Kenya, April 5, 2026 – Users of Gmail globally will soon be able to change their usernames without losing access to their Gmail accounts, in a move aimed at simplifying account management. The tech company says that users can change their user names up to three times without compromising their accounts, inboxes, and data.
Google explains that the new update will allow users to modify their @gmail.com address while retaining their original email as an alternative linked to the same account.
Both addresses will point to a single inbox, enabling users to send and receive emails and sign in using either option.
Google explained that users can transition back to their previous email address at any time, but you can only create a new Google account email that ends in gmail.com once every 12 months and three times in total.
This option, which was only available for business users on Google Workspace, is aimed at addressing concerns among users whose email addresses no longer reflect their personal or professional identities.
“With this update, when a user changes their username, their original email address is retained as an alternative linked to the same account. Both emails point to the same inbox. Users can continue to sign in, send, and receive email using either,” Google said.
“While this capability has been available to business Workspace users, we’re now expanding it to consumer Google Accounts with a @gmail.com address,” it added.
Currently, this option is only available for users in the United States of America, but it will be expanded globally.
The company has, however, cautioned that platforms identifying users by email address rather than a subject ID may be disrupted.
If the user blocks prior access permissions and later signs in with the updated email, systems that depend strictly on email matching may fail to recognize them, potentially creating duplicate accounts or locking users out of existing data.
Gmail introduces a new feature allowing users to change their email address while keeping the same inbox and data intact | Dawan Africa