# Email Address **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 3, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810 "2017-05-03T19:52:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/1 "2017-05-03T19:52:25Z")
So we’re having issues with our email account. I think I want to change our email address. Is this a horrible idea? There are so many things attached to the current address, I’m afraid things will get out of hand. What’s the best way to do this? ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/2 "2017-05-03T19:57:19Z")
Define “Issues” Then you can get better answers. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/3 "2017-05-03T20:00:16Z")
Who is your provider? Lots of providers will forward mail, while others won’t. It’s a poor idea to have an email account with your ISP as you will eventually change that. I like Google’s Gmail. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/4 "2017-05-03T20:01:28Z")
It’s a Mediacom account. Half the time we can’t sign into it. We get messages saying that our password is incorrect (it’s not!), or it will sign us out with a message stating that our time has expired. I’ve spoken with numerous reps at Mediacom that tell me that I just need to change our password, which I’ve done numerous times and get the same results. It’s very annoying. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/5 "2017-05-03T20:31:13Z")
Just go ahead and change it to something like Gmail. You will probably move sooner or later and have to change it anyway. Here are some posts on how to forward from Mediacom to Gmail: [https://www.google.com/search?num=100&q=forward+mediacom+email+to+gmail](https://www.google.com/search?num=100&q=forward+mediacom+email+to+gmail) Go through all the sites you regularly get mail from (Amazon, banking, etc) and systematically change the addresses to your new one. And notify all your correspondents about your new address. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/6 "2017-05-03T20:53:38Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Just go ahead and change it to something like Gmail. You will probably move sooner or later and have to change it anyway. I agree that changing it shouldn’t be a big deal. But I don’t understand your second statement here. When did moving necessitate having to change your email, anyway??? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/7 "2017-05-03T21:06:29Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I agree that changing it shouldn’t be a big deal. But I don’t understand your second statement here. When did moving necessitate having to change your email, anyway??? If you get your email address from your ISP and leave that ISP - say, by moving house - you lose your email address. You only get to keep the email address for as long as you have an account. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/8 "2017-05-03T21:10:01Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > If you get your email address from your ISP and leave that ISP - say, by moving house - you lose your email address. You only get to keep the email address for as long as you have an account. This presumes you’re moving out of your previous provider’s service area. This isn’t always the case, with large national-scale providers like Comcast. That’s assuming you don’t take the opportunity to flee your current provider’s incompetent and insulting customer service. Hypothetically. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/9 "2017-05-04T13:28:15Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Just go ahead and change it to something like Gmail. You will probably move sooner or later and have to change it anyway. Here are some posts on how to forward from Mediacom to Gmail: > > [forward mediacom email to gmail - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?num=100&q=forward+mediacom+email+to+gmail) > > Go through all the sites you regularly get mail from (Amazon, banking, etc) and systematically change the addresses to your new one. And notify all your correspondents about your new address. Thanks for the advice. I think I will change it and keep the old one just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/10 "2017-05-04T13:39:26Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Thanks for the advice. I think I will change it and keep the old one just in case. That’s the right way to do it anyway: Set up the new address and start using it Monitor the old address - any time you get a message there from someone you want to stay in touch with, respond and ask them to update their contacts to reflect your new address Eventually, all worthwhile email into the old address dries up and you can just stop using it. \*\*Don’t \*\*set up forwarding on the old address (it will mask any problems with people still using your old address, right up until the day when it shuts down and suddenly you have lost contact with people. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/11 "2017-05-04T14:03:21Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > This presumes you’re moving out of your previous provider’s service area. This isn’t always the case, with large national-scale providers like Comcast. Ok but, I wasn’t answering the question “how does moving guarantee in every single instance ever that you will definitly without question have to change your email?” I was answering the question “Why would someone who is moving have to change their email address?” And I gave a good answer. Your answer doesn’t answer anything except to correct me on an answer I wasn’t even giving. So like, chill. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/12 "2017-05-04T17:40:35Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > That’s the right way to do it anyway: > > Set up the new address and start using it > Monitor the old address - any time you get a message there from someone you want to stay in touch with, respond and ask them to update their contacts to reflect your new address > Eventually, all worthwhile email into the old address dries up and you can just stop using it. > > \*\*Don’t \*\*set up forwarding on the old address (it will mask any problems with people still using your old address, right up until the day when it shuts down and suddenly you have lost contact with people. No. As soon as reach the point where you are only getting non-spam emails via Mediacom only occasionally the overwhelming majority of people will quit monitoring Mediacom everyday. Consequently you will won’t look at the urgent emails from people or companies you only hear from occasionally until it is too late. What you need to do is: 1. Set up forwarding from [Media.com](http://Media.com) to your primary Inbox as I suggested and 2. Set up a system to also flag the Mediacom email so you can go through it from time to time to make sure you notify so addresses are changed. For example you might set up a filter in Gmail so that email which has your Mediacom address is both sent to your Inbox folder and a separate Mediacom folder. Or you could both leave email in Mediacom and forward it to Gmail (and then check out out your Mediacom folder from time to time). ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/13 "2017-05-04T19:23:09Z")
You can also set up an autoresponder in your new inbox so that any mail that’s autoforwarded from Mediacom also gets an autoresponse saying “Hey, this is TRC4941, and my new email address is [TRC4941@gmail.com](mailto:TRC4941@gmail.com). Please update your contacts.” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/14 "2017-05-04T19:47:27Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > You can also set up an autoresponder in your new inbox so that any mail that’s autoforwarded from Mediacom also gets an autoresponse saying “Hey, this is TRC4941, and my new email address is [TRC4941@gmail.com](mailto:TRC4941@gmail.com). Please update your contacts.” 1. As long as the autorespond is to the right people only. If someone you don’t want to know your new email address (certain quasi-spammers, for example), they could get your new email address. (A lot of spam comes from compromised machines and may not get or notice the autoresponse.) If you have a list of the right people anyway, just a single bcc email to the list of those addressees to notify them has the same effect. 1. A lot of corporate email has a no-not-reply address to the header. So an email from a utility, for example, will end up with an autoresponse to nowhere. * * * If you set up forwarding from the old address to the new and you have a Gmail type new provider, you can set up a filter to copy email sent to the old address to a folder where you can check who needs the new address. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address/785810/15 "2017-05-04T19:54:45Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > I agree that changing it shouldn’t be a big deal. I suspect that part of the “big deal” that the OP is worried about is that just about every website on which you have an account uses your email address to identify you. Changing your email would then involve going to lots and lots of websites and figuring out how (or whether) you can change the email address they use to identify you.