A few years ago, I chronicled the journey I went on to manually merge two Apple ID accounts into one.
I was attempting to rectify a problem that I and many other long-time Apple users had been stuck with: Our data—emails, contacts, movie and app purchases, photos, logins, and more—was spread across two different Apple accounts. This segregation made accessing this data on our various devices a chore. Imagine opening your closet to look for a specific shirt, only to realize it’s hanging instead in the closet at your old house across town.
The process took me days. At the time, Apple provided no automated way for users to merge two Apple IDs. Yet, this week that finally changed—well, kinda. Apple has now developed an official way for users to automatically migrate some Apple account data from one account to another. Here’s what you need to know about the new process.
The two Apple ID problem
If you’ve only ever had one Apple ID, the login you use for all your Apple services—iCloud, App Store purchases, music streaming, Apple Pay, Apple Card, or anything else that falls under Apple’s ecosystem—you’re probably a bit confused as to why someone would have this data spread across two different accounts.
The explanation, in my case, goes back 20 or so years. Before iCloud was introduced, in 2011, Apple offered various other email accounts, including dotMac and MobileMe, the former of which had served as my Apple ID—the login associated with my iTunes music store account, where I bought songs and digital movies. But then, in 2011, like many others, I signed up for a new iCloud account, mainly so I could get a different email address (one I liked better).
However, this now left me with two Apple IDs: one for my media purchases and the other for my email and other online Apple services. At first, this wasn’t a problem, but over time as Apple’s services offering grew both more robust and more integrated, having data segregated across two Apple IDs led to an increasingly poor user experience. For example, if you wanted to access your documents in iCloud on your Mac, you would need to sign into one Apple ID, but then if you wanted to access your movie purchases as well, you’d need to sign into another. Soon, it wasn’t uncommon to forget which Apple ID held which data.
To say that these challenges annoyed longtime Apple users like me is an understatement. The two Apple ID problem was a rare flaw in Apple’s tightly-knit “it just works” ecosystem. But now, it’s a flaw that Apple has finally taken a step to fix.
How to migrate digital purchases from two Apple accounts into one
This week, Apple surprised everyone by posting a support document revealing that it now provided a (pretty) straightforward way to merge two Apple accounts—to a degree. (Note: As of iOS 18, Apple has renamed the “Apple ID” to “Apple Account,” but the terms remain relatively interchangeable.)
However, Apple’s solution is not perfect. It only lets a user migrate their digital purchases—including apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books—from one Apple Account to another. You still cannot migrate other associated Apple Account data such as iCloud emails, contacts, passes, and Apple Pay cards using the tool.
Yet, by allowing the migration of digital purchases, Apple has negated one of the biggest pain points of manually merging two Apple IDs into one. Previously there was no way to move digital purchases from one Apple ID to another. That meant if you wanted to ditch one Apple Account for good, you’d also need to ditch the software and media you purchased with that account.
But no more. Apple’s new tool means you no longer have to accept this loss of your digital assets. Its method of migrating digital purchases from one Apple Account to another is also pretty easy—once you have the initial prep out of the way, such as making sure your software is up to date, you know your passwords for both accounts, and you have your payment details for both accounts.
If you want to go through the merger process, you can find Apple’s full instructions and requirements here. It’s also a good idea to read this additional support document that dives deeper into the migration process.
Apple’s new account migration tool is promising—but it needs to go further
People with hundreds or thousands of dollars invested in movies, books, apps, and other digital content they purchased from Apple across two different Apple IDs are sure to love the company’s new migration offering. No doubt about it—it’s a great first step.
However, it still doesn’t address all the other problems that arise for those who are still stuck with two Apple IDs. Not only can you still not automatically merge iCloud data (your emails, documents, bookmarks, and more) between two different Apple Accounts, but you also still cannot automatically migrate other critical data, such as your Apple Pay cards, Wallet passes, Sign in with Apple logins, Hide My Email addresses, or passwords.
Hopefully, Apple will address these limitations with a future update to its new tool. Until it does, those who want to merge every aspect of two Apple IDs into one are still on their own.
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