About your Apple ID email addresses

Learn how to add, change, or delete the different types of email addresses that you can use with your Apple ID account.

Email addresses that you use with your Apple ID

Your Apple ID uses an email address along with your password to sign you in to your account with Apple. The additional Reachable At email addresses on file in your account can help friends and family communicate and share with you through Messages, Photo Sharing, and other features. We might also use your email addresses on file to send you information about your account.

Apple ID email address
In most cases, your Apple ID is also the primary email address of your Apple ID account.

Additional email addresses
Add extra Reachable At email addresses to help people find you on Apple services like FaceTime, Messages, and Find My.

Rescue email address
Apple uses this to send you important account and security related information. Most people have a notification email address instead of a rescue email address. But if you don't use two-factor authentication or two-step verification (learn how to check what security method you use), you have the option to add a rescue email address to your account for more security. You can see this option when you sign in to appleid.apple.com.

Before you can use a new or updated Apple ID, we'll send you a verification email to make sure that the email address belongs to you.

Apple ID email address

When you create an Apple ID, you enter an email address. This email address is your Apple ID and the username that you use to sign in to Apple services like Apple Music and iCloud. It's also the contact email address for your account. Be sure to check your inbox regularly. We'll send you email notifications to help you manage your account.

Change your Apple ID email address

Reset your Apple ID password

Get a verification code

* If you use two-factor authentication, in some cases you might be able to speed up the account recovery process or reset your password immediately by verifying a six-digit code sent to your primary email address.

Additional email addresses

Many of us have more than one email address that friends and family use to reach us. You can add additional Reachable At email addresses that you commonly use to your Apple ID account, so people can easily find and communicate with you on Apple services like FaceTime, Messages, Shared Albums, and Find My, and collaborate with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

Add an additional email address

  1. Sign in to appleid.apple.com.
  2. Select Personal Information.
  3. Choose Reachable At, then select the Add button.
  4. Enter your additional email address. Make sure that you're not already using it as an Apple ID.
  5. We'll send a verification to that address. Didn't get the email?
  6. Enter the verification code and select Continue.

Delete an additional email address

  1. Sign in to appleid.apple.com.
  2. Select Personal Information, then select Reachable At.
  3. To delete one of your additional email addresses, click the Remove button next to the address.

Rescue email address

You can have a rescue email address only if you don't have two-factor authentication or two-step verification. A rescue email is optional but recommended.

If you ever forget your security questions, you can use your rescue email address to reset them. We also send any account security-related notifications to your rescue email address.

If you have two-factor authentication or two-step verification, you have a notification email address instead of a rescue email address and won't need to remember security questions.

Add or change a rescue email address

  1. Sign in to appleid.apple.com.
  2. Select Sign-In and Security.
  3. Select Rescue Email. You might be asked to answer one or more security questions or enter your Apple ID password before you continue.
  4. To add a rescue email address, select Add email. Then enter your rescue email address, then select Save changes. We send a verification to that address. Didn't get the email?
  5. To change a rescue email address, enter the new address. We send a verification to that address. Didn't get the email?
  6. Enter the verification code and click Continue.

If you had a rescue email address on file when you upgraded to two-factor authentication or two-step verification, that email becomes your notification email. You can also use these steps to edit your notification email address. If you remove the notification email, you won't be able to add a new one.

Delete a rescue email address

  1. Sign in to appleid.apple.com.
  2. Select Sign-In and Security.
  3. Select Rescue Email. You might be asked to answer one or more security questions or enter your Apple ID password before you continue.
  4. To delete a rescue email address, select Remove email, and select Remove to confirm.

Reset your security questions

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