Want to change your Gmail address? Thankfully now you can - here's how

If you've had second thoughts about your Google Account username - which is the first part of your Gmail address, of course - then it's now possible to change it in the US.

TechCrunch spotted the announcement to this effect from Google, which means you can switch that username without having to start a new account from scratch (and that's obviously a less than ideal solution).

This ability actually began to roll out last year in the US, but Google has officially announced that it's now available to everyone (with a Google Account, naturally).

So, how do you go about a name switch? Google provides more info here, or you can watch the above video for instructions, but to save you the trouble, here's the short written version: head to your Google Account settings, tap on 'Personal Info', tap on the 'Email' option, and then finally hit 'Google Account Email'.

In here you'll see the button to change your email, so select that, and pick your new name. Obviously enough, you won't be able to choose an email that's already been taken - so prepare to add a bunch of random numbers or symbols on.

If you're wondering what might happen to any messages sent to your old (current) email address, it'll still be kept on your account, and they'll still arrive in your inbox as normal, as you'd expect.

Another caveat to be aware of here is that it's only possible to create a new email once per year, so have a long, hard think about what new username you're going to adopt.