Gmail users can make use of aliases – additional email addresses that are tied to a main account – in order to keep their inbox organised and tidy, using them for different purposes and filtering emails sent to them.
Temporary Gmail aliases can be easily created by adding either the plus or dot symbol and some additional text to a main email address, such as name.plus.sign@gmail.com, with the symbols ignored by the mailbox and the variations all treated as the same address.
They can also be used on a website sign-up form in order to keep main email addresses secret and to identify which company’s mailing list the user may have been added to.
Permanent aliases can be added to a Gmail account and used to send emails from that address, which is useful for those who want to keep work and personal emails separate but still be able to send from either account.
Google Workspace users can also add aliases to their main email address, with all emails sent to that alias arriving in the main inbox.