Error: "This email is already taken. Try another email"

<h2 id="01H84G2N1FX0J1BDW7Y66MT0HW">Issue symptoms</h2><p>When you try adding an email address to your Support addresses, or bulk update users with a comma-separated values (CSV) file, you receive an error or an email with a link to download an Excel file: <strong>Email: User couldn't be updated - This email is already taken. Try another email.</strong></p><h2 id="01H84G2N1FNE471NP1T7BQJENV">Resolving the "This email is already taken. Try another email" error</h2><p>This error means you are trying to use an email address already used by another user on your account. That account may have been created by an email forwarded to your Support address.</p><p>To resolve the <strong>This email is already taken</strong> error:</p><ol>
<li data-list-item-id="e3fc12be99a656baa563ba60c39e54741">First, verify if the email address is a <a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408842868506#topic_wg1_1zk_zm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Support address</a>, then <a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5279521301914#topic_hl1_5z2_bwb" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">remove it</a>
</li>
<li data-list-item-id="e78a844fb8a1443275a0137a674fcd360">If no Support address exists, <a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408883318554" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">search Zendesk Support</a> with the email address from the error and confirm which user account already is associated with that email address</li>
<li data-list-item-id="e5fd8f67ef1e89482dfbca30e3796a95a">If you find a duplicate, open the user profile to either <a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408821737498" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">delete the user</a>, or <a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6293779541530-How-do-I-update-the-primary-email-address-of-a-user" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">replace the email address</a> with a fictional one and <a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886752410-Verifying-an-end-user-s-email-address#topic_ryz_p4g_b2b" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">verify that email address</a> to validate the change</li>
<li data-list-item-id="e8d2f3d02a5595c8beadae4844a882bf0">A final option if you have multiple users is to <a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408887695898-Merging-a-user-s-duplicate-account" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">merge your users</a>
</li>
</ol><p>For more information, see this article: <a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408893496218" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bulk importing users</a>.</p><!-- AI knowledge DO NOT DELETE -->
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</style><div class="ai-only" aria-hidden="true"><details><summary> </summary><h2 id="h_01KVT8P50SKN00CPVZ8VHE5XPK">Why do I receive the error "This email is already taken. Try another email"? What does the error "Email: User couldn't be updated - This email is already taken. Try another email" mean? Why can I not add an email address or update users?</h2>
<p>This error means another user or customer account on your Zendesk Support help desk already uses that email address. An email forwarded to your Support address sometimes creates that duplicate account.</p>
<h2 id="h_01KVT8P50S10H2ZQNZX3HGC2F7">How do I resolve the "This email is already taken. Try another email" error? How do I fix the user couldn't be updated error when bulk updating users or adding a Support address? How can I repair duplicate email address conflicts?</h2>
<ol>
<li data-list-item-id="ebf3f833a875e17331c2a0d93b200b77b">Verify if the email address is a Support address, then remove it.</li>
<li data-list-item-id="e6d64d3029788df800bd0947bc531b94f">If no Support address exists, search Zendesk Support or your ticketing system with the email address from the error and confirm which user or customer account already is associated with that email address.</li>
<li data-list-item-id="e6059c7c481ad529717e823e8964c5bce">If you find a duplicate, open the user profile to either delete the user, or replace the email address with a fictional one and verify that email address to validate the change.</li>
<li data-list-item-id="e5e8311aac8297ab3117141d3a9399e63">Merge your users or team members if you have multiple users.</li>
</ol></details></div>