Gmail to let users change their addresses while keeping data

In recent days, Google has quietly started to roll out a way for users to change their Gmail addresses ending with @gmail.com and keep all their emails – no matter how old their account.

The change appears to have been first noticed Wednesday in a “Google Pixel Hub” Telegram group.

So far, the new feature is reflected only on the Hindi-language version of Google’s support page but it looks like it will be coming to other languages and regions.

“The ability to change your Google Account email address is gradually rolling out to all users, so this option may not be available to you right now,” according to an English translation of Gmail’s support Hindi language support page.

The same message was on Google’s help center in other languages.

Google did not immediately respond to questions about the rollout, and about which users would be next to gain the feature and when.

On Sunday, the support page in English still read: “If your account’s email address ends in @gmail.com, you usually can’t change it.”

Under the new feature, users’ old Gmail address won’t disappear after they change their email address. Instead, the old email address will automatically become an alias, allowing it to still receive emails.

Other email providers have allowed aliases for years.

Gmail users will be able to use their old or new email address to sign into Google services like Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Google Play or Drive. Crucially, all of a user’s files, photos, subscriptions, calendar invites and purchase history stay on the existing account.

There also appears to be limitations, according to the Hindi-language version. Users can change their address only once every 12 months. Users will be able to create only up to three new email addresses for their account, for a total of four.