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 myemail@gmail.com, Gmail ignores dots in the local part of the email (before the @). This means:
my.email@gmail.comm.y.email@gmail.commyemail@gmail.com
All of these will be delivered to the same inbox as myemail@gmail.com.
- Use variations like
my.email@gmail.comwhen signing up for different services. - Gmail will still treat all emails with dots as if they came to the original
myemail@gmail.com.
You can add a + followed by any string after your email name (before the @). For example:
myemail+shopping@gmail.commyemail+newsletter@gmail.commyemail+work@gmail.com
All emails sent to these addresses will still arrive in the myemail@gmail.com inbox.
- Use
myemail+shopping@gmail.comfor shopping websites. - Use
myemail+work@gmail.comfor work-related registrations. - Easily filter emails by their alias in Gmail.
You can combine dots and the plus symbol for even more flexibility:
m.y.e.mail+shopping@gmail.commy.email+newsletter@gmail.comm.y.email+spamtracker@gmail.com
These variations still deliver emails to myemail@gmail.com.
- 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.,
myemail+shopping@gmail.com). - Click Create filter.
- Choose actions like Apply a label, Skip the inbox, or Forward.
-
Shopping Websites: Use
myemail+shopping@gmail.comto register on shopping sites. If you get spam, you'll know where it originated. -
Work and Personal Separation:
- Work emails:
myemail+work@gmail.com - Personal emails:
myemail@gmail.com
- Work emails:
-
Newsletter Tracking: Use
myemail+newsletter@gmail.comto subscribe to newsletters and filter them into a specific folder. -
Test Accounts: Use different aliases for testing sign-up processes:
myemail+test1@gmail.com,myemail+test2@gmail.com, 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!