How to Change the Gmail Address on the HTC EVO

You can add any number of Gmail accounts to your HTC Evo, and you are not stuck using the one you originally entered to initialize the phone. To change the primary account -- which is used to back up your personal data as well as associate your Google Play Store downloads -- you must initiate a factory reset, which wipes the device clean. Once the phone has restarted after the reset, you will be prompted to initialize the device with a new Gmail account.

To add additional Gmail accounts, swipe downward on the Notifications panel and tap the gear icon. Select "Accounts & Sync" and then tap the "+" symbol. Tap Google, enter your Gmail address and password and then allow the device to automatically configure the account. In addition to Google, you can add a variety of other custom or Webmail accounts -- including Dropbox, Exchange ActiveSync, Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft Outlook.com. Your original Gmail account, however, will always remain the primary account -- and as such, the one always used to back up the phone.

If your aim is to completely remove the primary Google account -- and with it, all of the synchronized data -- you must resort to a hard reset. Be cautious before committing to this, however, as the process completely wipes all of the content from the device and resets it back to its original factory state. You will also lose access to any apps -- whether purchased or free -- that were associated with the account until you reinstall them. Before starting, connect the Evo to your computer and back up all of your content so you won't inadvertently lose anything important.

Initiate the factory reset by swiping downward on your Evo's Notifications bar and tapping the gear icon. Select "Storage" and then "Factory Data Reset." Follow the on-screen prompts to erase all data and allow the device to power down and reset itself -- this can take several minutes depending on how much data is on the phone. Once the device restarts, enter the new Google account's information and begin personalizing the phone.

If you used the old Gmail account to synchronize contacts and calendar information, the data will no longer be present on the phone when you switch to the new Gmail account. To reassociate this information -- for example, get missing phone numbers back into your Contacts app -- you will need to use your computer's Web browser to export the data from your old Gmail account and import it into the new one. If you also used your Evo's Calendar app with your old Gmail logins, you'll need to export and import the Google Calendar data separately.

Using your computer's Web browser, log into the old Gmail account, click "Gmail" at the top left of your inbox and select "Contacts." Place a check next to individuals you would like to export -- if you want them all, don't select any -- and click "More" and then "Export," then save the information in Google CSV format. Once done, navigate to Google Calendar and hover your mouse over your calendar name on the left. Click the drop-down arrow and select "Calendar Settings," then select "ICAL" in the "Private Address" section. Click the displayed URL and save the exported file to your computer.

Click your Google avatar image at the top and select "Sign Out," then immediately sign into your new Google account to be taken back to its Google Calendar. Click the down-arrow next to "Other Calendars," select "Import Calendar" and choose your exported ICAL file to import it into the new account. Once complete, navigate to the account's Gmail inbox, click "Gmail" and select "Contacts." Click "More" and then "Import" and choose the exported CSV file of contacts. Once both data files are imported, simply launch the Contacts and Calendar apps on your Evo to sync the data.