WASHINGTON — After much anticipation, Google has unveiled a new feature that will enable users to modify their Gmail addresses. This update is particularly beneficial for those wishing to move away from outdated or embarrassing email handles from their younger years, although it may take some time before it becomes widely available.

Currently, this feature seems to be available primarily in India and other regions where Hindi is prevalent, as indicated on the Hindi version of Google’s support page.

This change allows users to keep their data and services intact while adopting a new Gmail address. The Hindi support page notes that the feature will be “gradually rolled out to all users,” suggesting a potential worldwide release in the near future.

At present, Google’s English help page still states that @gmail.com addresses “usually cannot be changed.” Those desiring a new Gmail address must typically set up a new account and manually migrate their data.

Google’s English-language help page maintains that @gmail.com addresses “usually cannot be changed.” User who want a new Gmail address currently have to create a new account and transfer their data manually. 

Under the new change, users will be able to change their email address and keep their original one as an alias. Emails sent to the old email address will continue to arrive in the inbox, and the original address can still be used to sign in to Google Drive, Maps, and YouTube, according to the Hindi support page translation.

According to Google, photos, messages and other data won’t be affected by the change.

The old Gmail address can be reused at any time, but the support page warns that a new email address for a Google Account cannot be created for the following year. Additionally, you cannot delete your new email address once it has been changed.