Change your email address without alienating your contacts

In the real world, a simple trip to the post office to submit a change of address form is all that is required to ensure that your mail is forwarded to your new residence. Changing your email address is surprisingly complicated, whether you're doing it for professional reasons, because you're ditching an old service or for any other reason. This is how to make the change without making a hash of things.

The first step is to contact your previous email provider and inquire about the length of time and cost associated with maintaining the old address. It would be wise to store it for at least a few months if possible.

Disseminate the information, but ensure that no one can read the original by sending a blind carbon copy (bcc). Spread the word that there has been a shift. Please send an email to all of your contacts notifying them of your new address. This includes family, friends, and colleagues. Change the recipient's address to the new one and blind carbon copy everyone else.

Some recipients may become upset if they are given everyone else's email address; this is especially true if they are given the option to "Reply to All."

Forwarding and automatic replies

You may easily check both accounts by configuring your email client. Verify the client's settings to check if an automated response can be sent in response to messages sent to the old address. Of course, throughout the message, you should stress the importance of the new address.

Your client's 'Send To address' feature can be used to divide your messages into distinct folders. This will allow you to identify anyone still using the old address.

For instance, if you use Gmail, you can program a filter to either file the message in a specific folder or give it a star rating. That is to say:

• To adjust your site's settings, click the gear icon in the upper right corner
• To access filters and addresses you have blocked, select that tab.
• Select "Create a new filter" from the options at the page's footer.
• Afterward, type your previous address in the 'To' field of the resulting dialogue box.
• Choose the option "Create filter with this search" in the right-hand corner.
• Select an answer from the menu. Create a new label and call it "Star it" or "Apply the label."
• To make a new filter, choose it and then click "Create filter."

Gmail to send mail to a new address

Set up a forwarding rule in Gmail to send mail to a new address. Make sure that your account information and subscriptions are up to date.

In the meantime, you should go through all the sites where you use your email address as a login and update your profile to reflect your new address.

Treat mailing lists in the same way. Make the switch if you want to continue receiving updates from a blog, newsletter, or just a small circle of pals.

If registering a domain scares you, be assured that any of the five registrars listed here are good options, and the process is simpler than it sounds. And if you're a Google devotee, setting up Google Apps (including Gmail) with your domain is a breeze. One advantage of Google Apps is that you may easily switch to a different service if you decide Google Apps is no longer meeting your needs.

Laziness as an excuse

Keeping your previous address for the foreseeable future can save you the trouble of dealing with many of these issues, especially if doing so does not cost you anything. At your speed, you can eliminate its use, or you can store all your spam there.

Different approaches to simplifying the administration of electronic mail addresses Contrarily, you might wish to stop using the old address because of all the spam sent to it. In that situation, you should safeguard the new address while discarding the old one.

Set yourself up with a provider that offers temporary email addresses redirecting communications to your primary account. Using a temporary address is best if you're nervous about sharing your permanent one. Free for both Firefox and Chrome, you can try out Blur. Other choices include spam and mail shell.

Finally, consider getting your domain name and setting up an email account there. When you own the domain for your email account, no one can take it away from you. Prices for hosting a domain might vary greatly from one provider to another. Don't forget to get new business cards made.