You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.
Hi everyone,
I made the switch to an iPhone last year and I'm finally making the switch my first MacBook on Monday! I want to engage fully into the Apple universe and need a bit of help.
When I created my Apple ID I used my existing Outlook email address rather than creating an icloud email. I want to have an icloud email address but I'm not sure how to go about creating one and then switching my accounts over, could anyone help me through?
If you have an Apple ID, you have an iCloud email address. You don't need to create a new iCloud email address which would create a new Apple ID. Log into your Apple ID account to find the iCloud email address.
You can change your Apple ID email address on your current Apple ID so you retain access to your data and prior purchases. Note the restrictions in the article.
Make sure you turn off Find My Phone before signing out of the old ID. Once signed out and Find My Phone is off, then sign in with the new ID, then turn Find My Phone back on.
What to do after you change your Apple ID or password - Apple Support * I suggest doing this before you change your Apple ID or password.
Based on what I have read, I suggest you leave your Apple ID email address as a 3rd party email address because you have more flexibility if you need to change the email address. For example, if the Apple ID got compromised, you can change it to another address. I also have read of many people who were locked out of their accounts when they forgot their password. Since the recovery email address is the @iCloud email address, if you forget your password, you also can't access your email to get emails from Apple to recover your account. You can set a rescue email address, but for some people, this hasn't worked.
If you have an Apple ID, you have an iCloud email address. You don't need to create a new iCloud email address which would create a new Apple ID. Log into your Apple ID account to find the iCloud email address.
You can change your Apple ID email address on your current Apple ID so you retain access to your data and prior purchases. Note the restrictions in the article.
Make sure you turn off Find My Phone before signing out of the old ID. Once signed out and Find My Phone is off, then sign in with the new ID, then turn Find My Phone back on.
What to do after you change your Apple ID or password - Apple Support * I suggest doing this before you change your Apple ID or password.
Based on what I have read, I suggest you leave your Apple ID email address as a 3rd party email address because you have more flexibility if you need to change the email address. For example, if the Apple ID got compromised, you can change it to another address. I also have read of many people who were locked out of their accounts when they forgot their password. Since the recovery email address is the @iCloud email address, if you forget your password, you also can't access your email to get emails from Apple to recover your account. You can set a rescue email address, but for some people, this hasn't worked.
You can create an AppleID with a third party email address without creating an iCloud account. If that is the case, all you need do is sign into iCloud on that iPhone or Mac with that AppleID and you will be walked through the process of creating an iCloud account. Afterwards, your iCloud email will become a synonymous login ID for your existing AppleID.
If you made the AppleID during setup on the iPhone, you would have also made an iCloud account and thus have an iCloud email, which is also now a synonymous login ID for your AppleID.
See -> How to create a new Apple ID - Apple Support
Either way there should be nothing to switch over. Your iCloud account email address and your outlook email address are your synonymous AppleID login IDs and you have a single AppleID.
Third party email to icloud email
