Moving an iTunes account to a new e-mail address

By Jesse Hollington @jhollington ● Monday, October 15, 2012

Q: I setup a new e-mail address after my computer that contained my iTunes library was stolen and I’m wondering how I move my iTunes account to this new email address? My iPod nano is already connected to the old email.

- Brad

A: Your computer and your iPod nano will be associated with an Apple ID for your iTunes Store account, not an e-mail address per se. In most cases, your Apple ID is the same as your e-mail address, but that similarity exists in the name only, and you can easily change your Apple ID to any other valid e-mail address simply by going to http://appleid.apple.com and choosing the Manage Your Apple ID option.

You’ll need to sign in with your existing Apple ID (your old e-mail address), after which you’ll be shown a screen listing your name, Apple ID/primary e-mail address and any alternate e-mail addresses configured for your account. Simply click the “Edit” link beside your e-mail address that you want to change, and enter a new e-mail address.

Note that the new address cannot already be in use as a primary or alternate e-mail address for another Apple ID, and you will also receive an e-mail and have to verify the e-mail address before the change is finalized.

Once this has been done, you will need to use the new e-mail address to log into anything requiring your Apple ID, such as your iTunes Store account. Since you’re dealing with a stolen computer, it’s probably also a good idea to change your password as well, which can be done from the same Apple ID account management screen.

Although you do need to authorize the new computer for your iTunes Store account if you haven’t done so already, this is a function of it being a new computer, and has nothing to do with changing your e-mail address or Apple ID, since the underlying account remains the same—only the name is changing. Nothing at all needs to change on your iPod nano, since it is the same physical hardware, and doesn’t really have any e-mail address associated with it at all.

Note that any content purchased from the iTunes Store will continue to show your old e-mail address on the Summary page as iTunes does not update the Apple ID on content already in your library. Again, however, this is simply a display name for the account; the underlying Apple ID and iTunes Store account remains the same regardless of what the actual ID name is.

Keep in mind that there is no specific requirement to change your e-mail address as far as iTunes and your iPod are concerned simply because you’ve lost your previous computer, but it is definitely a good security practice if you’re concerned that your previous e-mail account may have been compromised as a result of the stolen computer; the thief wouldn’t inherently gain access to your iTunes Store account simply from your e-mail address, but the address is used for things like sending password reset e-mails and if they have the ability to receive e-mail on that computer, that would allow your Apple ID and any other accounts associated with that e-mail address to be easily compromised.