We're making changes to the Community, so you may have received some notifications - thanks for your patience and welcome back. Learn more here.
Forum Discussion
rlloyd
3 years agoExplorer | Level 3
Email address already taken
My main dropbox account is linked to an old email address that I no longer use.
I have tried to change the email address to the one I use but it is already taken, by me.
I have paid for a space upgrade for Dropbox on my PC (old email address) but can't access the extra space on my lap top (new email address). I don't want to pay for another upgrade.
I think I might have to cancel both accounts completely and start again. But doing that I'll lose my upgrade?
Sorry to jump in here, rlloyd and sorry to see you're having trouble.
Do you have access to your Dropbox accounts, both free and paid?
If so, a workaround for this would be to login to the free one, replace the email address with a third, placeholder address , which will free up the one you want to use.
Then, you can login to your paid account and update it with that email address.
I hope that makes sense!
- WalterDropbox Staff
Hey rlloyd, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.
The message you get means that there's already a Dropbox account associated with the email address you're trying to use.
Have you tried resetting its password to regain access to that account by any chance?
Keep me posted!
- apprehendSeasideNew member | Level 2
Hi DB-Community,
I have a private account and lately one for business. Now I wanted to switch the e-mail adresses, because I pay for the private one and want to use the features for business. Reason is, when I share a folder with a customer my -notSoProfessional- private adress appears.
Problem here:
I changed the business account to a third adress. Everything is fine.
I tried to change the private adress to the -now not in use- business adress. Get the respond, that this adress is already taken.
My question:
Is this just a matter of time? Or can I do something to solve this problem? On saturday without official support.
Greetings from germany, Damian
(Couldn't find an answer. Sorry if repost)
- MeganDropbox Staff
Hi apprehendSeaside, happy Monday!
If you get a message stating that there's already a Dropbox account under that email address, then that's most likely the case.
Can you try accessing the Dropbox account of said email address, and see what you'll find there?
Keep me posted of the results.
- james573_New member | Level 2
change email with problem for new email drop box says new email is used. How do I fix
- RichSuper User II
james573_ wrote:
change email with problem for new email drop box says new email is used. How do I fix
If you're getting a message that says the email is already in use, then there's already a Dropbox account associated with that email address. Sign in to the account using the new email address, resetting the password if needed, and see if there's anything in the account that you need. If not, delete the account and that will free up the email address to be used on your other account.
- MarkSuper User II
That means, as the error says, you have an account already with that email.
So, you need to log in to it and either change the email on that account or delete it. To get a log in password go to www.dropbox.com/forgot and ask for a password reset.
- ethet555New member | Level 2
I am trying to change my Dropbox account email to my new email. When I do, it says that it is already in use. What do I do?
- HannahDropbox Staff
- lkoomlerNew member | Level 2
appears that I have 2 drop box accounts but when i try and change to the correct email address...it responds by saying, that email is already taken.
- MarkSuper User II
The second email must be on the other account, so, you need to log on to that account (use www.dropbox.com/forgot if you are unsure of a password) and EITHER delete it or change the email on it. Then you can use the email on the account you want to.
- Pete17New member | Level 2
I just found out that I have 2 Dropbox accounts. My paid one which I have had for years and a new one which allows me to login using my Google login details. I need to change the email/login for my current paid account as that email address is dying. Easy as, except I found out the email I want to change it to is the same email as the Dropbox account that uses Google to login. (I don't actually remember creating this account). Dropbox says the email address I want to change it to is already taken. Which is correct - by me! I only want 1 Dropbox account.
I know how to move the files from one account to the other using a Shared Folder. However, my Dropbox /Google login account only has 2Gb of space whereas my paid account had 2 Tb. Therefore, the files will not fit. Do I,
- Pay to upgrade my Dropbox/Google account.
- Move all my stuff over.
- Cancel my current paid account.
or
- Cancel my Dropbox/Google login account.
- Hopefully that frees up that email address and then change the email in my current paid account.
Any help would be great.
Pete
- HannahDropbox Staff
Hey Pete17, thanks for reaching out about this.
I'd suggest you take a look into this article.
It will give you info and a workaround on how you can go about this issue.
Let me know if you have any questions, of course!
- Mud PuppyNew member | Level 2
I have 2 emails associated with Dropbox. One I originally opened my account with and another that people keep sending to. Since people use the 2nd email so much I tried changing my account email to that email but the system won't let that happen. It says that email is already in use.
Eventually I will loose the first email as it was my college email so I do have to fix this issue and in the meantime a lot of stuff sent to me I cannot access.
- MeganDropbox Staff
Hi Mud Puppy, welcome to our Community!
I merged your original post under this thread, in order to keep the same topic at one place.
Feel free to have a look at what my colleague, Hannah mentioned right here.
If you have any questions, I'll be at your service.
- AnupKarnaniExplorer | Level 3
I want to change my email ID from [removed] to [removed] as the earlier email domain is shut.
When I try to do the same an error pops up stating - Email is already taken.
Need quicker resolution
[personal info removed per the Dropbox Community Guidelines]
- HannahDropbox Staff
Hey AnupKarnani, thanks for reaching out to us.
If you're getting a message that the email you're trying to use for your Dropbox account is already taken, that means that an existing Dropbox account is already using that email.
Perhaps it's an account you had created in the past or forgot about; have you tried logging in to it?
If you don't remember the password, you can reset it here.
- AnupKarnaniExplorer | Level 3
Thank you for your reply.
Do I need to create a new account to change my email ID?
- lynpymNew member | Level 2
Dropbox won't accept my valid email address that I use daily on dozens of sites and in emailing. When I entered my other email address to see if that would be accepted, I got a message that that address was already taken. What do it?
- RichSuper User II
lynpym wrote:
When I entered my other email address to see if that would be accepted, I got a message that that address was already taken.
That means there's already a Dropbox account that uses that email address. Use that email address to sign in, instead of creating an account. Reset the password if needed.
- Scrensh10New member | Level 2I can't change my email address. Dropbox has an inactive email address and when I add my new email it says, already in use.
- Email change help pleaseNew member | Level 2
I want to amend my email from a personal to work email but I keep getting the message that " This email is already taken"
- MarkSuper User II
That means, as it says, you already have an account with that email.
So, you need to log on to it by using a password reset at www.dropbox.com/forgot and either deleting the account OR changing the email on it to a different one
About Settings and Preferences
The Dropbox Community is here to help if you have questions about your account settings and preferences. Learn and share advice with members.
Need more support
If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.
For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.
If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!