Can't change my username to my email address

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Can't change my username to my email address

I am experiencing a problem that looks fairly unique. I've searched all around and haven't found any similar cases.

I have an iTunes account with username albedoa associated with a verified email address which I will refer to as email. I know that iCloud will require a username in email format, so I wanted to switch my username to email. In my account settings, I saw this option:

Make your Apple ID and primary email address one and the same.

Your Apple ID will be easier to remember, and your account will be easier to access and manage.

Change your Apple ID and primary email address to:

email

I clicked the Submit button, and nothing happened. I tried it in both Chrome and Safari, but each time the page would reload and my username would still be shown as albedoa. If I tried to edit the username directly to reflect email, I received the following error:

This email address is already in use or you may already have an Apple ID associated with this email address. Please try again or sign in using your existing Apple ID.

So I made a new account with the username email and associated it to the email address email (the same as the other account). However, I cannot install my purchased apps using that account because they were purchased using my other account. What is going on here? How am I to retain my purchases when iCloud is activated? I don't have a MobileMe account.

Thanks!

Posted on Oct 5, 2011 11:01 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 6, 2011 5:39 AM in response to albedoa

Same problem here. I am sitting on this for 3 hours!

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Answer 2

Oct 7, 2011 8:30 AM in response to alexeyndru

Same problem for me 😠

Also on my iMac it now says my apple id is xx@me.com whereas online it's saying it's xx@mac.com (which is the email I always use) 😕

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Answer 3

djuang1

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Oct 7, 2011 9:50 AM in response to albedoa

I had the same problem. The issue was that I had created another account through Gamecenter and the e-mail/Apple ID was conflicting. Once I changed that account to a different e-mail address and Apple ID I was able to go back to the Manage Apple ID and click on the submit button for 'Make your Apple ID and primary email address one and the same.' and it went through.

This is definitely going to be a headache for a lot of users once iCloud goes live. Users will have to remember to make sure they don't have multiple accounts and if they do, they'll need to make sure the account they use for iCloud doesn't conflict with another account they've created in the past.

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Answer 4

albedoa Author

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Oct 7, 2011 10:58 AM in response to albedoa

For what it's worth, I was able to make the change without a hitch from within iTunes itself. I agree that there will be a lot of headaches very soon!

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Answer 5

morfy50

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Oct 8, 2011 12:17 PM in response to albedoa

I have the same problem! i have a verfied email address on my account but my AppleID is the old school type where it's just a username. I tried changing it to my email address from appleid.apple.com. It gives me the option but it doesn't work, it just reloads the page.

I need my AppleID to be an email address for Find My Phone.

This is going to be a HUGE issue next week when iCloud opens up.

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Answer 6

Oct 12, 2011 12:18 AM in response to morfy50

Yes ive just ran into this issue too. Think this will be a big issue for a lot of users - and it appears that there doesnt seem to be a workaround?

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Answer 7

Oct 12, 2011 4:51 AM in response to albedoa

Same here. A refresh of the Apple ID update screen and nothing else. I wonder how many millions of users will fall into this sink hole?

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Answer 8

Oct 12, 2011 4:56 AM in response to bthathaway369

Changing the email address seems to sort it - not ideal. Thankfully i have an webhosting account so i just created a webmail account using that.

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Answer 9

Oct 12, 2011 5:38 AM in response to carlfrombangor

You can do that as a way to play around with iCloud for a little while, but since you can't merge the new account with the old one, all your iTunes purchases and App purchases get stuck in limbo.

That's not the goal.

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Answer 10

Oct 12, 2011 1:13 PM in response to albedoa

I am having the same problem. I know there was an old id kicking around from seven or eight years ago, but that was with a completely different email address (one of the old @apple.com ones)

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Answer 11

Oct 12, 2011 6:14 PM in response to albedoa

I am having the same issue. appleid.apple.com provides a submit button but appears to do nothing.

Apple's servers appear to be experiencing pretty serious issues as the appleid.apple.com page seems to only load sporadically.

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Answer 12

carwashi

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Oct 12, 2011 7:22 PM in response to albedoa

Same issue for me.

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Answer 13

Oct 12, 2011 7:42 PM in response to albedoa

OK I figured out a workaround. Here are the steps:

1. Go to iforgot.apple.com and retrieve/reset the password for the 'email address' account that you want (xx@foo.com let's say).

2. Once you have the password for the 'email address' account login to appleid.apple.com using the email address login.

3. Change the username/primary email to another email address that you have access too that is different from the email you want your primary AppleID to be.

4. Verify the change from step 3 by clicking on the link in the confirmation email.

5. Login to appleid.apple.com using your primary, non-email address account and click 'edit' next to the Apple ID field and change it to match the email you want.

6. Click Save Changes at the bottom.

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