I have two Apple IDs. One for my computer and one for my iPhone. I would like to get everything under one ID. I've seen videos using AnyTrans to do this. I just need to know once I log into a different Apple ID on my phone to the other one, will all of my apps disappear? The other question is, my purchased music on my phone, will that be able to be transferred to my computer Apple ID? Thank you for your help!
iPhone 12
A correction to a previous statement. All of the apps won't disappear. They will stay there (I did that once with an iPhone and all the old apps stayed put) but will no longer update. In addition, should you need to reinstall them they will only do so with the original account used to purchase them or if you set up Family Sharing between the accounts.
Apple has no formal account merging or transferring process. The things below will help you in doing ongoing or one-time transfer of as much as possible from one account to the other, but some things can never be transferred (namely purchases), only shared.
You can use various iCloud sharing features for some ongoing data sharing.
Share folders with iCloud Drive --> Share files and folders in iCloud Drive on iCloud.com - Apple Support
Read How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Apple Support about how to share photos.
Apps and media bought with one ID are permanently associated with that ID. Look into using Family Sharing to continue to be able to use items purchased with one Apple ID with other Apple IDs, and for some data sharing features.
- Family Sharing - What is Family Sharing? - Apple Support
- Set up Family Sharing - Set up Family Sharing - Apple Support
The next section may sound tricky but it lets you merge some things on a device where you have already signed in with an old account but want to use a new account and incorporate data that is already on the device from the old account. Incidentally, the data will then propagate to other devices using iCloud with that new ID. (I haven't tried this with a computer but it may also work with a computer account signed into an old ID.)
If you have signed into the first ID on a device then fortunately when you sign out of that ID it asks you if you wish to retain the data from the old ID on your device (toggle the ones you want to on). If you keep data on the device then when you sign in with the other ID it will merge this data with the account signing into the device. You can later delete individual items from the old ID that you do not want. Similar information can be found in this post I have 2 apple IDs i want to merge them h… - Apple Community Note that only content physically present on the device like contacts, photos and videos will be retained. Meta data such as a game play scores that are tied to a specific ID or are only on a vendor's database remotely will not be retained. Also turn off storage optimization before doing this. With Optimize Storage, smaller, space-saving photos and videos are kept on your device while all of your original, full-resolution versions are stored in iCloud. Make sure photo optimization is turned off so the full quality versions from the old account are actually on the device before merging the content into your new account. Manage your photo storage - Apple Support You can turn optimization back on again once you are fully using your new ID on the device.
Even though apps may remain on a device and may work for a while, you will not be able to update them or redownload them unless you buy them again with this ID or download them with this ID using Family Sharing.
Sign out of iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac --> Sign out of iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac - Apple Support
If another Apple ID is signed in you may need to enter the password for that ID to sign out of that ID first.
Click on this link to learn how to 'Sign in with your Apple ID' --> Sign in with your Apple ID - Apple Support
A correction to a previous statement. All of the apps won't disappear. They will stay there (I did that once with an iPhone and all the old apps stayed put) but will no longer update. In addition, should you need to reinstall them they will only do so with the original account used to purchase them or if you set up Family Sharing between the accounts.
Apple has no formal account merging or transferring process. The things below will help you in doing ongoing or one-time transfer of as much as possible from one account to the other, but some things can never be transferred (namely purchases), only shared.
You can use various iCloud sharing features for some ongoing data sharing.
Share folders with iCloud Drive --> Share files and folders in iCloud Drive on iCloud.com - Apple Support
Read How to use Shared Albums in Photos on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac - Apple Support about how to share photos.
Apps and media bought with one ID are permanently associated with that ID. Look into using Family Sharing to continue to be able to use items purchased with one Apple ID with other Apple IDs, and for some data sharing features.
- Family Sharing - What is Family Sharing? - Apple Support
- Set up Family Sharing - Set up Family Sharing - Apple Support
The next section may sound tricky but it lets you merge some things on a device where you have already signed in with an old account but want to use a new account and incorporate data that is already on the device from the old account. Incidentally, the data will then propagate to other devices using iCloud with that new ID. (I haven't tried this with a computer but it may also work with a computer account signed into an old ID.)
If you have signed into the first ID on a device then fortunately when you sign out of that ID it asks you if you wish to retain the data from the old ID on your device (toggle the ones you want to on). If you keep data on the device then when you sign in with the other ID it will merge this data with the account signing into the device. You can later delete individual items from the old ID that you do not want. Similar information can be found in this post I have 2 apple IDs i want to merge them h… - Apple Community Note that only content physically present on the device like contacts, photos and videos will be retained. Meta data such as a game play scores that are tied to a specific ID or are only on a vendor's database remotely will not be retained. Also turn off storage optimization before doing this. With Optimize Storage, smaller, space-saving photos and videos are kept on your device while all of your original, full-resolution versions are stored in iCloud. Make sure photo optimization is turned off so the full quality versions from the old account are actually on the device before merging the content into your new account. Manage your photo storage - Apple Support You can turn optimization back on again once you are fully using your new ID on the device.
Even though apps may remain on a device and may work for a while, you will not be able to update them or redownload them unless you buy them again with this ID or download them with this ID using Family Sharing.
Sign out of iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac --> Sign out of iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac - Apple Support
If another Apple ID is signed in you may need to enter the password for that ID to sign out of that ID first.
Click on this link to learn how to 'Sign in with your Apple ID' --> Sign in with your Apple ID - Apple Support
It is not officially supported to merge Apple ID's.
If you log in to a new appel id on your iPhone, all off the apps that you've bought with the previous Apple ID will disappear, as app purchases are tied to the Apple ID that you've bought them with
You will ultimately need to re-download all apps you have gotten using the first ID, free or not, or Family Share them (if they are free then it is easier downloading new with the new ID than bothering with Family Sharing).
Any app and version you have on the phone currently should continue to work unless it is using a service which uses the other Apple ID to interface with something. That happened when I was given a phone belonging to a deceased relative and was asked not to erase it for a while in case the wife didn't have all the information on it. I found that most apps still worked but there was one that required a log-in to the service using the previous owner's information. Ultimately though, when I wanted to update any apps I had to do so using my Apple ID because it kept on asking for the old ID. At that point the wife no longer needed me to keep the stuff on the phone and I just erased the entire device so I could start fresh. In your case you probably won't want to erase the device though.
Thank you again! I should have prefaced my original question with the fact that I'm getting ready to upgrade my computer to a Mac Studio (currently running late 2014 iMac 27). I am going to do a clean install of everything. So I don't have to mess with everything on my phone, and because I have the larger iCloud plan with that ID, I'm thinking I should set my new computer up using that apple id. My iMessages is already using it on my current computer but in the system folder it shows my alternate one. I use all the programs for graphic design (ie Adobe CC, Microsoft Office, etc.). If I start using my phone apple ID on my new computer, do you think that will affect my subscription-based programs? The image below is from my current computer. The one on the right is the i.d. I use on my phone. Thank you!
In a bit of a rush now. If you have an app of any sort subscribed through Apple it needs to be signed into that ID to update.
Limnos this is fantastic. Thank you so much for your time spent on explaining this! I searched and searched the archives and nothing like this showed up! You are the bomb! Thank you again!
I have just one question: I only have one app that I paid for. All the others are free downloads. Will I need to reinstall those if I switch to the second ID? My computer uses AppleID "A" in the system preferences but my iMessages on my computer uses AppleID "B" because that's what my phone uses. It's a nightmare lol!
Transferring files from one Apple ID to another
