- The option to switch to another @gmail.com is already available.
- It appears to be regionally limited for now.
- You will still be able to use your existing email address.
For as long as Gmail has been around – and now for over 20 years – the primary email address you get when you first open an account has been the one you've had to stick with. Now it seems the situation is changing.
As I noticed Google Pixel Hub Telegram group (via 9to5Google), there have been changes in the relevant support page in the official reference documentation for Google Accounts that say you can set a new @gmail.com email address.
However, there are some caveats here: Firstly, the updated help instructions are currently only displayed in Hindi. Second, the page says that the new feature is “rolling out gradually to all users, so this option may not be available to you right now.”
Given both of these caveats and the lack of other official comments, it appears that Google is not fully committed to this move at this time. However, it looks like there's a good chance you'll soon be able to get yourself a new Gmail address without having to set up a whole new Google account at the same time.
Fine print
According to the support document, if you change one @gmail.com address to another, the old email address will remain an alias. You'll still be able to send and receive emails from your old address, and you'll still be able to sign in to related apps and sites (such as Google Maps or YouTube) with your old or new address.
If you want, you can even revert to using your old address as the primary address for your account. However, once the new @gmail.com address is set as your primary address, you will not be able to assign another new one for 12 months.
The primary @gmail.com for each Google account can be changed a total of three times – leaving you with four @gmail.com addresses and aliases – so it's worth taking some time to think about any new addresses you set up.
If you set up a new email address, the old one won't be able to be used by anyone else and will still appear in some places (like old Google Calendar events). Your email address can be changed through your Google account page – but it’s not showing up for me yet.
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