How to rename an email account

Introduction

How can I change the email address of an account?

Procedure

There is not a built-in way to perform this work in cPanel, so performing the following is the best way to make that change on the system:

• Create a backup of the cPanel account first just in case you run into problems with these steps.
• Create a new email account in cPanel with the name you'd like to use.
• Use a tool like rsync to move the email between accounts.  Email data is located in /home/username/mail/domain.com/emailaddress
• Once the mail is copied, access the new email account and confirm you can see the messages.
• After you have confirmed things are working you can delete the old account.
• If you are performing this work due to a name change or employee change, it may be a good idea to setup a forwarder from the old to the new account to avoid any confusion or lost messages in the future.