Q: I set up all my 301s. Do I still need the GSC Change of Address tool?

Q: I set up all my 301s. Do I still need the GSC Change of Address tool?

This confuses a lot of people — here's the deal: they do different jobs, and you usually want both.

Short answer: 301s move the pages; Change of Address tells Google the whole site moved. One is per-URL, the other is site-wide.

Long answer:
The Change of Address tool (in Google Search Console) is only for full domain changes — old domain to new domain. It nudges Google to recrawl faster and transfer site-level signals. It does not replace redirects; it sits on top of them.

When it does nothing for you: subdomain-to-subfolder moves, HTTPS-only migrations, or URL restructures on the same domain. There's no tool there — your 301s and updated sitemap do all the work.

Next step: if you changed domains, verify both properties in GSC, then submit Change of Address with redirects already live.