New function arrives 20 years after the service was created; old email remains valid for the account
This Friday (June 26, 2026), Gmail started allowing users in Brazil to change their account’s email address. The change comes more than 20 years after the creation of Google’s email service.
In the United States, change is already underway since March 31st of this year.
Anyone who chooses the new address does not lose access to the old one. The original email now functions as an alternative address and remains valid for accessing the account. The user also continues to receive messages sent to the 2 addresses.
There is, however, a restriction. After the switch, Google blocks the creation of a new address ending in “@gmail.com” for the same account for 12 months.
The change of address also impacts other services linked to the account. The new email will now be used to log in to tools such as Google Photos and Google Drive.
How to change the address
To check whether the resource is already available, the user must access on your computer and log in.
Then, the page displays the “Change Google Account email” button. Just click on it, enter the new address in the “Username” field and select “Change email”.
The chosen address must be available, that is, it cannot be in use by any other account. If the option is not yet available for a particular user, Google will display a message that it is not possible to change this setting at this time.
How to change the displayed name
Anyone who wants to keep their current address, but change how their name appears to other users, can do so through the Gmail settings menu. The feature has been available longer than changing addresses. The steps are:
- access Gmail on your computer;
- click on “Settings” (gear symbol in the top right corner);
- click on “See all settings”;
- select “Accounts and import” or “Accounts”;
- in “Send email as”, select “Edit information”;
- in “Name”, write how you want to introduce yourself in Gmail;
- click “Save changes”.
