Can I use an electric sander to change my popcorn ceiling?

I wouldn't recommend it. Though it is a bit tedious, you want the ceiling to be wet when you remove the popcorn, so it's best to work in sections.

You could also consider covering the ceiling with tiles or boards if you're looking for something easier!

It is not hard to remove popcorn ceilings... just messy and tedious... Sanding will only get dust EVERYWHERE... a cheap pump sprayer and a WIDE putty knife... work in sections of about 3ft x 3ft (or however far you can reach on a ladder)

spray one section... wait about 10 min.... spray again and spray new section... scrape off old section....repeat until done. we found it easiest to put down a tarp (a heavy one ) and sweep up the droppings periodically.. rather than shake out the tarp...(actually we were replacing the carpet... so we just waited until after we scraped the ceiling and in the rooms with tile, it was easier to just sweep it up and mop later) a large trash can in the room helps too.. just don't fill too full.

After scraping was done...

My husband dry wall mud-ed the low spots and screw holes, sanded, primed and painted... Pain in the A_ _ !

In the next room I did one coat of Venetian Plaster.. which I had tinted to match the wall color... Tedious, gave me a stiff neck, but was faster than the dry wall mud and no sanding... 2nd coat was just paint. Looked good in the end.

I used a vacuum brush on my vacuum cleaner hose and just swept it off...very little landed on floor and all I had to do was vacuum the floor and empty the canister when done. I got tired of looking at the dirty ceiling.(LOL)