Ramifications of Migrating Email Address Associated with Google Account

[davpel]

I have a strange and somewhat complicated question. Many years ago, I created a Google Apps (now Workspace) account and used my custom domain name for my personal email address. My MX records for that address point to the Google mail servers. I have used that custom email address not only for my mail, but as the primary address on my Android devices, for Play Store purchases, Google Photos, etc.

I would like to move my custom email address away from Google Workspace to a new provider and, at the same time, close my Workspace account. Obviously, the email address will stay the same after this change -- it will simply no longer be associated with Google's mail servers.

The question is what happens to if I attempt to sign in on my Android device with that address? Will there still be an account? Will my Play Store purchases still be available?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bla1ze]

That's a good question. As far as I know, you can move the email address by changing the MX records, but you can't 'kill off' the account. If you delete the account entirely, everything else will go with it. It will just be a vacated account where the email will no longer work.

 

[spARTacus]

Although nowadays the google site always tries to get people to default to using a gmail email address for username when creating a google account (for use with playStore, etc...), I think one can still otherwise force the creation of a new google account to use a non-gmail email address (eg: using a hotmail or outlook email address, or a personal domain email address). I always assumed that the email address (being either gmail or something else) is only being used as the account username, regardless of the fact that for most folks their gmail email also happens to be handled by google. I think there also used be a way to change the email address (username) associated to one's google account to a different email address. If that feature still exists, then that might also help confirm whether the email address is really indeed only just a username for the account.