Outlook.com users can now rename an account to any email alias

After killing off linked accounts in favor of aliases back in June, Microsoft is now simplifying its approach to secondary email addresses on Outlook.com. The software maker has long supported the ability to rename an Outlook.com primary email address to a newly created alias, but existing aliases were always left out. Microsoft is now rolling out a change to its alias support today that lets Outlook.com users rename their primary email address to any secondary existing alias.

Outlook.com already supports sign in with any alias linked to an account, but the rename will set the new address as the primary and alter the email address shown on the Windows 8 Start Screen and Xbox dashboard. Microsoft previously revealed it's working on the ability to "move an alias," by moving an email address and content from one account to another. There's no news on this support, but if Microsoft successfully builds it, future Outlook.com users should be able to add a completely separate Microsoft Account as an alias. A welcome change for those who have to manage multiple separate email addresses and miss the linked accounts feature.