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Why can't I use my iCloud email address as my Apple ID

When I want to enter my iCloud email address (like foo@icloud.com) as my Apple ID, the system at appleid.apple.com tells me that I can't use an email address with a domain owned by Apple as my Apple ID which I find odd enough. I tried to create a new Apple ID through appleid.apple.com just to see what happens and even then it says that you cannot use an email address with an Apple domain.


It becomes even more odd when you consider that, if I'm not wrong, you can very well create a new Apple ID and use a new @icloud.com email address if you do it with an iPhone.


I can use my iCloud address as the primary email address of my Apple ID account so it's not a huge problem, but it still annoys me a little bit that the name of my Apple ID has to continue being my obsolete Gmail address.


Does anyone have more information on this?

Posted on Oct 15, 2012 8:45 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 24, 2013 9:01 PM

Hi -


As per reitermoritz's reply to my comment on the 20th March 2013, I feel s_rafida has again missed the point slightly and is still being misunderstood. Like the other other Apple customers here, we don't want to have 2, 3, 10 or 7 email addresses. We want ONE. Because we had (now in hindsight directly caused this problem) by using a NON-APPLE email intially as the ID and then an @icloud address for the icloud account and email, we are the ones NOT in a position to get rid of the email associated with the ID and move it to the icloud email address. There are fortunate people out there who have set-up new accounts, devices from scratch who were not Apple customers before that have been able to from the very beginning have their icloud address as their Apple ID, and therefore ONE account.


This means that us poor sods have to go through the inconvenince and frankly seamingly unecessary pain to create digital clutter in our lives and be forced to open some unused email account simply to use it as an Apple ID. What an utterly perposterous and cumbersome system.


I think it is ridiculous.

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May 23, 2017 9:54 AM in response to LACAllen

LACAllen wrote:


The issue is that you can't change from @gmail TO @icloud - NOT EVEN ONE TIME. Yes, there is a change button. Yes, I can change from one gmail to another gmail, or to something different, but I can't set the @icloud account as primary - NOT EVEN ONCE. As gail said: "If you try to edit a non-Apple domain email address to an iCloud email address, it just goes out into the ether. It will not change it."


Read the passage again. If the @gmail address is already an Apple ID, you can't change.

User uploaded file

Where have I said or implied you could?

You said, and I quote:


"So, one can switch the email address associated with their Apple ID from a valid @gmail.com, @hotmail.com email address and so on, to an @icloud.com one time"


The post you said that in is linked here.

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Mar 17, 2013 4:09 PM in response to reitermoritz

FYI: an email address that ends in @icloud.com can be used as an Apple ID and you don't need to register them in http://appleid.apple.com because it is already an Apple ID. The article below will help you on how you can use an email that ends in @icloud.com to make purchases.


http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4895


Also, it is not possible to use an email address that ends in @icloud.com to update your existing Apple ID (example: myID@yahoo.com, myID@gmail.com) simply because you cannot use an Apple ID to update another Apple ID.


Love Y'all...

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Nov 25, 2013 4:30 AM in response to mswcpt

I realize that, but obviously it's not a problem I can solve. You can create a new Apple ID and make it a new iCloud address, but you can't make the iCloud address belonging to an existing Apple ID into the login for that ID, and I'm afraid that's an absolute.


If you want to complain to Apple about this you can send feedback at http://www.apple.com/feedback/icloud.html. You won't get a response but your feedback will be read.

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Nov 25, 2013 6:17 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Roger, you say: "I realize that, but obviously it's not a problem I can solve." I know that you can't. But why waste your and my time offering solutions to a different problems no one asked for? It's not helpful, it's a red herring, it's annoying and it already was when you did the same thing in another thread about the issue (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4677439?answerId=21936466022#21936466022). You refuse to acknowledge the point people here are complaining about. That's fine, you do not have to acknowledge anything, but please stop acting as if you could be helpful here.

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Nov 25, 2013 9:02 AM in response to Matty Hunt

Matty Hunt wrote:


"We want our MASTER icloud ID to be an @icloud.com address"

I'm a little reluctant to post what follows because it's bound to give someone indigestion. However, may I just offer something for consideration.


There are two serious disadvantages to having the same email address for the login and as the actual iCloud address.


1. If there is no other email address associated with an iCloud account and something goes wrong with it - it gets corrupted, for example, or you forget the password - Apple can only communicate with you through an address you no longer have access to.


2. If the login is the same as the publicly known email address, anyone can lock you out of your account - either maliciously or because they are a twerp who thinks they own your address (which sounds bizarre but does happen) simply by logging in three times with the wrong password. They you are forced to change your password in the Apple ID page and on all your devices. Then they do it again. And so on. This happened quite a lot in the days of MobileMe when all logins were the account address.


You may well feel that these disadvantages do not outweight the convenience of using the account address as the login, in which case posting on the feedback page at http://www.apple.com/feedback/icloud.html will bring your comment to Apple's direct attention.

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Nov 25, 2013 9:09 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

Roger, again, you are completely missing the point and you posted the exact same babble in the other thread on this issue (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4677439?answerId=21936466022#21936466022) and were already proved wrong there. You do not have to contribute anything to the issue, so why can't you just leave it there?


I am interested in the development in this case and I don't want to miss news from someone who actually has to contribute relevant information. So I do want to keep this thread in my email notifications. Your stubbornly ignorant non-contributions just keep stealing my time.

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Mar 15, 2014 2:33 AM in response to ba.01

You can create an ICLOUD Apple ID when you sign up for an Apple ID in your enabled iCloud device for the first time.


No you can't. An iCloud account can only be created from an existing AppleID which is already created with a non-Apple email address. Only after creating an iCloud account can you then add an "@icloud.com" email address for your iCloud account.


Read: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4436


Apple won't allow you to create an AppleID using an email address from any Apple-owned domain.

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Mar 15, 2014 3:06 AM in response to dU2mDUifydkRa0E9ic5A

Actually it does appear to be possible to set the @icloud.com address as the ID if you do so when you first create the account - see Imp68's post here:


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5112194?answerId=22283348022#22283348022


However if the ID is already a non-Apple address then you can't change it to the @icloud.com address, and as said above whatever the ID is you can't move an address from one account to another.

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Mar 15, 2014 3:15 AM in response to Imp68

I'm just going on the information provided by Apple in their current support articles, and in the info provided when you create an AppleID here. Yet more confusion from Apple regarding AppleIDs!


So, is this option only available Mac users? Or new in Mavericks? Or also to Windows users with the iCloud Control Panel and iOS devices?

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Oct 9, 2014 4:22 AM in response to Ski22

That address is also your recovery address, in case of the iCloud address failing instructions will be sent to the alternate, not much use if it is the same address really.


'Primary' is a figment of your imagination, whichever address you choose to use is the 'Primary' (unless receiving emails from Apple is your 'Primary' use)


But, as you clearly feel different, tell Apple: Apple Feedback

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Oct 9, 2014 4:40 AM in response to Csound1

Csound1 wrote:


That address is also your recovery address, in case of the iCloud address failing instructions will be sent to the alternate, not much use if it is the same address really.


'Primary' is a figment of your imagination, whichever address you choose to use is the 'Primary' (unless receiving emails from Apple is your 'Primary' use)


But, as you clearly feel different, tell Apple: Apple Feedback

Sorry, but you are still not understanding the issue. I suggest you read through this thread from the beginning. The 'Primary' is NOT my figment of my imagination. What I mean by primary (which is also Apple's term) is the email address Apple uses to send you correspondence on Apple purchases or any other correspondence from Apple. Also, Apple lets you setup a alternate email address for recovery issues. But Apple will not let you setup an iCloud email address as a primary email address for correspondence with Apple. It has to be a 3rd party email address. Just plan silly!!!

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Oct 9, 2014 7:56 PM in response to Matthew Palm

Actually, I've had it since I purchased my iPhone 4 in 2010....


When iCloud first came out, and the Mobile Me service was being eliminated, @me.com users had the option to set up the iCloud account using their @me.com address which then reactivated it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this doesn't ever change.... 😐 I really like my @me.com address - it is easy to remember, and seems to be more seamless with iCloud.com....


I would suggest that the more people who provide their feedback to Apple about this, the better:


Apple - Feedback


Cheers,


GB

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Apr 27, 2015 11:53 PM in response to gail from maine

Unless anything has changed since this was reported some time back, you can create a new Apple ID which is also the @icloud.com address provided you do so from the iCloud preference pane as detailed in this post:


Re: I wish to transfer my Apple ID to a new iCloud account


You cannot use an existing @icloud.com address. As said above, if you sign into iTunes with the new ID your purchases will not be transferred: there is nothing to stop you signing into iCloud with the new ID and iTunes with the old ID.


If you open an iCloud account using the @icloud.com address as the ID/login then you need to provide a non-Apple address as the 'rescue' address otherwise if something goes wrong and you are unable to access the account Apple will not be able to contact you.

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May 5, 2015 11:04 AM in response to ARB-82

Someone found out how to change the primary email address so that all coms go to that one (even tho you still can change your Apple ID). That means you will not have to create rules to forward apple emails etc:

Link to thread:

Change my "Apple ID and Primary Email Address" to my @me.com address

Summary below:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I figured out how to at least change my PRIMARY EMAIL to my @me account, so that I don't get receipts and other communications at an old, unused non-Apple email address! Try this:


1) Use your browser to go to the Apple Store website. In the USA, it is: http://store.apple.com/us or http://store.apple.com/uk for the UK.

2) Hover on ACCOUNT on the upper right, then scroll down and click on ACCOUNT HOME PAGE

3) Click on CHANGE YOUR DEFAULT SHIPPING OR BILLING INFO down on the left

4) Log in with your Apple ID and password

5) Click EDIT under PAYMENT INFORMATION

6) Enter your preferred email address where your old, defunct email address appears

7) Click SAVE


On 6), you can use xxxxx@me.com. If it tells you this is already in use, then just use your xxxxx@icloud.com and it should work.

Hope this helps.

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Why can't I use my iCloud email address as my Apple ID

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