How to create a new email account: Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud

Creating a new email account takes about five minutes with any of the big providers. What differs is what each one asks you to hand over, and that is worth knowing before you start typing.

How do you create a new email account?

To create a new email account, pick a provider, open its sign-up page, choose the address you want, set a password, and verify the account with the code the provider sends you. Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and iCloud all work this way and all have a free plan. They differ on whether you need a phone number and which details they ask for.

Below are the exact steps for each, checked against each provider's own help pages on October 24, 2026, plus one option that asks for no phone number at all.

What each provider asks for at sign-up

Sources for each row are in the steps below. If the phone number is the deciding factor, our page on email without a phone number goes into it in more detail.

Before you start: the address is the step to slow down on

Most of the sign-up can be changed later. The address usually can't.

• Yahoo says plainly that account names can't be changed.
• Apple says "You can't rename your primary iCloud Mail email address later."
• Microsoft says addresses used for Microsoft accounts can't be reused, "even if an account was closed a long time ago."

So pick something you would be comfortable putting on a job application in ten years. Your name, or your name with an initial or a short word, ages better than a nickname. If the name you want is taken everywhere, our guide on how to make a professional email address has ways around it.

How to create a Gmail account

These steps follow Google's Create a Google Account page. A Gmail address comes with a Google Account, which also covers YouTube, Drive and Google Play.

1. Go to the Google Account sign-in page and click Create account.
2. Choose whether the account is for personal use, a child or a business.
3. Enter your name, then your birthday and gender.
4. Pick one of the Gmail addresses Google suggests, or create your own.
5. Enter and confirm a password, then click Next.
6. Google's steps list this as optional: "Add and verify a phone number for your account." If the form lets you skip it, you can.
7. Add a recovery email or phone so you can get back in if you forget the password.

The catch is step 6. Google's verify your account page says that "sometimes phone verification is required to confirm you're a real person." If a code screen won't let you continue without a number, see how to create a Gmail without a phone number.

How to create an Outlook or Hotmail account

Microsoft's account creation page says that to get a new address, "go to outlook.com and select Create free account." The sign-up page offers both @outlook.com and @hotmail.com.

1. Go to outlook.com and select Create free account.
2. Type the name you want and choose outlook.com or hotmail.com.
3. Create a password.
4. Enter your first and last name, then your birth date and country.
5. Complete the security check that confirms you are a person.
6. If you see "Help us secure your account," enter an email address or a phone number you can open. Microsoft's page for that screen says it "doesn't have to be your email or phone number," just one you can access. Enter the code it sends.

If sign-up keeps failing, Microsoft suggests trying "an alternative sign-up method, such as an email address instead of a phone number," or another device. For a child's account, Microsoft says a parent or guardian has to sign in to finish the setup. Our guide to creating an Outlook account without a phone number covers the security check errors.

How to create a Yahoo Mail account

Yahoo's sign-up help page says you will need "a password, date of birth, and a mobile number."

1. Go to the Yahoo sign-up page.
2. Enter your first and last name. The form says "All fields are required."
3. Type the name you want before @yahoo.com.
4. Create a password and enter your date of birth.
5. Agree to the terms and click Next.
6. Add your mobile number and enter the code Yahoo sends. Where texts are not available, Yahoo can send it by WhatsApp instead.

If you want a Yahoo account but not a new Yahoo inbox, Yahoo says to "Select My Email at sign-up" and use an address you already have. That route still asks for the mobile number. We cover the details, and the options if you don't want to give one, in creating a Yahoo account without a phone number.

How to create an iCloud email account

An iCloud Mail address sits on top of an Apple Account, so there are two parts. The quickest route is on an iPhone or iPad, because it can give you an iCloud address during sign-up.

On iPhone or iPad, from Apple's Apple Account page:

1. On the sign-in screen, tap Forgot password or don't have an account?, then Create a Free Apple Account.
2. Select your birthday and enter your name, then tap Continue.
3. When asked for an email address, tap Don't have an email address? to get a free iCloud email address.
4. Follow the steps to verify your email address, create a password, set your country or region and set up two-factor authentication.

Apple notes you "might be asked to enter your phone number" as you use the device, and that it "can help to verify your identity and recover your account."

If you already have an Apple Account but no iCloud address, Apple's iCloud Mail guide says to go to Settings, then your name, then iCloud, tap iCloud Mail and follow the instructions. On a computer, go to icloud.com/mail and select Create Email Address. The address has to be "more than three characters" and available.

On the web, creating a new Apple Account asks for an existing email address plus "your birthday and a phone number that you can always access," and you verify both.

How to create a private email account with no phone number

If you would rather not tie your new inbox to your phone number, Secria Mail's sign-up is three steps:

1. Go to the Secria sign-up page.
2. Enter a name, choose your @secria.me address and set a password. There is no SMS code, no second email address and no card.
3. Save your 12-word recovery phrase somewhere safe. It is your way back in if you forget your password.

The free plan includes 1 GB of storage, 2 aliases and 3 folders, with the same hybrid post-quantum encryption (ML-KEM-1024 with X25519) as every paid plan. Stored mail is protected with zero-access encryption, there are no ads, and Secria never mines your mail. Tracking pixels are removed automatically and senders never see your IP address. It works on the web, iPhone and Android, and if you need more room later, Mail Plus is $3.99 a month and Pro is $9.99 a month. Our page on free encrypted email has the full picture.

How to create a new email when you already have one

You don't have to close the old account. Every provider here lets you hold more than one.

• Gmail: you don't need to sign out. Google's page on signing in to multiple accounts says to select your profile picture, choose Add account, and follow the steps. You can then switch between accounts from the same menu without signing out.
• iCloud: if you just want another address in the same inbox, Apple lets you create up to nine @icloud.com aliases on iCloud.com.
• Any provider: an extra address that lands in your current inbox is often easier than a second account. That is what an email alias is for.

We go through the trade-offs in how to make a second email account.

What to do right after you create the account

The ten minutes after sign-up decide whether you can get back in a year from now.

1. Set up recovery. Add a recovery email you control, or save the recovery phrase or backup codes your provider gives you. Store them somewhere other than the new inbox.
2. Turn on two-step sign-in or a passkey if your provider offers one.
3. Bring your old mail if you are switching. Many providers have an import tool. Our guide on how to switch from Gmail shows the order of steps so nothing gets lost.
4. Forward the old address for a while, so mail sent there still reaches you. Here is how to forward Gmail to another email.
5. Send yourself a test email from another account, and reply to it, to make sure both directions work.

Frequently asked questions

Is it free to create a new email account?

Yes. Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, iCloud Mail and Secria Mail all have free plans. Secria's free plan needs no card, and Apple says that if you enter a payment method while creating an Apple Account, "you won't be charged until you make a purchase."

Can I create a new email account without a phone number?

With some providers. Outlook accepts an email address for verification, Gmail calls the number optional but sometimes requires it, and Yahoo requires a mobile number. Secria never asks for one.

How do I create a new email account on my iPhone?

You can sign up for any provider in Safari. For an iCloud address, use the iPhone route above: when asked for an email during Apple Account sign-up, tap Don't have an email address? If you already have an Apple Account, go to Settings, your name, iCloud, then iCloud Mail.

Can I change my email address later?

Usually not. Yahoo says account names can't be changed, and Apple says you can't rename a primary iCloud address. Instead, you add an alias or open a new account and move over.

How many email accounts can I have?

Providers limit it in different ways. Google says it limits "the number of accounts each phone number can create," without giving a figure. Apple's help page has a section for the message "the maximum number of free accounts have been activated." An alias on the account you already have avoids the question entirely.

Want a new inbox that doesn't ask for your phone number? Create a free Secria account in about a minute.