The change appears only in the Hindi version of a Google support page, suggesting that it will begin in India or Hindi-speaking markets, but the page says the feature will be rolled out to all users, CNBC reported Friday (Dec. 26). The English-language version of the page still says Gmail addresses “usually cannot be changed.”
Google did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.
According to the CNBC report, after users change their Gmail address, their old email address will remain active as an alias, so emails sent to that address will still arrive in the user’s inbox.
The user’s photos, messages, emails and other existing data will remain unchanged, per the report.
This feature has long been requested by Gmail users because creating a new Gmail address currently means users must create a new account and transfer their data manually, the report said.
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The Verge reported Friday that according to a Google Translate version of the Google account support page that was originally in Hindi, users will only be able to change their email address once a year and three times in total.
In an earlier update, Google said in September that it added package tracking to Gmail to help users monitor deliveries.
The company said a new view lets users see all purchase-related emails and package updates in a single interface.
“First, we’re rolling out a new view that brings all your purchase and delivery updates together in one place,” Google wrote in a Sept. 11 blog post. “This will give you a bird’s eye view of all your upcoming package deliveries in one simple, organized list.”
In July, Google added a feature to make it easier for Gmail users to unsubscribe from emails.
The company’s “Manage subscriptions” tool lets users view and manage subscription emails, giving them a single place from which they can unsubscribe from the ones they don’t want.
PYMNTS reported at the time that this feature from Google appeared at a time when unsubscribing from things is growing more difficult.
