Whether you’ve outgrown your old email address or need a more professional email for work, you might find yourself asking if you can change your Gmail address without creating a new account.
This article will guide you through several ways you can edit your Gmail address by adding a few small tweaks.
Can I change my Gmail address without creating a new account?
There are a few ways you can modify your address without creating a brand new Gmail account. But if your goal is to completely change your Gmail address, you’re going to need to make a new Gmail account.
How to change your Gmail address
You can’t change your Gmail address without making a new account, but you can edit your Gmail username and make other small changes to your email address. These changes include:
- Creating a Gmail alias
- Adding punctuation to your Gmail address
- Changing your email display name
1. Create a Gmail alias
You can create multiple versions of your current Gmail account by simply adding the plus sign (+) and your word of choice.
While this doesn’t work for sending email, it can be a useful feature when signing up for newsletters, subscribing to mailing lists or creating accounts for new websites. Different aliases can also help filter your email into different categories within Gmail.
Proton Mail also allows you to create aliases when signing up for new websites and services, which can prevent phishing attacks and reduce spam.
Next time you sign up for a newsletter, simply type your Gmail username followed by the plus (+) symbol and the desired name of your alias. (eg. username+newsletter@gmail.com.)
2. Add punctuation to your Gmail address
Gmail ignores periods in email addresses, so you can add as many as you’d like to create a number of variations to your current Gmail address.
For example, the following email addresses are all recognized by Gmail as the same address:
username@gmail.com
user.name@gmail.com
u.s.e.r.n.a.m.e.@gmail.com
Again, this only works for receiving email, so adding punctuation to your Gmail address will be most helpful when you’d like to filter incoming email.
3. Change your Gmail display name
While you can’t change your Gmail address, you can change the name displayed in the recipient’s inbox. For example, if your Gmail address is username@gmail.com, you can change the display name to reflect your real name, company name or something entirely different.
To change your Gmail display name:
- Open your account and go to Settings > See All Settings > Accounts and Import > Send Email As.
- Click “Edit Info.”
- Add your desired account name (For example, “Jane Doe,”).
- Click “Save Changes.”
The icon for “Settings” is the gear in the top right hand corner of your Gmail interface. Click “See all settings.”
Select “Accounts and Import” from the Gmail menu.
Under the “Send Mail As” section, click “Edit Info” on the right side of the Gmail interface.
Enter your new desired account name and click “Save Changes.”
Your Gmail address will still be username@gmail.com, but the name “Jane Doe” will appear in your recipient’s inbox.
Protect your data with Proton
Proton makes it easy to create multiple email addresses. Unlike Gmail, you can create up to 10 different email addresses and 10 hide-my-email aliases using Proton Mail Plus, and up to 30 email addresses and unlimited hide-my-email aliases with Proton Unlimited and Proton Duo.
Proton also gives you the ability to protect your privacy, ensuring no third parties can access your email or data. Unlike Google and other Big Tech companies, Proton never uses your personal information for profit. Millions of people trust Proton with their data.
Based in Switzerland—which has some of the world’s strongest privacy laws—Proton safeguards your information from third parties, including governments.
All of Proton Mail’s end-to-end and zero-access encryption happens in the background, making it simple to use for everyone.
If you’re ready for a change, sign up here.
Switching to Proton has never been easier. Seamlessly transition all your emails, contacts, and calendars to Proton using the Easy Switch feature, and automatically forward Gmail messages to your new Proton Mail inbox so email never gets lost.
When you make the move to Proton Mail, you can rest easy knowing your data is safe—and that you’re helping to create a better internet where privacy is always the gold standard.
