# Apple Private Relay & Duplicate Accounts

> Why 'Sign in with Apple' with Hide My Email can create a separate Ditto account, and how to merge it into your existing one.

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# Apple Private Relay & Duplicate Accounts

When you use **Sign in with Apple** and keep **Hide My Email** turned on, Apple gives Ditto a random forwarding address like `abc123xyz@privaterelay.appleid.com` instead of your real email. If you already signed up for Ditto with a different method (Google, GitHub, or email), Ditto can't tell the Private Relay address belongs to you, so it creates a brand-new account.

You may hit this message when trying to link Apple to your existing account:

> Google (you@example.com) is already linked to another Ditto account. Sign out and sign in with it instead.

## Why this happens

Ditto uses your email address to recognize returning users. Two things make Private Relay special:

- **The address is unique per app.** Apple generates a separate relay address for every app you sign into, and it's stable, so signing in with Apple again always takes you back to the same extra account.
- **It doesn't match your real email.** To Ditto, `abc123xyz@privaterelay.appleid.com` and `you@example.com` look like two different people.

Once that extra account exists, you can't retroactively link Apple to your original account without removing the extra one first, the Apple ID is already "taken" from Ditto's perspective.

## Merge into your existing account

Use this flow when your original (Google, GitHub, or email) account has the conversations and memories you want to keep, and the Apple-created one is empty or disposable.

1. **Sign out** of Ditto.
2. **Sign in with Apple**: this puts you back in the extra account. Confirm it's the one with little or no history before continuing.
3. Open **Settings → Danger Zone → Delete Account** and confirm. This removes the extra account from Ditto.
4. **Sign out**, then sign in with your original method (Google, GitHub, or email).
5. Go to **Settings → Account → Linked Accounts** and click **Link** next to **Apple**.
6. Complete the Apple sign-in prompt, your Apple ID is now linked to your original account. You can keep Hide My Email on; future Apple sign-ins will land in the correct account.

## The extra account has data you want to keep

Ditto doesn't currently support automatically moving conversations, memories, or subscriptions between accounts. Before you delete anything, email us at [support@heyditto.ai](mailto:support@heyditto.ai) and we'll help you sort it out.

## Preventing a duplicate in the first place

The first time you tap **Continue with Apple**, Apple shows a sheet with two choices for your email:

- **Hide My Email** (default), creates a Private Relay address. Will produce a separate account if you already have a Ditto account under a different email.
- **Share My Email**: shares your real Apple email. If that email matches an existing Ditto account, Ditto will walk you through linking Apple to it on the spot.

If you already have a Ditto account, tap **Share My Email** on that first sign-in. After the accounts are linked, you can keep using Apple sign-in with Hide My Email turned back on at any time, the link is bound to your Apple ID, not to the email.