Email Glow Up: How Gmail’s New Address Change Feature Impacts Email Marketers

Gmail is at it again! In the January edition of our State of Email webinar series, my colleague Laura Christensen predicted new Gmail functionality that would let users change their email addresses without losing historical data. 

She was spot on! An official announcement followed soon after.  

Google CEO Sundar Pichai led the publicity blitz on X with a message saying, “2004 was a good year, but your Gmail address doesn’t need to be stuck in it!” 

What’s changing

According to Google, one of their most-searched questions is “Can you change your Gmail address?” With this new functionality, users can now change their address once every 12 months, with a lifetime limit of three new addresses (four total).  

The old address is retained as an “alternate,” meaning users can still receive and send mail from it. The feature is rolling out gradually across the US—Google hasn’t yet made a formal announcement about international availability. 

What’s the impact?

Statista estimates Gmail has 1.8 billion active users worldwide. Validity’s latest Deliverability Benchmark report shows that Gmail’s global B2C market share is 42.9 percent (53.7 percent in the US), while Google Apps represents 35.9 percent of the B2B market.  

This means a large part of most email lists will feature subscribers who change their address… at least twice. In turn, this will lead to fragmentation of behavioral data, with serious consequences for essential functions like suppression, journey management, and personalization. 

Another big challenge for marketers will be increased levels of “silent disengagement.“. When subscribers change their Gmail addresses, their messages will continue delivering successfully to the old alias but will never be seen. No bounces, no unsubscribes, no complaints, and no engagement! 

Google itself isn’t helping, advising Gmail subscribers to create an email filter that actively blocks mail to the old addresses. Over time, this growing cohort of non-engaging subscribers will hurt sender reputation, degrading inbox placement even for genuinely engaged subscribers.

What’s the process?

Google’s help documentation provides a step-by-step explanation for how users change their existing email address: 

1. Go to myaccount.google.com/google-account-email and sign in if prompted.
2. Click Personal info, then Email, then Google Account email. 
3. Click Change Google Account email.  
4. Enter a new username (one not already in use, or previously used/deleted) 
5. Click Change email, confirm with Yes, and follow the remaining on-screen steps. 

Google recommends a data backup before making this change as a precaution. It also advises users to be cautious of phishing emails using this new feature as a potential “hook,” making the change directly in their account settings rather than clicking any email links. 

How is this different from Apple’s “hide my email”? 

Apple has offered proxy email addresses since 2021, allowing consumers to mask their identities by providing an alternate email address. While both features provide users with more control, they work in different ways.  

Gmail’s approach is about replacing an old username with a new one, while retaining full account history. Apple, by contrast, acts as a privacy tool generating random, disposable forwarding addresses—meaning your real address is never shared in the first place.  

Google does have a “hide my email” equivalent in development (seen in Android/Google Play Services code), which will generate unique, random, and temporary email aliases. In the meantime, users can also take advantage of Gmail’s existing feature of adding a “+” sign to their username (e.g., [email protected]) to create temporary filters. 

How should marketers respond?

As we’ve mentioned, the big challenge is that the old email addresses remain valid, so identifying these changes won’t be easy.  

Recommended steps include: 

• Update your preference center so subscribers can advise of a change of address, and include a prominent “update your email address” link in every email. 

• Create an engagement baseline specifically for your Gmail subscribers and monitor it closely for signs of decline when compared with other providers. 

• If you do identify a decline in Gmail engagement, tighten your sunsetting thresholds for these subscribers and adopt a more aggressive approach to re-engagement.  

• Update re-engagement copy to explicitly target address changes, e.g., “Is this still the right inbox?” or “If you’ve changed emails recently, please update your information here.” 

• Cross-reference email engagement with other behavioral signals. Subscribers who are suddenly disengaged with email, but still active on your website and app, and making purchases, could be sending a strong “changed address” signal. 

• Consider treating these “valid but abandoned” addresses as a new engagement segment. They remain engaged with the brand, but not the channel. 

• Check how your ESP/CDP handles email changes (especially if email is your primary data point). If possible, consider implementing a “check ID” process to link old and new addresses. This will help minimize duplication and maintain data integrity for targeting and personalization.  

• Warn your subscribers about the phishing risks associated with this change. They should only be making this change in their own accounts, not by clicking links in an email. This will build trust and reduce the risk of your own emails that ask for their new address being mistaken for phishing attempts. 

Change your approach for changing addresses 

This new feature is another reminder that Gmail’s inbox is increasingly shaped by engagement signals—and address changers will erode yours. Complacency is not an option. Proactively identifying Gmail address changers and aggressively sunsetting the old aliases will become an essential new component of email success—and ultimately, email revenue. 

Looking for an in-depth breakdown and tips for sending successfully across the different mailbox providers? Check out our 2026 Email Deliverability Benchmark Report.