How to Create a Gmail Alias

Gmail is one of the most popular email services in the world. It is free, easy to use, and easy to set up. The Google suite offers users so many neat functions and features to make life easier. The same is true with Gmail. You can link all of your accounts in one place or even create an alias to protect your privacy better.

In this article, we’ll show you how to create an alias, and we’ll review the reasons you may want to do this. Let’s get started.

What is an Email Alias?

An email alias is just that, an alias. For Gmail users, this can be a secondary email account or a variation of your current email address. Whether you want to protect your privacy or want a secondary account, Google has some tools to help. There are also workarounds we’ll show you in this article.

People often use email aliases to avoid receiving unwanted emails from others or to sort out junk mail.

How to Create a Gmail Alias

To create an email alias, you have a few options. First, you can set your Gmail address to send from another one. The recipient will only see your alias. Next, you can use one of two workarounds to create a temporary alias. We’ll review all three methods below.

Use Gmail to Create an Alias

Gmail will let you send emails from an alternate email address. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be a Gmail address. You can use Hotmail, Outlook, or something else.

To create a Gmail Alias, do this:

1. Log into Gmail and select the settings cog in the right corner.
   
2. Click See all settings at the top of the pop-out window.
   
3. At the top, click on Accounts and Import.
   
4. Next to Send mail as click on Add another email address.
   
5. Type in your email address, make sure Treat as an alias is checked, and click Next Step.
   
6. Complete the verification steps to prove that the secondary account is your email account.

To verify your newly added email addresses, you will need to log into your other accounts. Check your inbox for the Gmail verification email and click on the required link.

When you send emails, your alias will show as the Sender rather than the email account you actually use.

You can use this alias for each message. Change your settings by clicking on the From line in your message. If you don’t see a From line, click the space next to the recipient’s email address. Then select the alternate address you want to send from.

Checking Email from Other Accounts

Want to read your emails in one inbox? Linking your other alias accounts is easy.

1. Just go to Settings and click on the Accounts and Import tab.
2. From there, scroll down until you see Check mail from other accounts, and click on the Add a mail account link and follow the steps.

Temporary Gmail Aliases – Workarounds

Need a temporary alias but don’t have another account? No problem – you can create temporary aliases in Gmail with a few simple tricks.

• When you add a “+” sign (and some additional text) to your own Gmail address and give it to someone, Gmail will still send any emails to that address to the primary address. So “testaccount@gmail.com” and “testaccount+spam filter@gmail.com” will both get the email delivered at testaccount@gmail.com.
• You can also use the “.” trick. By adding periods to your existing email address, you can achieve the same results as the “+” workaround above. Simply use I.am.atest@gmail.com rather than iamatest@gmail.com.

Why would you do this? Easy – adding this temporary alias lets you create filters. You can tell Gmail to do different things with messages depending on what the additional text is.

Conclusion

Creating a Gmail alias may sound difficult at first. But once you start doing it, you will see how easy it really is. Link your other aliases to send emails from those accounts or set up your inbox to read incoming messages from other permanent aliases in a few clicks in the Settings section. 

Just remember to keep track of your temporary aliases if you plan on using them. Create filters when possible to avoid clogging your email with unnecessary messages. And save yourself some hassle by entering an alias instead of your real address if you think a website seems suspicious.