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User profile for user: ajwilsonkiwi
ajwilsonkiwi Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Can't change Apple ID

Hi all, so I want to do something supposedly really simple: Disassociate the old email address which is used for my Apple ID, and rename my Apple ID to be my new email address.


However - when I try to do this, whether on the website or my devices, I get the error message, "Your new Apple ID cannot be the same as your notification email address. Choose a different email address."


At first I thought this was because I already had the new email address entered as a contact address. But deleting it does not solve the problem. I cannot find an option anywhere for the "notification email address", so presumably this is referring to the contact address. And I am still receiving emails from Apple at the old address, which is a problem, because it may have been compromised and I want to close it permanently.


Anyone know how to solve this without having to contact support??? Thanks so much in advance for any tips!


Anna

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Apr 7, 2021 6:24 PM

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User profile for user: Eric Root
Eric Root
User level: Level 10
684,615 points

Posted on Apr 7, 2021 6:43 PM

Apple hasn’t published any guidance for using an address again. Normally, if your e-mail address was associated with an ID in any way, for example as a Notification email address or a Rescue e-mail address, then it can't be reused with another Apple ID for approximately one year. I have also seen posts that stated Apple told them there was a 30 day waiting period before the address could be used again.  You will need to get another e-mail address to use as your Apple ID or you can try waiting 30 days to see if that works.

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User profile for user: Eric Root
Eric Root
User level: Level 10
684,615 points

Apr 7, 2021 6:43 PM in response to ajwilsonkiwi

Apple hasn’t published any guidance for using an address again. Normally, if your e-mail address was associated with an ID in any way, for example as a Notification email address or a Rescue e-mail address, then it can't be reused with another Apple ID for approximately one year. I have also seen posts that stated Apple told them there was a 30 day waiting period before the address could be used again.  You will need to get another e-mail address to use as your Apple ID or you can try waiting 30 days to see if that works.

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User profile for user: ajwilsonkiwi
ajwilsonkiwi Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Apr 12, 2021 2:35 AM in response to Eric Root

Thanks so much Eric Root, that was very helpful! I will try the 30 day waiting period. My goodness, if any Apple staff see this, I really hope the issue can be fixed, because it is so crazy!! It is common for people to change primary email addresses, and of course that might often be to a secondary address they already had connected to their account... which should be encouraged rather than them changing to a random new address they are forced set up just for this purpose. Such an address is likely to have lesser security, or to be less frequently checked.

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Can't change Apple ID

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