Changing Apple ID email

To me it is sounding like you created a new account instead of simply changing the address on the old one. If that is indeed the case, you will need yet another email address for the ID to which you need to change (not create a new account). You should have changed it, not created a new account, and now that you have used that new address as an Apple ID once, Apple won't let you change an account to it.

The support article Change your Apple ID - Apple Support outlines various methods for changing the email address (Apple ID) you use for your Apple Account while retaining everything in your account.

If you have an iPhone or iPad:

1. Go to Settings, then tap your name.

2. Tap Sign In & Security.

3. Next to Email & Phone Numbers, tap Edit.

4. Tap the Remove button next to the email address, then tap Delete.

5. Tap Choose Another Email Address and enter your device passcode if asked.

6. Enter the new email address, then tap Continue.

7. Enter the verification code that was sent to your new email address. Read this support article to learn what to do if you didn’t get the email —> If you didn't receive your verification or reset email - Apple Support

8. If you encounter issues with certain services after doing this, this outdated support article may still have useful suggestions --> What to do after you change your Apple ID or password - Apple Support

Refer to the support article Change your Apple ID - Apple Support :

- If you don’t have an iPhone or iPad, the support article says to, “go to https://appleid.apple.com and sign in. Then follow the onscreen instructions to change the email address associated with your Apple ID.”

- For general information, and other issues such as changes or addresses not being accepted.

- Note a recent change to the article where you can now change the email address without having to have access to your old email account.

How to change your Apple ID email address online:

1. Go to https://appleid.apple.com and sign in.

2. In the Sign-In and Security section, choose Apple ID.

3. Enter the email address that you want to use as your Apple ID.

4. Choose Change Apple ID.

5. If you changed your Apple ID to a third-party email address, check your old ID email for a verification code, then enter the code. Learn what to do if you didn't get the email. --> If you didn't receive your verification or reset email - Apple Support

6. If you use services like iCloud or Messages to share with friends and colleagues, sign in to those services with your updated Apple ID, as indicated in this support article —> What to do after you change your Apple ID or password - Apple Support

Yes, I know exactly the situation you are in.

Apple is somewhat convoluted about email address re-use: From: Change your Apple ID - Apple Support

“Keep in mind that you can't use an email address that's already in use by another Apple ID.”

"If you see a message that the email address you want to use isn't available or is already in use, check that you or a family member aren't already using that email address with a different Apple ID. If a family member is using that email address, remove it from their account then try to use it."

And:

Although this next section discusses email address re-use in the context of deleting an account, it supports observations frequently posted on this forum about never being able to re-use an email address as an Apple ID once used previously as an Apple ID:

From: How to delete your Apple ID account - Apple Support

"Can I use the primary email address for my deleted Apple ID account to create a new Apple ID or with another existing Apple ID account?

No, once your Apple ID is deleted, you can't use the email address that you used with it to create a new Apple ID. In addition, you can't use that email address with another existing Apple ID except as a rescue [notification] email. Also, if your primary Apple ID email address is with a Custom Email Domain, it can never be reused to create an Apple ID after your Apple ID is deleted, even if the domain ownership changes."

* I take that to mean you can use the address as a notification address, but the reverse–using a notification email address as an Apple ID–is not possible.

So it sounds to me like you will need an email address Apple hasn't seen before. The university is offering alternative accounts, though they are pretty barebones and in some regards worse than the standard gmail account (no Drive, a lot of settings removed, reduced storage from 15GB to 5)). The problem is, there's about 3 billion gmail addresses already so finding something nice and simple like the address I have now is impossible. I had mine since 1991 and was able to set it to just my last name. The U isn't even allowing mail to be forwarded from the old accounts to the new so we have notify decades of contacts.

Forgot password

the old email was in the top banner but only the new email addy with Apple ID associated with it.

I'm a bit confused by that. You should only be seeing a single email address. I don't know how it even could be showing two. The interface isn't designed to show more than just one.

Rellfam wrote:

Forgot password

Please start your own topic with your question, Reallfram. We're kind of busy on this one trying to help another user.

Glad you seem to have gotten it all sorted out. Sometimes it takes time for changes done on one device to appear on another because they all have to transmit via Apple's servers.