Apple ID data is not permanent. The email that you link to it and its password can change, in the same way that you can do it with the rest of the personal data that you provide. The only thing you have to do is be a little careful depending on the situation, but Apple has made it easy for us to maintain the correct configuration of our account and to be able to change your Apple ID and its associated email whenever you want.
How to change your Apple ID and always have it up to date
First things first, we need to know what our Apple ID is. You should know at least the email and password of that account. In times of unforeseen, that’s information you’ll be glad you memorize, because the Apple ID must be set up on all of our Apple products.
The best way to change the data of our Apple ID is to do it through our iPhone, since we will surely have to use it to be able to pass two-factor authentication even if we use a Mac or a browser. If we don’t have an iPhone, then we can do it through the Apple ID website.
On the iPhone we can make the relevant changes from the Settings application. As soon as we enter it we will see our name in the header, and if we click on it we will access the options of our Apple ID. The first of them, ‘Name, telephone numbers, email’ allows us to change all that personal data but;
You must take into account the following restrictions:
- The new email you want to add cannot be the @icloud.com address of another Apple account you have.
- The new email you want to add cannot be one that uses another Apple ID, regardless of the provider and even if it is a simple recovery email.
- Your Apple ID should never contain someone else’s email or one that you no longer have access to for whatever reason.
- The new phone you want to add must be yours, and Apple will check via SMS to confirm. You can have multiple phone numbers associated with an Apple ID.
In ‘Password and security’ we will find the option ‘Change password’ to do just that. We shouldn’t have any additional issues if the iPhone is configured correctly, and that includes addressing any pending security requests in those sections.
Apple will not allow you to use passwords
Apple will not allow you to use passwords that are too simple, such as one that includes your name or year of birth. It will also not support passwords that you have used in the past, for security reasons. It must be something with a minimum of complication. Remember that two-factor authentication is require for most features of Apple apps and services.
As I said before, we can make the same changes on the Apple ID website. It’s less straightforward than with the iPhone, as you’ll be prompted for two-factor authentication to access all the options, but it can be an option if you don’t have an iPhone or if it’s not handy. You do need another Apple device (a Mac or an iPad) in order to complete the sign-in.
By the way, you can also completely remove it (you may have left the ecosystem or made another one). The process takes a few weeks to fully complete, but Apple guarantees that all your data is completely wipe. For everything to sync up nicely, the most important thing is that you have the same Apple ID set up everywhere.
