Having trouble changing my Apple ID - Advice Please

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Level 1

42 points

Having trouble changing my Apple ID - Advice Please

I am based in the UK. My apple ID is currently a legacy ntlworld.com email address which was transferred to Virgin Media some years ago. I am moving soon and will be unable to keep my ntlworld address as my new property is not served by Virgin Media. I thought it would be a simple matter to change my ID to my iCloud email address but when I try, I get an error message "You can only add the @icloud.com address that is already on file in your account." What could this be? As far as I know I only have one iCloud address. I have tried to change my Apple ID to my gmail email address, but it won't let me do that either because apparently "Your new Apple ID cannot be the same as your notification email address. Choose a different email address." Trouble is, I'm running out of email addresses. Can anyone offer any suggestions as to what I'm doing wrong. At the moment all I can think of doing is creating a second gmail address to use solely as my Apple ID.

Posted on Jan 10, 2022 9:39 AM

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Answer 1

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Eric Root

Level 10

684,015 points

Jan 10, 2022 10:21 AM in response to nhojmselkcip

You have to use the iCloud address that is associated with your Apple ID. An iCloud address that isn't listed under your Apple ID is a different Apple ID. Apple IDs can't be merged.

For your existing gmail address, have you logged into your Apple ID to see if the address shows under Reachable At, as a Rescue email address, or as a Notification email address? If it is listed, you can remove/replace the email address.

Apple ID - Manage

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 as an Apple ID email address 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 from somewhere like Gmail, AOL or Yahoo to use as your Apple ID or you can try waiting 30 days to see if that works.

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Answer 2

nhojmselkcip Author

Level 1

42 points

Jan 10, 2022 10:35 AM in response to Eric Root

Hi Eric, thanks for your reply. When I look at my Apple ID, I see the ntlworld.com address as my Apple ID and cannot be changed. Below it are another iCloud email address and a .me address. They are very old addresses, probably created when I first came to apple years ago. I've no idea what the passwords are or how to access them. When I hover over the question mark next to them I'm told they are an alias go my apple ID. Below that, I see my primary iCloud address (the one I actually want to use as my apple id) and my gmail address. Both of these seem to have the option to remove them (although I haven't dared to try that). My gmail address is being used as my notification address.

If i were to delete my 'primary' iCloud address (again the one I want to use as my apple ID) would that then let me use it as my new Apple ID? Thanks again for your time.

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,015 points

Jan 10, 2022 11:08 AM in response to nhojmselkcip

You are welcome.

The password should be the same as the Apple ID password you are using now for the another iCloud email address and a .me address.

If you delete the address you should be able to use it as a new Apple ID. 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 as an Apple ID email address 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 from somewhere like AOL or Yahoo to use as your Apple ID or you can try waiting 30 days to see if that works.

Based on what I have read, I suggest you leave your Apple ID email address as a 3rd party email address because you have more flexibility if you need to change the email address. For example, if the Apple ID got compromised, you can change it to another address. I also have read of many people who were locked out of their accounts when they forgot their password. Since the recovery email address is the @iCloud email address, if you forget your password, you also can't access your email to get emails from Apple to recover your account. You can set a rescue email address, but for some people, this hasn't worked.

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Having trouble changing my Apple ID - Advice Please

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