title: Email addresses

intro: 'Learn about the different types of email addresses you can associate with your {% data variables.product.github %} account—primary, backup, commit, and noreply—and how each type is used for account management, security, and commit attribution.'

versions:

fpt: '*'

ghes: '*'

ghec: '*'

topics:

- Accounts

- Fundamentals

- Profile

shortTitle: Email addresses

{% data variables.product.github %} allows you to add as many email addresses to your account as you like. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/account-and-profile/how-tos/setting-up-and-managing-your-personal-account-on-github/managing-email-preferences/adding-an-email-address-to-your-github-account).

If you set an email address in your local Git configuration, you will need to add it to your account settings in order to connect your commits to your account. For more information about your email address and commits, see [Commit email addresses](#commit-email-addresses) below.

You can change the email address associated with your personal account at any time. You cannot change your primary email address to an email that is already set to be your backup email address. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/account-and-profile/how-tos/setting-up-and-managing-your-personal-account-on-github/managing-email-preferences/changing-your-primary-email-address).

You can verify your email address after signing up for a new account, or when you add a new email address. If an email address is undeliverable or bouncing, it will be unverified.

Having an unverified email address does not affect most actions you can take on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}. However, we **recommend email verification** to prevent potential exploitation of third-party {% data variables.product.prodname_github_apps %} and {% data variables.product.prodname_oauth_apps %} which may not have followed our best practices around secure authentication methods for apps.

For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/free-pro-team@latest/account-and-profile/how-tos/setting-up-and-managing-your-personal-account-on-github/managing-email-preferences/verifying-your-email-address).

For Enterprise Managed Users (EMUs), email addresses are no longer automatically verified. This prevents unauthorized access and potential data leaks from third-party {% data variables.product.prodname_github_apps %} and OAuth applications that rely on email addresses as a primary identifier.

Until you verify your email address, your account will use a placeholder email address with your enterprise's shortcode appended for certain operations. For example, the [AUTOTITLE](/rest/users/users) and [AUTOTITLE](/rest/users/emails) will return `email+shortcode@domain.com`. In rare cases, you may find that your company's email provider does not handle the placeholder email correctly, or that the placeholder prevents you from accessing some third-party {% data variables.product.prodname_github_apps %} and {% data variables.product.prodname_oauth_apps %}.

Once you verify an email with a {% data variables.enterprise.prodname_managed_user %}, you won't be able to use the email to sign up for a personal account on {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom_the_website %}.

{% data variables.product.github %} uses your commit email address to associate commits with your account on {% data variables.product.github %}. You can choose the email address that will be associated with the commits you push from the command line as well as web-based Git operations you make.

For web-based Git operations, you can set your commit email address on {% data variables.product.github %}. For commits you push from the command line, you can set your commit email address in Git.

{% ifversion fpt or ghec %}Any commits you made prior to changing your commit email address are still associated with your previous email address.{% else %}After changing your commit email address on {% data variables.product.github %}, the new email address will be visible in all of your future web-based Git operations by default. Any commits you made prior to changing your commit email address are still associated with your previous email address.{% endif %}

{% ifversion fpt or ghec %}To use your `noreply` email address for commits you push from the command line, use that email address when you set your commit email address in Git. To use your `noreply` address for web-based Git operations, set your commit email address on GitHub and choose to **Keep my email address private**.

You can also choose to block commits you push from the command line that expose your personal email address. For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/account-and-profile/setting-up-and-managing-your-personal-account-on-github/managing-email-preferences/blocking-command-line-pushes-that-expose-your-personal-email-address).{% endif %}

To ensure that commits are attributed to you and appear in your contributions graph, use an email address that is connected to your account on {% data variables.product.github %}{% ifversion fpt or ghec %}, or the `noreply` email address provided to you in your email settings{% endif %}.

For more information, see [AUTOTITLE](/account-and-profile/how-tos/setting-up-and-managing-your-personal-account-on-github/managing-email-preferences/setting-your-commit-email-address).

* For how-to procedures on managing your email preferences, see [AUTOTITLE](/account-and-profile/how-tos/setting-up-and-managing-your-personal-account-on-github/managing-email-preferences).

* For email address reference information, see [AUTOTITLE](/account-and-profile/reference/email-addresses-reference).

- /email-addresses

intro: 'You can add multiple email addresses to your {% data variables.product.github %} account to manage commits and notifications.'

{% ifversion ghec %}

If you are having trouble adding an email address, see [AUTOTITLE](/account-and-profile/how-tos/setting-up-and-managing-your-personal-account-on-github/managing-email-preferences/troubleshooting-adding-an-email).

When you enable this setting, each time you push to {% data variables.product.github %}, we’ll check the most recent commit. If the author email on that commit is a private email on your GitHub account, we will block the push and warn you about exposing your private email.

intro: You can add or change the email addresses associated with your account. You can also manage emails you receive from {% data variables.product.github %}.

- /troubleshooting-adding-an-email

- /troubleshooting-email-verification

To learn more about using a private email address, see [AUTOTITLE](/account-and-profile/reference/email-addresses-reference#your-noreply-email-address).

title: Troubleshooting adding an email

intro: 'Troubleshoot problems when adding an email address to your {% data variables.product.github %} account.'

versions:

fpt: '*'

ghes: '*'

ghec: '*'

topics:

- Accounts

- Notifications

- Troubleshooting

shortTitle: Troubleshoot adding an email

If you see the error message `Error adding EMAIL: email is already in use`, it means the email address is already linked to another {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} account. An email address can only be associated with one {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} account at a time.

To use this email with a different account, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the account currently linked to the email address and remove it from that account.

1. If you don’t have access to the account, request a password reset email to recover it. See [AUTOTITLE](/authentication/keeping-your-account-and-data-secure/updating-your-github-access-credentials).

If the email address that you are trying to add is provided to you by your organization, you may see the `Error adding EMAIL: email is already in use` error when your organization has created a {% data variables.enterprise.prodname_managed_user %} for you in their {% data variables.enterprise.prodname_emu_enterprise %}.

Reach out to your site administrator or internal IT helpdesk to learn about their deployment of {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %} and how to access the account. You may be able to sign into the {% data variables.product.prodname_ghe_cloud %} application via the organization's identity provider (IdP).

If you want to use your email address with a personal account, you must sign in to your {% data variables.enterprise.prodname_managed_user %} and unverify the email in your account settings. The email will remain linked to your {% data variables.enterprise.prodname_managed_user %}, allowing you to access the account through your organization's IdP.

However, some third-party apps or services may not function properly with a {% data variables.enterprise.prodname_managed_user %} that has an unverified email address.