7:22 AM in response to daveyates
    Level 7 (26,129 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 27, 2015 7:22 AM in response to daveyates

    This is why you should be backing up your hard drive on a regular basis. If your hard drive crashed you'd be in the same predicament. If your computer was stolen you'd be in the same predicament. If your computer was run over you'd be in the same predicament. Back up, back up, back up. There is no excuse for not doing so if you value your data.

     

    GB

  • by jljboucher,

    jljboucher jljboucher Mar 17, 2016 3:15 PM in response to Chris Dondanville
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 3:15 PM in response to Chris Dondanville

    For me, my 1st account kept getting hacked so I made a separate one. I'm not sure why it is so difficult to merge into one account. You can transfer money easier than you iTunes music, it ridiculous, and my iTunes account is more susceptible to fraud!!!! After 10 years as a PAYING and faithful customer this is horrible service!

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Mar 17, 2016 7:59 PM in response to jljboucher
    Level 7 (26,129 points)
    iCloud
    Mar 17, 2016 7:59 PM in response to jljboucher

    Tell it to Apple: Apple - Feedback

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by paulysea,

    paulysea paulysea Jul 4, 2016 2:08 AM in response to merman93
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Jul 4, 2016 2:08 AM in response to merman93

    Merman93? Sorry, accidentally hit the button "Helpful" button not meaning to, now I'm thinking all others have done the same. This is the worst goddamm answer I've ever come across in a support blog. The only thing confusing about how many times you used the word confusing is how the heck you filled two long paragraphs w/ gibberish, skirting the issue, answering nothing, complaining about the password system, find a way to include your Apple TV, and nothing. You PROVIDING NO ANSWER! YOU FINISHED W/ "AT LEAST MY APPLE TV LETS ME... AGAIN WHO CARES! NOT PART OF ORIGINAL QUESTION. YET 13 PEOPLE FOUND THIS HELPFUL? HOW? TRY SHORT, CONCISE, ACCURATE. NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR DETAILED DILEMA W/ ONEDRIVE.

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