Can you reuse your old email after deleting your account as primary email to the current account?

Not sure if it is possible or not, I have two apple ID for some reason, I mainly use the one with the old email since it is my first apple ID, however the second one is not been used since I created and I don’t really remember why I created the second ID. Back to today, I don’t use my old email because of some personal reasons, I am planning to delete it after I change the email address that is linked to first apple ID, I did delete the other ID account, but not sure if I can use it again with my main account.


sorry if it is confusing, English is not my first language


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Jan 5, 2025 9:23 PM

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1 reply

Jan 6, 2025 4:53 AM in response to choialien13

I am not understanding exactly what you wish to do. You mention various email addresses and multiple Apple Accounts. Also realize that "primary" can mean an iCloud Mail address.


Read these articles:


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.”


My understanding is you have to change the address on the account using the address currently. You will need a third address to "hold" this account open for 30 days. You should then be able to use that address as the Apple ID for the second account.


The support article Change your Apple Account primary email address - 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 running iOS 18 or newer, read the support article for instructions how to do this.


If you have an older iOS/iPadOS, Apple no longer provides the instructions for that, but here they are:

1. Go to Settings, then tap your name.

2. Tap Sign In & Security.

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

4. Tap the red 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 Account primary email address - Apple Support :

- If you don’t have an iPhone or iPad, the support article says to, “go to  https://account.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.



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Can you reuse your old email after deleting your account as primary email to the current account?

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