Learn how to change the email address to start new iMessages conversations from on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac for privacy and other reasons.
iMessage is great for keeping in touch with your friends and family. Some people also use iMessage to answer Craigslist ads and message people at work. But do you really want to reveal your personal phone number and email address to complete strangers on Craigslist or colleagues from work?
I suppose not. That’s why you can configure iMessage with multiple email addresses, and change the one used for sending new chats at any moment. For example, you may switch to a different iMessage email handle when messaging those kinds of people, which will keep your main email address private, and here’s how.
Choose an email address to start new iMessages from
This setting doesn’t sync across devices; you can choose one iMessage email address on your iPhone, another one on your iPad, and so forth.
iPhone and iPad
Go to Settings > Apps > Messages > Send & Receive and select one of the email addresses listed you’d like to use to start new chats from on this device.
You can also set a phone number instead of an email address for iMessage.
The selected email address (or phone number) is now used to start new chats from. When the recipient receives your iMessage, they’ll see your email address or phone number. other contact information like your address remains hidden.
If you don’t want to use the same iMessage email address for everyone, this is a great way to keep your main handle (for communicating with friends and family) hidden from co-workers, Craiglist posters, and others.
Using iMessage on multiple devices? Be sure to change your iMessage handle on each!
If the Start New Conversations From field is grayed out, only one email address or phone number is registered with iMessage, and it has to be your default. To fix this, turn on an alternative email address or phone number under ‘You Can Be Reached By iMessage At‘ and then select it in under ‘Start New Conversations From.’
Mac
In Messages for Mac, click the Messages > Settings menu and select the iMessage tab, then pick a different email address under Start new conversations from.
More on iMessage: