Can't change my Apple ID and/or primary email address

When I try to do so, I get logged off and it writes: An unknown error has occured.
Help please

I am also curious about this.
I want to stop using my hotmail account (which is also my Apple ID) and migrate to my icloud address for all my email.
Why cant I use my icloud mail address as my Apple ID?
Seems strange to be forced to use a hotmail address instead.

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How can I change my Apple Id to my icloud-Email address

How can I change my Apple ID to my icloud-Email address?

Apple ID: Changing the email address you use for your Apple ID

Changing my Apple ID and its associated email address

For the past 6 years or so I have used the same Apple ID and email. It started out as an Aol account and is now my [email protected] as my Apple ID. I want to change my Apple ID and its associated email account to Gmail since that is what I use more often now. I see the option to change Email Address has next to it "This will be your new Apple ID", which is exactly what I want to do. I have two questions:
1) I will change the Email Address field to my Gmail address. Will this create any sort of confusion with the DRMed songs and videos I purchased in the past?
2) For posting on these discussion boards I have yet another Apple ID (created kind of by mistake, a long story). Is there any way I can merge the two?

I attempted to do the the same (similar) thing yesterday (Sept 2nd, 2010).
I wanted to change my current Apple ID used for iTunes Store (which was created years ago when I bought my wife an iPod) to be my Apple ID (created when I joined the Apple Developer program way before iTunes).
After changing the information and clicking the "Done" button, I received an error message that was positioned on the "Apple ID" box, which stated "this is not a valid email address". I assumed that the "email pattern filter" was erroneously attached to the Apple ID input box, so I contacted iTunes Store Customer Support.
*iTunes Store Customer Support response:*
+I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, since "<my.user.name>" is already an Apple ID it cannot be used for another iTunes account. At this point, it can only become it's own iTunes account.+
I'm posting my followup question below, in case anyone on the forum has these same questions or has any experience with actually doing what Apple proposed - create a new account to be used with an existing iTunes Library - and has any experiences they might wish to share.
*My followup question to iTunes Store Customer Support (waiting for reply):*
So, what are the implications of creating a new (second) iTunes account?
- Will I keep my same iTunes Library (i.e. Will all previous items be visible, when using the new account to purchase items)?
- How will this affect devices (iPhone, iPod) that are synched to the current iTunes Library?
So, I guess what I'm asking is; "How tightly coupled is the iTunes "account" information bound to the Library"?
I don't want to create a situation where:
- My iPhone and Apps gets wiped out when I sync because it sees a different "account name".
- My Library looks like I have "zero" items (Music/Videos/Playlist) because I've logged into iTunes with a different "account name"
I'm attempting to only change the iTunes Apple ID and email associated with the account for purchasing items through the iTunes Store. I want to preserve all other aspects of the current set up.
Is this possible?

How can you change your Apple ID to a new email address?

My old email was deleted and I used this as my Apple ID. I now have a new one and can't change my Apple ID on my phone and iPad, (Under 'icloud' in settings). However I have been able to change it in iTunes & App Store.
I also tried deleting the account and re doing it in my new one but it asks for the password due to find iPhone being on, and it won't do it. (I remember my old password)
Please help!
It's very frustrating and keeps wanting me to sign in.
Thanks

1) Did you change that old email address to your current email address to be your current Apple ID? If so, try to enter your current password for your current Apple ID/iCloud account. If it doesn't work, try #2.
2) If you don't have access to your old email account. Same process, go to https://appleid.apple.com and sign in your current iCloud/Apple ID then edit it to your old email address then Save the changes. DON'T sign out yet. Go back to your iOS device then delete your iCloud account. Once deleted, go back to the Apple ID website and rename it back to your current email address. You have to verify it this time and you will be able to since you have access to that email address.
3) If your answer to #1 is NO, contact Apple Support (Account Security Team) to help you reset its password but you need to have another email address available which is not yet an Apple ID to send the password reset email.
Hope this helps! Cheers!

I can't make my Apple ID and my primary email one and the same. I've had my Apple ID since the first iPod but now I can't access iCloud because of this.

Since the introduction of iCloud, I've had this problem with the Apple ID. I've tried to "manage my Apple ID" but clicking the box to "make Apple ID and primary email address one and the same" but it just won't work. I'd given up and just ignored everything iCloud... I've ignored iCloud on my iPad mini and my iPhone 5 and now I'm going to get an iPhone 5s. I'm sure this will be an issue again. FYI, my Apple ID is in the format "a_xyz" only and it's working for purchases and upgrading of iOS, etc just not with iCloud. Any suggestions other than to create a new iCloud account with a different name? Thanks!

I don't have any suggestions that will help you resolve this issue other than to try posting here where there should be more iCloud experts.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/icloud/icloud_on_my_ios_device
Or contact Apple and ask for their help with this. Try here. I think Account and Setup would be the starting point.
https://getsupport.apple.com/Issues.action

Apple ID and iCloud: Primary email address?

I have an Apple ID, (for the sake of example) [email protected]
When I signed up for iCloud with that Apple ID, I activated Mail & Notes, which prompted me to add a new @me.com email address to my account; I chose (for the sake of example) [email protected]
That new address I added for Mail & Notes, [email protected], currently shows up as an "alternate" email address when I log in to manage my existing [email protected] Apple ID.
When I try to change my "primary" email address to that new [email protected] address, I get the following error, which seems outdated as it still refers to MobileMe:
"You cannot create an Apple ID using a MobileMe account. If this is your email address, it is also your Apple ID."
How can I make the new [email protected] the "primary" email address on my Apple ID, so that correspondence from Apple no longer gets sent to my Gmail address, but instead gets sent to my new iCloud address?
Who else is experiencing this issue?

I had a mobileme account which I decided to just abandon and start over (granted I lost the increased disk space -- but that wasn't going to last anyway and I wanted to see if could live in the size they gave me.)
I created a new non-me.com address as my appleid and since my contacts, calendars, etc. are on my mac, they synced to the new account. The contacts were automatic. The calendars I had to 'export' from ical and then once I added the icloud account, I imported them. volia! data transferred!
I logged out of mobile-me before I started and any questions of keep or delete I answered 'keep'.
Now from reading this (not that I've tried it), sounds like once you have a non-me.com appleid, you can add a me.com id as your email in some kind of transitional hack. Perhaps once you have setup the non-me.com id, you can delete the me.com address you were using and then re-add it the new apple id you just created. I don't really expect that to work as I'm not sure you can actually delete an appleid, but it might be worth a test?
If you get both accounts setup in Mail, you should be able to transfer the mail messages by dragging from the old account to the new icloud account (drag 'n drop em).
Personally, I'm still using google for email until icloud gets its act together, so I don't know if this will work. After reading this pain, I'm glad I just decided to start clean.
Let us know if you try this and it works for you!

TS3988 I changed my Apple ID to my new email address successfully for the iTunes and App store but it won't work for iCloud and it won't recognize my password. I read that this can't be done. How am I supposed to get into iCloud?

I changed my Apple ID to my new email address successfully for the iTunes and App store but it won't work for iCloud and it won't recognize my password. I read that this can't be done. How am I supposed to get into iCloud? I plan on getting rid of my old email address which is my old Apple ID so how is that going to work?

Same question Wish someone had replied!
I changed my Apple ID to my new email and now cannot find any way to access icloud. Unfortunately I had allowed icloud to hijack my airbook files, so of course I am afraid I will lose them tomorrow when I exchange my iphone for a new one and cannot keep an icloud account i cannot access. What a poor sync system! Really atypical for apple!

MY APPLE ID EMAIL ACCOUNT WAS STOLEN BY SOMEONE, AND I NOW I CAN NOT FIX THAT. SO I OPEN A NEW GAMIL HOW CAN I CHANGE MY APPLE ID INTO A NEW EMAIL ADRESS? THANKS.

MY APPLE ID EMAIL ACCOUNT WAS STOLEN BY SOMEONE, AND I NOW I CAN NOT FIX THAT. SO I OPEN A NEW GAMIL HOW CAN I CHANGE MY APPLE ID INTO A NEW EMAIL ADRESS? THANKS.

If you are going to change your AppleID login you will need to log out and back in on all your devices. Turn off 'Find My iPhone/iMac/iPod' first or you will find yourself unable to sign out and be stuck.

I recently changed my Apple ID to a new email address. My old one still is in my phone, and cannot be permanently deleted as it says that Find my iPhone is still on. I can't turn it off because I do not have the password to my old "deleted" Apple ID.

I recently changed my Apple ID to a new email address. My old one still is in my phone, and cannot be permanently deleted as it says that Find my iPhone is still on. I can't turn it off because I do not have the password to my old "deleted" Apple ID. If you can help, please do! Thank you very much!

I have the EXACT SAME PROBLEM and have been researching the past 2 hours!!!! Aaargh!

I can't change my Apple ID and Primary Email Address, there is no "edit" option

I can't change my Apple ID and Primary Email Address, there is no "edit" option

I am also curious about this.
I want to stop using my hotmail account (which is also my Apple ID) and migrate to my icloud address for all my email.
Why cant I use my icloud mail address as my Apple ID?
Seems strange to be forced to use a hotmail address instead.

HT1311 Have changed my Apple id to a new email address. its all working fine on my pc and also comes up with the new id on my icloud page on my iphone, but when i tryto buy something from i tunes on the phone the sign in box still has the old id. how do i

Have changed my apple Id to a new email address. its all working fine on my PC and also on come up with the new ID on my icloud page on my iphone but when i try to buy something from itunes etc on my phone, the log in box still contains the old id.
how do i change this?

The Apple Support Communities are an international user to user technical support forum. As a man from Mexico, Spanish is my native tongue. I do not speak English very well, however, I do write in English with the aid of the Mac OS X spelling and grammar checks. I also live in a culture perhaps very very different from your own. When offering advice in the ASC, my comments are not meant to be anything more than helpful and certainly not to be taken as insults.
It doesn't sound like you "changed" your Apple ID, sounds like you created a new one. Bad idea. All content bought with an Apple ID is forever tied to that ID. The ID that bought the content is the only ID that can update the content. Apple does not merge IDs not does Apple transfer content from one ID to another.

HT202667 I did not do my research before changing my Apple ID from an outdated email address to a current one. I just changed and verified and though I was all set. WRONG! Now I cannot sign in to iCloud because it will not let me enter the new Apple ID! H

I did not do my research before changing my Apple ID from an outdated email address to a current one. I just changed and verified and though I was all set. WRONG! Now I cannot sign in to iCloud because it will not let me enter the new Apple ID. I read the 10/30/13 randers4 post to just change your Apple ID back then sign in and change it to the new email address again and then you can sign in, but I cannot change back to the prior email address Apple ID because that is no longer an active email account (or at least not mine). Any thoughts on how to get signed into iCloud when it does not allow me to type in the new Apple ID and the old Apple ID no longer exists.
I see that many people have asked, but no one has come up with a solution that I found.
Thanks for any help!

This did not work for me. My old email account for iCloud still pops up on my screen every time I open my macbook. I've deleted it, reset it, every thing I can think of and it still shows up. I think six months of this is more than enough time to wait.
RDG

HT201407 hi..I cant activate my Iphone 5. I bought this from someone who cant remember her apple password and even the email address that she used to set up the account.What am I gonna do now....How can I activate my Iphone. what are my options...pls help

hi..I cant activate my Iphone 5. I bought this from someone who cant remember her apple password and even the email address that she used to set up the account.What am I gonna do now....How can I activate my Iphone. what are my options...pls help me.thank you

Activation Lock in iOS 7 > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5818
hannibalfromlemery wrote:
.I cant activate my Iphone 5. I bought this from someone
The Apple ID and Password that was Originally used to Activate the iDevice is required.
If you cannot get this information from the seller
Removing a device from a previous owner’s account
You need to return the Device for a refund, as you will not be able to re-activate it.

I changed my Apple ID to a new email address. I cannot get my Iphone and Ipad to recognize the new Apple ID.

I changed my Apple ID to a new email address. Now I cannot get my Iphone and Ipad to recognize the new Apple ID ... and I cannot access the old Apple ID because it does not recognize its password any more ... and I cannot change the password ... and there seems to be no one to ask about this. Any help?

I tried but it won't let me even access the old Apple ID. It won't recoginze its old password and will not let me make a new one. (The site tells me it has sent an email to let me change the password but the email does not come.)

I have been trying to change my apple id to my new email address and it says the id egsists what do i do

i have been trying to change my apple id to my new email address and it says i cant as the id is in use what do i do

    If your new email address is an Apple-related email account (e.g., Mobileme account), you will get the 'email is already in use' message. If this is the case, you cannot consolidate your old Apple ID with your new one. I (and many others) have ran into this same issue.
      If this is indeed the cause of your problem, I recommend that you start using your new Apple ID exclusively. If you made a considerable number of purchases under your old Apple ID (i.e., through iTunes), you will still have to log in under your old ID for that account.
      Hopefully, one day Apple will allow us to consolidate accounts.
I hope this helps.
Rex

Can't change my Apple ID and/or primary email address

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