Move iCloud to Separate AppleID

Question

Move iCloud to Separate AppleID

I have long had a separate AppleID for iTunes and one for iCloud. As the iCloud account has it's own AppleID, I cannot use that email address for my primary iTunes Apple ID.

I am exploring options for having a single AppleID for both, retaining both iTunes purchases and iCloud email/settings/etc. Here's the basic setup:

AppleID A iTunes (third-party email address)

Lots of purchases

AppleID B iCloud (@mac.com email address)

No purchases

iCloud Calendars, Photos, Messages, etc.

I spoke to an Apple tech, who said that the following should be possible:

Have a Senior Tech with Apple delete the AppleID B account, and redirect the iCloud account to be associated with the AppleID A account (as all iCloud accounts must be associated with an AppleID). Sign out all iCloud accounts and sign in using AppleID A; choose to merge data when presented.

Then, I'm down to an iCloud account associated with my single/primary AppleID A. At this point, using newer account options, I should be able to make my iCloud email address the login for the AppleID A account.

When complete, I've got my iCloud email address that is used to login to iCloud and iTunes, retaining all of my iTunes purchases.

This sounds ideal, but I'm concerned about whether this is truly feasible. I was cautious about having an Apple tech do this while I was on the phone, so I wanted to run it by you fine community members first. Thoughts? Concerns? Was the Apple tech not fully understanding and I got bad info? Anyone done this?

-Dan

Posted on Nov 18, 2017 11:46 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

148,321 points

Nov 18, 2017 12:19 PM in response to Daniel Perez1

I'm sorry that I can't offer any advice here, but I have been led to believe that only Apple can combine or delete Apple ID accounts.

Interestingly, I have the exact situation with a pair of Apple IDs as you do. At this point, I am not actually interested in getting them combined, but would be very interested if you are successful with Apple's help and/or with any details on what the steps you had to go through to do so.

Reply

Answer 2

LACAllen

Level 8

43,410 points

Nov 18, 2017 1:12 PM in response to Tesserax

I have been led to believe that only Apple can delete Apple ID accounts.

This is possible from Apple Support on request.

I have been led to believe that only Apple can combine Apple ID accounts.

This is not.

Reply

Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

148,321 points

Nov 18, 2017 7:02 PM in response to LACAllen

Thanks LACAllen for the clarification. Another OP had made a recent post about their attempt to get their IDs combined and was indicating that they were working with a higher support level. They haven’t updated the results of that so I didn’t know if they were successful or not.

Reply

Answer 4

LACAllen

Level 8

43,410 points

Nov 18, 2017 7:22 PM in response to Tesserax

Yep. The likely context was using Family Sharing to "combine" 2 Apple IDs worth of content.

None of the major online content providers, Google, Microsoft, Sony etc. will merge accounts. Legal minefield I would guess for little to no upside for the provider. Imagine the custody battles over iTunes purchases?

Reply

Answer 5

Nov 18, 2017 8:26 PM in response to Daniel Perez1

To clarify, as there seems to be some confusion: I am not attempting to "merge" accounts in the sense often discussed. I understand that merging purchases from two accounts would not be viable, due to both technical and likely legal challenges. I don't want that.

I want to use my iCloud email address on my AppleID. But, the iCloud address has it's own AppleID. The possible solution presented is to DELETE the second AppleID. Eliminate all purchases (there are none), etc. The dedicated AppleID lost to the world and gone forever. Then, the iCloud email address would be free to be assigned to my primary AppleID which has all of my purchases.

In the end, I've associated my iCloud email with my AppleID. That's all I'm trying to do.

-Dan

Reply

Answer 6

Eric Root

Level 10

684,027 points

Nov 19, 2017 6:38 AM in response to Daniel Perez1

See if this article helps.

Apple ID Name Change

Apple ID email address or password - What to do after you change I suggest doing this before you change your Apple ID or password.

Reply