Changing default email address and display name for shared files

When you share files through Proton Drive, your recipient will receive an email invitation. This email will display your default email address from the first time you visited drive.proton.me(new window) (or the first time you visited drive.proton.me(new window) after a password reset). 

If you have changed your default email address or display name, these changes might not reflect in the email invitation your recipient sees.

The only way to change your default email address or display name for files and folders that already exist is by locking or deleting your current volume and having our support team create a new one. We do not recommend this because you will lose all your Drive data and must re-upload it, which carries risks. 

This article explains why we use default email addresses and what steps you can take to change this if necessary.

Why is the original email address and display name shown?

The email address and display name shown in the recipient’s email invite are tied to the default email address based on the conditions mentioned above. We do this to ensure consistency. 

We recognize that many people who have aliases and multiple addresses would like additional options, and we will consider changing this in the future. 

How to update the email address and display name

If you want to update the email address and username that appear in the recipient’s email invite, you will need to:

1. Sign in to your Proton Mail account at mail.proton.me, and go to Settings (the gear icon on the top right of your screen) → All settings → Identity and addresses → My addresses → Actions and click the Edit button next to your Proton username

2. Edit your username in accordance with the restrictions described above. Click Save when you’re done.

Important Note: If the address in question is linked to your Drive storage, you might not be able to make these changes. This is because Drive relies on the existing username, address and encryption key to organize and access your stored files.

If this is the reason preventing your username change, please contact our customer support team for assistance.