How can I change my e-mail address?
Question
How can I change my e-mail address?
Answer
Like a home or office address, you cannot change it and automatically have all new e-mails delivered to that new address automatically. However, there are several things that can be done to help minimize and prevent any lost e-mails as listed below.
Mass e-mail new address to friends and family
Our recommended solution to make sure you continue to get e-mail from your friends and family is to send an e-mail letting them know you're changing your e-mail address and what your new e-mail address is.
One disadvantage of doing this is that often you will forget to send someone your new e-mail address or someone may miss your e-mail you sent out with your new e-mail address. However, you can fix this by sending that person an e-mail again from your new e-mail address.
Automatic replies
Automatic replies are also another good solution to making sure everyone knows your new e-mail address. This service will automatically reply to any e-mail sent to your old e-mail address with a note telling the sender what your new e-mail address is.
One serious disadvantage of doing this is that all e-mail you receive will get this automatic reply. Which means any SPAM messages or people sending you e-mail you do not want to receive will get your new e-mail address and likely send you mail to your new address. There are some services that will require your authorization before sending your new e-mail address; however, many companies reply to the e-mail address with your new e-mail address in the message body.
If you're interested in setting this service up on your old e-mail address, contact your e-mail provider or Internet service provider to see if it is available and can be enabled.
E-mail forwarding
E-mail forwarding is another service provided by many Internet service providers that will automatically forward your e-mails to your new e-mail address. However, there are several disadvantages (as listed below) to this service that you may wish to consider first.
- You will continue to receive SPAM messages, e-mail solicitations, and any other e-mail you may not wish to receive.
- No one will know your new e-mail address because it is being forwarded to your new address.
- If your old e-mail address expires, any mail still going to the old e-mail address will be lost.
If you're interested in setting this service up on your old e-mail address, contact your e-mail provider or Internet service provider to see if it is available and can be enabled.
Below are some additional questions that relate to this question and the answers to each of those related questions.
My old e-mail address has expired or been canceled, what should I do?
Unfortunately, the only thing you can do is create a new e-mail address. Almost all companies who automatically expire or cancel your account because of no activity will not re-enable the e-mail address.
If you're paying for your e-mail or your e-mail is being provided by your Internet provider, it's likely your e-mail may have just been suspended because of late payment or no payment. Often, once payment has been received, your e-mail can be re-activated.
Finally, if your e-mail service provider also maintained your address book, unfortunately, it too has been permanently lost.
My e-mail address has a spelling error, can I modify it?
You cannot modify your e-mail address because of spelling or other error. If you wish to change your e-mail address, you will need to create a new e-mail address.
Can I change my e-mail so it looks like I am coming from a different domain?
While it is possible to spoof your e-mail address, making it appear as if you're coming from a different address, you will not be able to do much more than send messages; any replies will be sent to the spoofed address and not to you. If you wish to be able to send and receive e-mail from a different domain, we suggest looking into an e-mail forwarding service that can send and receive your e-mail from various different domains and forward any e-mails received to an e-mail address of your choice.
Click here to search for e-mail forwarding services.
Additional information
- How can I get rid of an e-mail address?
- See the e-mail definition for further information and help.