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<\/div> Follow ZDNET: <\/em>Add us as a favorite source<\/span><\/a><\/span> On Google.<\/em><\/p>\n I have had the same email address for over two decades. I use it for almost everything. This is really convenient, but it also means my inbox is filled with ads, newsletters, social media updates, and other ephemera. Left unchecked, the fire of trivial correspondence can destroy what is useful and important.<\/p>\n The world’s two largest email providers realize this is a problem. Gmail and Outlook do some automatic mail sorting with the help of algorithms. Still, their solutions are imperfect and require constant manual intervention to train the algorithms and find important content that was inadvertently demoted.<\/p>\n Also: Best Email Hosting Services: Expert Tested and Reviewed<\/strong><\/p>\n For years, I used rules and filters based on sender address to move less important messages out of the inbox and into custom folders. However, setting up and managing those rules is a difficult, time-consuming process. Whenever a newsletter or merchant changes their sending address or uses a different subdomain, I have to modify that rule. Finally I threw up my hands and said, “Enough!”<\/p>\n What I found instead is an easy way to automatically move those less important messages out of my inbox and into a separate folder where I can check them when I have the time and desire. And this happens without me needing to create and manage another email account.<\/p>\n it all works thanks Surname,<\/em> A feature that is built into most modern email solutions.<\/p>\n An alias is an alternative email address that is tied to your main account. Messages addressed to an alias go to your inbox, just like messages sent to your primary address. but because they are No <\/em>Using your regular email address, you can set up your email client to perform custom actions using those aliases.<\/p>\n Also: How a burner email can protect your inbox<\/strong><\/p>\n For example, let’s say my primary email address is BenFranklin1758@outlook.com<\/span>. i can create a nickname bf1758-news@outlook.com<\/span> And I use that address when I subscribe to a newsletter. I can then create a single rule that finds any message sent to that alias and moves it out of my inbox and into my Newsletters folder. Those messages are still easily accessible, but they never get in the way of messages from the people and businesses that are important to me.<\/p>\n You can set up similar aliases with matching subfolders for anything you want: recipes, sports headlines, social media alerts, and even correspondence from groups you’re a member of. Remember to use the correct nickname when signing up for a new service.<\/p>\n Aliases also come in handy as temporary addresses when you need to provide an email address to a new sender you don’t trust yet. If you start receiving a series of junk mail at that address, simply remove the alias, effectively returning the junk mail to its sender with a “No such address” message.<\/p>\n Also: I got hours of work done in 10 minutes using Gmail’s AI tools \u2013 with 3 prompts<\/strong><\/p>\n For sites where you really know you’ll never need that address again, there are several services specifically dedicated to creating throwaway or “burner” accounts, as my colleague Lance Whitney points out in “How a Burner Email Can Protect Your Inbox.” <\/p>\n Don’t confuse aliases with forward accounts, which allow you to send and receive email from one account using an address associated with a different account. Alias \u200b\u200bare only useful in conjunction with the primary address and cannot be used alone.<\/p>\n The following instructions apply to personal accounts you manage yourself. If you have a business email account (for example, through Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace), you can have an alias for your account using your organization’s custom domain, but you’ll need an administrator’s help to set up those aliases.<\/p>\n Although it’s the world’s most popular email service, Gmail’s implementation of aliases is surprisingly limited. <\/p>\n Gmail aliases require no advance preparation. Instead, when you’re filling out a form or signing up for a service that asks for your email address, you create an alias on the fly. To create an alias, you start with your primary address and then modify it by adding a plus sign at the end and then some additional text. <\/p>\n Also: Do \u200b\u200byou want to change your Gmail address? Now you can do it without losing any data<\/strong><\/p>\n If your address is example@gmail.com<\/span>you can use example+news@gmail.com<\/span>, example+family@gmail.com<\/span>Etcetera. You can then set up filters for any incoming emails matching that address, choose actions like applying labels, skipping the inbox, or forwarding messages to another address.<\/p>\n The problem with this type of alias is that, by design, it includes your primary address, and an unscrupulous sender can bypass your filters by removing the alias part, so be careful when using it with untrusted correspondents.<\/p>\n In 2026, Google added a new feature that lets you add a second address to your Gmail account. After 12 months, you can create a third address, and 12 months after that, you can create a fourth address. All those addresses are effectively aliases for your original account, but the feature has too many restrictions to use for anything except the worst filtering.<\/p>\n Each free Microsoft account allows you to create up to 10 aliases on Outlook.com using a different address of your choice. (the address Must follow Microsoft’s naming rules<\/a> and cannot already be used as a primary address or alias.)<\/p>\n Also: Microsoft Account vs. Local Account: How to Choose<\/strong><\/p>\n To get started, visit https:\/\/account.Microsoft.com<\/a>Sign in with your Microsoft account, and click the “Your Information” tab. Under the “Account Information” heading, click “Edit Account Information,” which takes you to a page that lists all the aliases you’ve previously created. Click “Add Email” and enter the address you want to use. Then click “Add Alias” to create a new address. (If the alias you entered isn’t available, you’ll see an error message here, and you’ll need to try a different address.)<\/p>\n You can add new aliases at any time (up to a limit of 10) or delete existing aliases from the Account Aliases page described earlier.<\/p>\n If you have an iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, you can use that device to create up to three email aliases that go to the address associated with your Apple ID. This feature is called hide my email<\/span><\/a><\/span>And it uses iCloud domains as its forwarding mechanism.<\/p>\n One problem is that each alias uses an auto-generated name which may be less than memorable, e.g. scooter.paroles0c@icloud.com<\/span>. You can assign a label to that address to remind you what it’s for, but you can’t choose your own address.<\/p>\n To create an iCloud alias on an iOS device, open Settings, tap your account name, then tap iCloud > Hide My Email. (On a MacBook, use the Apple menu to open System Settings, where you’ll find the Hide My Email option.) Tap Create new address and follow the prompts to add a label and an optional note. Use the Forward button to choose where you want to receive email sent to that alias.<\/p>\n As I mentioned earlier, most modern email providers support the alias feature. if you have free proton mail<\/span><\/a><\/span> account, you can create up to 10 aliases for it, while a Proton Unlimited account supports unlimited aliases. If your email is hosted here fastmail<\/span><\/a><\/span> Or Yahoo Mail<\/span><\/a><\/span>You will need a premium account to create a nickname. In all those cases, you have the option to create an alias using a custom domain.<\/p>\n You can also use privacy add-ins that include email-masking features. NordPass Premium and Family Edition<\/span><\/a><\/span>For example, allow unlimited aliases. You can get up to three email aliases using its free version ironwest<\/span><\/a><\/span> (formerly known as Maskmi); Premium versions support 50 or more customized aliases. <\/p>\n Also: You should protect your Windows PC data with strong encryption \u2013 here’s how and why<\/strong><\/p>\n A reader suggests useful (and free) DuckDuckGo Email Security<\/a> Convenience: Install the browser extension, set up an address on duck.com, and you can create private aliases that forward to your regular inbox and bypass the usual email trackers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe magic of email aliases<\/h2>\n
How to Create an Alias \u200b\u200bUsing Gmail<\/h2>\n
How to Create an Alias \u200b\u200bUsing Outlook.com<\/h2>\n
How to create an alias using your Apple ID<\/h2>\n
Other alias options<\/h2>\n