Using a single email address for everything is convenient until it becomes a problem. The same address is registered with dozens of online shops, forums, apps and services; it appears in other people's contact lists; it may have ended up in some archive of data stolen from a careless website. The result is an inbox full of commercial messages and, above all, a single identifier that links your whole digital life. Separating addresses, or using aliases, is one of the simplest ways to regain control.
What an alias is
An alias is an additional address that delivers mail to the same mailbox. You do not need a different password or another app: someone writes to shops@yourdomain.com and the message arrives where everything else does. There are several ways to get them:
- Plus addresses (
name+shops@example.com). Supported by many providers, they need no setup. The limit is that the main part of the address remains visible, and anyone can strip the rest. - Aliases offered by your mail provider. Many services let you create a certain number of extra addresses in their settings.
- A personal domain. If you own a domain, you can create unlimited aliases or a «catch-all» mailbox that receives everything sent to the domain.
- Dedicated forwarding services. They generate random addresses that forward to your real mailbox, and let you disable them with one click when they start receiving spam.
A practical scheme
You do not need an alias for every site. For most people three or four tiers are enough:
| Address | Use | Who knows it |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | family, friends, close contacts | a few trusted people |
| Important accounts | bank, recovery email, tax, healthcare | nobody, only the services |
| Shopping and sign-ups | shops, apps, newsletters | many services |
| Disposable | downloads, free trials, public wifi | anyone |
The address for important accounts deserves special attention: if you never use it to communicate and it appears nowhere, it is much harder to guess for anyone trying to get into your accounts or send you targeted phishing. It is also the ideal recovery address for your other mailboxes.
Finding out who shared your address
With a different alias for each important service you get a useful side effect: if unwanted messages start arriving at car-insurance@yourdomain.com, you know exactly where the problem comes from. You can disable that alias, change the address registered with that service and, if you have reason to, ask for an explanation of how your data was handled.
Replying from the alias
An often overlooked detail: if you receive a message on an alias and reply from your main address, that main address is revealed. Many clients and services let you set up aliases as sending identities, so you reply using the same address the message arrived on. With your own domain, sending must be configured too, so that receiving servers accept the messages without flagging them as suspicious.
Automatic filters
Aliases combine very well with filters. Everything arriving at the shopping address can go into a dedicated folder, skipping the inbox. Everything arriving at the disposable address can be marked as read and archived. The inbox thus stays reserved for mail sent to your personal and professional addresses.
Precautions
A few practical warnings to avoid trouble:
- Do not lose control of the domain. If you use a personal domain for aliases, its renewal becomes critical: if it expires, someone else could register it and receive your mail, including password recovery emails. Turn on auto-renewal and set a reminder.
- Keep a list. Note which alias you used for which service, for example in the notes field of your password manager next to the credentials.
- Be careful with disposable addresses for accounts that matter. If one day you need to recover access, you will need that mailbox.
- The plus sign is not privacy. It is for filtering, not for hiding your main address.
Where to start
You do not have to change everything in a day. A gradual path:
- Create an address dedicated to important accounts and move your bank, tax and password recovery there.
- Create an alias for shopping and sign-ups and use it from today for every new service.
- When an old service sends you a message, update the registered address.
- After a few months your personal address will receive almost only messages from people.
In short
- An alias delivers mail to the same mailbox under a different address.
- Separate at least personal use, important accounts, shopping and temporary uses.
- One alias per service reveals who spread your address.
- Reply from the alias and combine aliases with automatic filters.
- If you use a personal domain, never let it expire.
