Many email providers, such as Gmail, allow you to create unlimited aliases from a single email address using dots (.) and plus (+) symbols. This guide will show you how to take advantage of these features for organizing your emails, signing up for services, or even tracking spam.
- Organize Incoming Emails: Use aliases to automatically filter and label emails.
- Track Services: Know which service is leaking your email by customizing your aliases.
- Spam Protection: Quickly create unique aliases for websites you don’t fully trust.
If your email is [email protected]
, Gmail ignores dots in the local part of the email (before the @). This means:
All of these will be delivered to the same inbox as [email protected]
.
- Use variations like
[email protected]
when signing up for different services. - Gmail will still treat all emails with dots as if they came to the original
[email protected]
.
You can add a + followed by any string after your email name (before the @). For example:
All emails sent to these addresses will still arrive in the [email protected]
inbox.
- Use
[email protected]
for shopping websites. - Use
[email protected]
for work-related registrations. - Easily filter emails by their alias in Gmail.
You can combine dots and the plus symbol for even more flexibility:
These variations still deliver emails to [email protected]
.
- Go to Gmail Settings > Filters and Blocked Addresses.
- Click Create a new filter.
- In the To field, enter the alias you want to filter (e.g.,
[email protected]
). - Click Create filter.
- Choose actions like Apply a label, Skip the inbox, or Forward.
-
Shopping Websites: Use
[email protected]
to register on shopping sites. If you get spam, you'll know where it originated. -
Work and Personal Separation:
- Work emails:
[email protected]
- Personal emails:
[email protected]
- Work emails:
-
Newsletter Tracking: Use
[email protected]
to subscribe to newsletters and filter them into a specific folder. -
Test Accounts: Use different aliases for testing sign-up processes:
[email protected]
,[email protected]
, etc.
While the dot trick is Gmail-specific, many providers (e.g., Outlook, ProtonMail) also support the plus (+) alias feature.
- Avoid using aliases for sensitive accounts (e.g., banking).
- Regularly check and clean up filters in your email to maintain organization.
- Keep a list of aliases for easy reference.
Enjoy managing your inbox like a pro!