How to Create a Gmail Alias

Use periods and plus signs to create temporary aliases, or permanently add another address to your Gmail account

By
Simon Chandler
Simon Chandler
Simon Chandler
Writer
  • University of Reading
  • King's College London
Simon Chandler is a former Lifewire writer who covered cryptocurrency, social media, AI and other topics. His work has appeared in Wired, TechCrunch, and The Verge.
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Updated on April 25, 2024

What to Know

  • Temporary: Drop a period somewhere in your email address, like this: e.xamp.le@gmail.com.
  • Permanent: Add another email address you own to Gmail's settings so you can send mail from that account.
  • Either method lets you use more than one address within the same Gmail account.

This article explains how to create a Gmail alias, whether you want a temporary alias or a permanent one.

How to Make a Temporary Alias for Gmail

Gmail ignores certain characters in your email address, but most other websites do not. This means you can "hack" your email address to create potentially dozens of aliases for use on pretty much any website. And yes, it's free (and really easy to do)!

Here's how to make some:

  1. Type your email address into wherever it is you want to use the alias, such as a text box in a new user form on a website.

  2. Add a period between any of the characters but before the @ sign. Here are some examples: 

     exa.mple@gmail.com
e.xamp.le@gmail.com

  3. Alternatively, include a plus sign in your email address. It needs to go right before @, but then you can write custom text after it. Like this: 

     example+shopping@gmail.com
example+dating@gmail.com

    If you get an error when you use a plus sign, remove it and stick to periods; some websites might not know how to deal with a plus sign.

How Do These Aliases Work?

All you really need to know about Gmail email addresses with periods in them (or those that use the plus sign, like in the examples above) is that Gmail pretends those characters aren't there. It treats each of those examples above as the exact same address.

How is that useful to you? There are two reasons: flexibility and management.

This Gmail address trick lets you make multiple accounts on the same website. Without it, you'd have to create a totally separate email account and then sign up with that new address. And then you'd need to monitor all your new email accounts. The easier method, at least for Gmail users, is to create these temporary aliases to fool other websites into thinking you're using brand-new email addresses. Pretty smart, huh?

Another reason to do this is for email management. Let's say you've created example+dating@gmail.com. Since that's a unique email address in the eyes of the websites you use it on, you can filter any emails that come to that address to very easily track and sort messages sent from the dating sites you sign up for.

It's up to you what you write after the plus sign, but it's smart to stick to a topic that makes sense for where you use the address (like dating or shopping sites). You can build as many of these aliases as you want, so there's little reason to use the same one on unrelated websites.

How to Permanently Add an Alias to Gmail

The other way of creating a Gmail alias is useful if you already have multiple email addresses (separate accounts, not just aliases) and would like a quick way to send mail on behalf of the other account.

For example, suppose you own two email addresses, john@gmail.com and johnPRO@gmail.com. Maybe John's account is your personal email and John PRO is for your work. If you don't want to open your work account just to send mail, you can set up the PRO email as an alias that works from within your personal account.

Once you're finished, you'll be able to select the alias next to the From box when composing a new email.

Three email addresses listed next to Gmail's From box while making a new message

To do this, open Gmail's Accounts and Import settings to the Send mail as section and complete the on-screen steps. We have a guide on how to send mail from a different account in Gmail that details the whole process.

FAQ
  • How do I send emails from my Gmail alias?

    If you've set up and linked a permanent alias, you can switch to it using the From field when composing a new email (you won't see this if you don't have an alias set up).

  • How do I change my alias name in Gmail?

    Select the gear icon > See all settings > Accounts and Import tab. Select edit info next to the alias you want to change, which you'll find about halfway down the list in the "Send mail as" section. Follow the prompts to enter in a new name to associate with your chose Gmail address.

  • How do I create a group alias in Gmail?

    Sign in to your Google Admin console and select Menu > Directory > Groups. Select the name of the group you want to make an alias for, then select Aliases under Group Information. In the Aliases section select Edit, then type in a new alias address under Group Alias Email. Select Add Alias when you're finished.

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