How to change your email address the easy way: Follow these simple steps

Whether you’re transitioning away from a silly or provocative email address as you enter the professional world or you just crave a change, learn how to switch to a new email address with ease.

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Change your email address

If you need to change your email address because the name is too juvenile—or if some other issue brought you here—the headaches that come along with changing your email address are many. After all, you have to update everyone (friends, family, banks, subscription services, and beyond!) with your new primary address.

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So, you might wonder, “Can I change my email address without losing everything?” If you use Outlook, you’re in luck. But if you don’t, all is not lost. Read on to learn how to change your email address in Microsoft Outlook as well as other popular providers like Gmail and Yahoo.

How to change your Outlook email address

Microsoft Outlook offers a unique feature that lets you change your email address without setting up a new account or implementing email forwarding. The process of changing your Outlook email address is easy. Simply create an alias that links your new email address to the old one. By doing this, all your contacts and settings will stay the same without migrating to a new account.

How to create an Outlook alias:

Log into your Microsoft account.
Select Your info on the top navigation bar.
Navigate down to the Account info section and select Edit account info on the right side of the screen.
In the section labeled Account alias, select Add email.
Create a new Outlook email address or add an existing email address as your Microsoft account alias. Whichever you choose will be your new primary email address.

Over-the-shoulder view of a man seated at wooden conference-room table containing a glass of water, pencil and notepad, as he types on open tablet.

“How can I change my email address without losing everything?” If you use Outlook, you’re in luck. But if you don’t, all is not lost.

How to change your email address in Gmail

Gmail has a variety of features that let you customize your email experience. However, you can’t change your email address once you’ve created it. Unfortunately, you’re stuck with the email address as long as you continue to use it. Instead of changing your primary email’s name, create an entirely new Gmail address with your preferred name.

Once you’ve done that, work around the name change limitation by setting up email forwarding—a free service in all Gmail accounts. Gmail allows you to set up as many email addresses as you’d like for whatever purpose you see fit. Email forwarding makes it easy to manage each email from a single address without having to hop from one account to another.

How to set up email forwarding in Gmail:

Log into your Gmail account. Select the gear icon in the upper-right corner of your window.
Select See all settings from the dropdown menu.
Along the top navigation bar, select the tab that reads Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
Locate the top section labelled Forwarding.
Select Add a forwarding address.
Enter your email address and select Next.
Choose Forward a copy of incoming mail to.
Select the down arrow to open a dropdown menu and select the new email address you want to forward to.
Select the option to the right of your old email address that specifies how you would like Gmail to handle your emails. Your options include deleting emails, archiving emails, leaving them as unread, or marking them as read.
Choose Save Changes before exiting.
You may also want to transfer your contact list by exporting it as a CSV file and importing it into your new email.

How to change your email address in Yahoo

Once you’ve set up your Yahoo email address, you’ve basically made your bed and have to lie in it. The only things Yahoo allows you to update are personal information like your name, nickname, gender, and birthday. Should you choose to create an entirely new Yahoo email address, you can import your contact list by following the same steps as Gmail.

Another option: Yahoo Mail Plus, a paid service, allows you to forward emails to a new address. This can save you from having to create an entirely new Yahoo email address and maintain multiple accounts.

So, there you have it. While changing your primary email address comes with some challenges, there are at least a few options or workarounds that make things simpler. Check out other email organizing hacks, like how to create eye-catching signatures, when to use encryption, how to send emails as texts, how to manage spam, and more. Try Outlook today for a free email and calendar software that lets you manage everything in one place.