Google is making plans for a long-demanded feature: the ability to change your Gmail address, breaking one of its most enduring and consequential product constraints, according to text found in an updated Google support document in Hindi and reported by third-party news sources. It is not yet live, but the feature would make it so you can sign in as either address, making for a dramatic change to the all-or-nothing option that now exists between Google and non-Google addresses, ordering users to close an account using Gmail or stand up and redo their life with a new email.

Google’s documentation refers to an imminent flow in which you pick a new @gmail.com and retain the data connected to your account. The old address becomes an alias; therefore, messages sent to it keep arriving, and you can log in using either address. Tellingly, Google assures that messages and data won’t be lost in the transition.

The company said availability would be limited at first, and not all accounts would have access to the feature immediately. The change seems to have been discovered after updates to a Hindi-language help page hinted at the new privacy feature, with outlets like 9to5Google reporting on the discovery — a clear sign that Google’s readying back-end plumbing ahead of a wider announcement.

There are strict guardrails. Users could change their Gmail address once every 12 months and would have a lifetime limit of three changes. That cadence dissuades incessant rebranding and mitigates the threat of impersonation and abuse.

Google has not specified who is eligible for the account type. Consumer and enterprise features have historically come on different schedules. Google Workspace admin controls typically supersede these settings, so it’s possible that users of Google Workspace will not be immediately impacted (we’ll let you know when there is specific guidance for Google Workspace customers) — we will share additional information regarding implementation closer to the deadline.

Why This Matters to Users Considering Gmail Changes

On the face of it, changing an email address would appear to be simple. It is anything but. It affects much more than just your new login name.

Today, people who want a new address have to go through the hassle of creating an entirely new account and manually moving over forwards, imports, unsubscribes and contacts — which is prone to error and can lead to decades’ worth of history getting split across multiple sources. With more than 1.5 billion Gmail users now worldwide by industry estimates from firms like Statista and The Radicati Group, a small proportion in search of the change means a huge win for usability.

The alias model is key. Since the base Google Account doesn’t change, services you have connected to your identity will continue working — things like Gmail, Drive, Photos, and Calendar. It will also decrease the likelihood of accidentally overlooking important email during a migration, since both addresses will still collect messages.