User profile for user: John_Ball_007
John_Ball_007 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Custom Email Domain - Move Address between Users

This is almost a duplicate of a problem in January of 2023.


I was setting up email with my own domain for my wife and I. Mine was setup and then I couldn't see how to add her email address so I chose the only option in front of me to add another address. It assigned her email address to me -- not what I want. So I deleted it.


Soon after I went to her iPhone and added her details. It fails with "The email address is not available." The quote below from the old record captures the problem.


I need to fix this since we have only 2 email addresses and her name is beth, so we want b****@company.com not something non-standard (we have lots of domains for business!)


Do I need to completely delete the domain to fix this? It can't be that we need to change from Apple to another supplier because I couldn't follow the menu the first time through!


"I want to move an address for my custom domain from one user to another - both are members of my iCloud family. I have deleted the address from user A, but I get the following error message when I try to add it to user B."



[Edited by Moderator]

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 15.5

Posted on Jun 29, 2025 6:07 PM

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User profile for user: zinacef
zinacef
User level: Level 10
88,678 points

Jul 3, 2025 2:46 PM in response to John_Ball_007

What happened is that when you were trying to set up your wife’s custom email address, you accidentally assigned it to yourself. After realizing the mistake, you deleted it, hoping you could then assign it to her. But when you tried to add her email to her iPhone, you got the message saying, “The email address is not available.”


This happens because when you delete a custom email address from your iCloud account, Apple’s system still holds onto it for a while. Even though it looks like it's gone, the system treats it as if it’s still in use. This is why you're not able to immediately assign it to your wife’s Apple ID. Apple does this to prevent errors and accidental reuse, but it ends up causing more confusion in situations like yours.


A faster and more reliable solution is to remove the entire custom domain from your iCloud account and then set it up again from scratch. To do this, go to iCloud.com, click on Mail, and open the Settings (gear icon in the bottom corner). Choose “Custom Email Domain” and remove the domain completely. After a few minutes, re-add the domain, and during setup, assign the correct email address to your wife’s iCloud account. She’ll then get a prompt on her iPhone to activate and start using the email.


If that still doesn’t work, your best bet is to contact Apple Support and explain the situation. They may be able to manually release the email address and help assign it correctly. Since this is a known issue, they’ll understand what you’re talking about.


You definitely don’t need to switch email providers just because of this. Once it’s set up properly, Apple’s custom domain email works well. It’s just the setup process that can be confusing the first time. 

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User profile for user: John_Ball_007
John_Ball_007 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Jul 4, 2025 10:27 PM in response to zinacef

Yes, I had tried that and also contacted Apple to help.


So far no response from the specialist who we were told will contact us next.


I completely deleted the domain from the settings, and then added soon afterwards. No luck. It might be because I did not accept it on my computer and it stores some kind of tracker on my PC that isn't deleted. Or maybe it saves something on my wife's iPhone. I'll try again. I agree that it **shouldn't** be a terminal problem.


It's just a timing issue since a 30-minute setup task is taking many days, requiring very high-level technical support for a setup issue. I'm used to Google admin that has me control the registration process. Here, it requires the users to configure their own addresses but the interface doesn't indicate anything helpful.

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User profile for user: John_Ball_007
John_Ball_007 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Jul 4, 2025 11:18 PM in response to zinacef

I have tried everything in the procedure again. No luck. The system remembers that I briefly added ***@domain.com and will not allow me to define 1 of the 2 names required. I fully deleted the domain name and made sure that no device still showed any registration. I waited another hour, added another domain that we use, and added it back in.


The same problem remains. When I add that user name to my wife's account it says "This email address is not available..."


I was wrong earlier, this problem started 6 full days ago and I escalated to Apple support, including an hour talking to someone who wanted to repeat all the steps to prove the problem is not user error. Then it was submitted to a higher level of support who has yet to contact me back.


Maybe this is a terminal issue with mail?

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User profile for user: John_Ball_007
John_Ball_007 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Jul 7, 2025 6:17 PM in response to John_Ball_007

I'm still waiting for the Apple specialist to respond. It seems odd that a known limitation can't be diagnosed when the exact sequence of steps was identified and that would be typical without a (highly improbable) detailed understanding of the coding used to create the form. A better form with explanations would vastly reduce the likelihood of the problem

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Custom Email Domain - Move Address between Users

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