How to Use Email Aliases in Gmail and Outlook in the UK

Every time you sign up for something online, you hand over your email address. A shop, a newsletter, a competition, a new app. Weeks later, the spam starts, and you have no idea which signup sold your address or leaked it. Email aliases fix that. An alias is an extra address that delivers to your real inbox, so you can give out a different address everywhere and still read everything in one place.

Both Gmail and Outlook support aliases, and neither costs anything extra. The setup is different in each, and the tricks that make aliases useful are worth knowing before you start handing them out.

What an Email Alias Actually Is

An alias is not a separate mailbox. It is a second address that points at your existing inbox. Mail sent to the alias arrives alongside your normal mail. You read it, reply to it, and filter it in the same place, with no extra account to check.

The point is control. If one alias starts receiving spam, you know exactly which signup leaked it, and you can block or delete that alias without touching your real address. If you stop using a service, you can retire its alias and its mail stops reaching you.

Aliases are not a privacy shield. They do not hide your identity from the service you sign up with, and they do not make you anonymous. They are an organisation and spam-control tool, and a good one.

Gmail Aliases: The Plus Trick

Gmail has the easiest alias system, and it needs no setup at all. Take your Gmail address, add a plus sign and a word before the @, and you have an alias. If your address is jane.smith@gmail.com, then jane.smith+shopping@gmail.com is an alias that delivers to your inbox.

Use a different tag for each purpose. Use +shopping for online shops, +newsletters for mailing lists, and a tag with the shop's name when you want to trace a leak. If mail addressed to jane.smith+shopname@gmail.com starts arriving from somewhere else, you know that shop shared your address.

There are two catches. Some websites reject addresses with a plus sign in them, even though the address is valid. And the alias does not hide your real address, since anyone who sees it can remove the plus part and find your main address. For most everyday signups, that trade-off is fine.

Send Mail From a Different Address in Gmail

Aliases work for receiving by default. To send from an alias, go to Settings in Gmail on the web, then See all settings, then Accounts and Import. Under "Send mail as", click "Add another email address", enter the name and address, then verify it with the code Gmail sends. Once verified, you can choose it in the From field when composing. You can only send from an address you own or have permission to use.

Outlook Aliases: Proper Extra Addresses

Outlook works differently. Instead of a plus trick, Microsoft lets you add real aliases to your Microsoft account. You can create a new Outlook.com address, or add an existing email address you already own as an alias. Mail sent to the alias lands in your Outlook inbox.

To add one, sign in to your Microsoft account on the web and go to Your info, then "Manage how you sign in to Microsoft". Choose "Add email", then either create a new Outlook.com address or add an existing one. Microsoft may ask you to verify the address with a code.

Microsoft allows up to 10 aliases on one account, and you can add or remove them over time. One alias is your primary alias, the one used to sign in and shown when you send mail by default. You can change which alias is primary, but do this with care, since it changes your sign-in address.

To send from an alias in Outlook, compose a new email, click the From field, and choose the alias from the list. If the From field is not visible, click the three dots in the compose window and turn it on.

Organise Alias Mail with Filters

Aliases are most useful when combined with filters or rules, so mail to each alias sorts itself.

In Gmail, click the search options icon at the end of the search bar, type the alias address in the To field, then click "Create filter". Choose what should happen: apply a label, mark it as read, archive it, or delete it. A label for each alias, such as Shopping or Newsletters, keeps your inbox readable at a glance.

In Outlook on the web, go to Settings, then Mail, then Rules, and add a rule. Set the condition to "To" and enter the alias address, then choose an action such as moving it to a folder or marking it as read.

Which Aliases to Create First

Start with a handful of broad aliases rather than one for every site. A shopping alias for online orders, a newsletters alias for mailing lists, a social alias for apps and forums, and a finance alias for banks and utilities will cover most signups. Add a specific alias, with the site's name in it, only when you want to trace that site in particular.

Use your real address for the accounts that matter most: your bank, government services, your employer, and anything tied to your identity. Aliases are for the long tail of signups, not for the accounts you cannot afford to lose access to.

Keep a short note of which alias you gave to which service, so you know which address you signed up with when you need to reset a password.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are email aliases free in Gmail and Outlook?

Yes. Gmail plus addressing needs no setup and costs nothing, and Outlook lets you add up to 10 aliases to a Microsoft account at no extra cost. Both work with the free versions of Gmail and Outlook.

Can I use an email alias to hide my real address?

Not completely. A Gmail plus alias still shows your real address with a tag added, so anyone can remove the tag. An Outlook alias hides your primary address better, but it is still tied to the same account. Aliases are best for organisation and spam control, not anonymity.

What happens if I delete an email alias?

Mail sent to a deleted alias stops reaching your inbox. Before deleting one, change the email address on any account that uses it, especially for password resets, or you could lock yourself out of that account.