Associating and verifying email addresses with your Apple ID

When you first create an Apple ID (using your email address) a verification email will be sent to that address. If you sign in to your Apple ID from the link in that email, the email address will be verified as the primary email address for your Apple ID. You can also resend the email verification if the email address is not verified:

1. Sign in to My Apple ID to manage your account information.

2. Click Resend under Primary Email Address.

3. Verify your changes by following the link in the email you will receive from Apple and signing back in to your account.

If your Apple ID and primary email address match and the email address is already verified, you can edit your Apple ID and primary email address at the same time.

1. Sign in to My Apple ID to manage your account information.

2. Click Edit next to your Apple ID.

3. Change the name you use for your Apple ID and email address and click Save Changes.

If your Apple ID and primary email address do not match, or they match but the email address is unverified, you can edit them.

1. Sign in to My Apple ID to manage your account information.

2. If you want to add and verify an email address that matches your Apple ID, follow the dialog box that says "Make your Apple ID and email address one and the same." This will automatically unverify that email address from any other Apple ID for which it was previously verified.

3. If you want to change your email address to one that does not match your Apple ID, click Edit next to your Primary Email Address. If this email address is already associated with another Apple ID, you will need to sign in with that Apple ID and delete it before you can add it to your preferred Apple ID.

Note: If you have an @me.com or @mac.com Apple ID and primary email address, you cannot edit your primary email address once it has been verified. To change your @me.com or @mac.com primary email address to another email address, contact Apple Support for assistance.

If you have an email address that has never been used with an Apple ID (such as for iCloud, iTunes Store, or Game Center), you can easily associate that email address with your Apple ID. You may want to add another email address for services such as FaceTime and iMessage. 

1. Sign in to My Apple ID to manage your account information.

2. Click Add Email Address.

3. Enter the email address you would like to add and click Save Changes.

4. Verify your changes by following the link in the email you will receive from Apple and signing in to your account.

If you have an email address that is already associated with another Apple ID, you may need to remove it from your other Apple ID before you can add it to your preferred Apple ID.

1. Sign in to My Apple ID with the Apple ID that has the email address already associated with it. 

2. Find the email address you want to move to your preferred Apple ID, and click Delete.

3. Click Save Changes, then Sign Out at the top of the page.

4. Sign back in with your preferred Apple ID.

5. Click Add Email Address.

6. Enter the email address and click Save Changes.

7. Verify your changes by following the link in the email you will receive from Apple.

An email address can become unverified from your Apple ID if it is verified with another Apple ID. This is only possible when the other Apple ID matches the email address exactly. You cannot reverify that email address unless you own both Apple IDs.

If your email address does become unverified from your Apple ID, you must add and verify a new primary email address before you can use that Apple ID with certain services. The easiest thing is to simply add and verify a new email address, as described in How to verify the primary email address for your Apple ID.

If you want to reverify the same email address (the one that does not match your Apple ID), you must first change the name of your other Apple ID so the email address becomes available again. See "How to edit your Apple ID and primary email address" above for more information.