When signing up for a new website or online service, insert a period somewhere in your normal Gmail address. For example, if your address is "johndoe@gmail.com", typing "john.doe@gmail.com" creates an instant alias. Insert the point anywhere you want and insert as many as you want. For example, "j.o.h.n.d.o.e@gmail.com" works fine.

As strange as these aliases seem to the casual observer, How to Add an alias to Gmail treats them as identical to their original address. Anything sent to "j.o.h.n.d.o.e@gmail.com" will actually be sent to ".

You can also create a temporary alias using a plus sign at the end of the address. For example, "johndoe+@gmail.com" is a temporary alias, even though "john+doe@gmail" is not (messages sent to that address will fail). You can type any gibberish after the plus sign, like "johndoe+fsnsfsfwwgnj@gmail.com", and mail sent to it will still go to your address.

Of course, you might be wondering what the point of this is. A useful trick involving temporary aliases is to create filters that put emails sent to an email address, such as "john.doe@gmail.com", in a folder other than your inbox. This way you can prevent your inbox from sagging under the weight of too many promotional emails.

I use Google products: Google Domains and Gmail. All of these steps should apply generally to other domain and email services.

First, log in to your domain provider and select the Email menu. You will be able to select “Add Email Alias” from the menu options.

How to forward an email to another address

Note: If you add the asterisk (*) symbol, this will create a generic alias that will forward any email to the specified address. We will add a specific alias in this tutorial.

Add the email of your choice and indicate where you want it forwarded. I will have hi@sieis.com forwarded to my main Gmail address.

If you use Google nameservers, Google Domains will automatically configure the correct mail (MX) records.

Otherwise, you will need to configure these MX records. The process is just like setting up nameservers if you've ever done it to host your website in a different location than where you purchased the domain.

Bonus: I did this for a site hosted on Netlify, and it's very simple. In the Netlify dashboard, select Options, Go to the DNS panel, and enter the MX records:

To create a filter for a temporary alias:-

1. Navigate to Gmail in a web browser and select the search options icon in the search bar.

2. Click the triangular search options icon on the right side of the search bar.

3. In the drop-down menu that appears, type the temporary alias address in the To field.

4. Click Create Filter.

5. Scroll down and select the Choose Category dropdown submenu. Click the category you want emails sent to, such as Promotions.

6. Click Create Filter.

How to permanently add an alias to Gmail

The other way to create a Gmail alias is useful if you already have multiple email addresses and would like a way to check all your mail in one place to save time.

In this example, assume you have two email addresses, "johndoe@gmail.com" and "janedoe@gmail.com". Here's how to add the latter as a permanent alias of the former, so that mail sent to "janedoe@gmail.com" is also sent to "johndoe@gmail.com".

In Gmail, click the Settings cogwheel in the top right corner of the screen.

• Click See all settings.

• Click the Accounts & Import tab.

• Scroll down to the Check mail from other accounts subsection and click Add a mail account.

• Enter the email address you want to add as an alias (for example, "janedoe@gmail.com").

• Click Next.

• Enter the password for the address you want to add (this is the password you use to log in to that address and your account) and click Add Account.

• This allows you to view mail sent to the alias address. Please continue with the following steps to enable sending mail from the alias address using your original Gmail account.

• Make sure the Yes, I want to be able to send mail as janedoe@gmail.com checkbox is checked (it usually is, but click it if it isn't).

• Click Next.

• Make sure the Treat as an alias checkbox is checked (although it usually is).

• Click Next Step.

• Click Submit Verification.

• Sign in to the email account you want to add as a permanent alias.

• Open the email sent by the Gmail team regarding alias confirmation. The subject heading will be something like "Gmail Confirmation: Send mail as ".

• Click the verification link in the email to complete the process of adding an alias.

• Click Confirm.

Once you have done this, you will be able to specify who your emails are from when writing them. This field will be visible at the top of your email drafts, above the To field.