Selecting a "Name" for Your New Apple Account - A few pitfalls

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Selecting a "Name" for Your New Apple Account - A few pitfalls

When setting up an Apple Account (formerly called an "Apple ID"), you can run into an issue with the "name" used for the account; it would be great if Apple could enhance its instructions/process to account for this.

First, there should be an easy way to search to see if the "name" you intend to use is already in use as either the primary Apple ID or an alias; without this, you have to create an email with another service with the name you would like, then try to create an Apple Account - rinse/repeat (I've gone through 6 options so far...all are "in use" so now i have a bunch of unneeded email addresses.

Also, while I am not sure if this is true, as I found it on a forum, I found that "once used either as the primary name/address OR an alias/referred name for an Apple Account, that name cannot be reused for an Apple Account until a year after it is deleted from an Apple Account. So, for people attempting to consolidate accounts or move from an old one, this tidbit should be easy to find...and part of the "notifications" when you take any action to delete an account or alias.

Cheers

Posted on Nov 17, 2024 11:57 AM

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Limnos

Level 10

427,031 points

Nov 17, 2024 6:50 PM in response to Skidrow

I could see the ability to search by name as a potential privacy violation.

Not being able to re-use an email address was very recently changed after many years. How long you have to wait depends upon the situation:

Change your Apple Account primary email address - Apple Support

- If you remove an email address from your Apple Account, it can’t be associated with another Apple Account for 30 days for security reasons.

If you can’t change your Apple Account primary email address

- If you try to change your Apple Account to an @icloud.com email address that was created within the last 30 days, you will be asked to try again later.

- 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 Account. If a family member is using that email address, remove it from their account, then try to use it.

From: How to delete your Apple Account - Apple Support

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

No, once your Apple Account is deleted, you can’t use the email address that you used with it to create a new Apple Account for as long as Apple retains the one-way hash of the email address. For third-party (non-Apple) domain accounts, the one-way hash is deleted after six years. For other accounts, this is retained according to Apple's retention policy, which is reviewed regularly. In addition, you can’t use that email address with another existing Apple Account except as a rescue email. Also, if your primary Apple Account email address is with a Custom Email Domain, it can never be reused to create an Apple Account after your Apple Account is deleted, even if the domain ownership changes.”

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