Everything You Need to Know About an Email Alias

Imagine this: you’re running a growing business, and your inbox is filled with emails from different services, projects, and domains. Each new account adds to the chaos, and before you know it, you’re spending more time managing email than running your business. 

Email aliases offer a smart solution to manage multiple addresses, consolidating all communication into a single, organized inbox.

But here’s a surprising stat—after Adobe’s 2013 breach, data showed that alias accounts made up just 0.03% of the 38 million registered addresses. 

Why? Despite their potential to simplify workflows, many businesses overlook them. 

Email aliases simplify communication by funneling multiple addresses into one inbox, saving time and reducing clutter. But are they the right solution for your business? Let’s break down their benefits, limitations and best practices to help you decide.

Table of Contents

• What is an Email Alias?
  • What’s the difference between additional email addresses and aliases?
• The Benefits of Using an Email Alias
  • 1. Stay private and keep your real email safe
  • 2. Get organized and be more productive
  • 3. More security, less spam
  • 4. Better email management
• When Is an Email Alias Useful?
  • For Personal Use
  • For Professional Use
• How to Set Up Your Email Alias (It’s Easier Than You Think)
  • For Gmail Users
  • For Outlook Users
  • Other Providers (Apple Mail, iCloud, etc.)
• How to Manage Email Aliases Using Hiver
  • Keep aliases organized with a shared inbox
  • Collaborate easily with internal notes and @mentions
  • Automate email sorting to save time
  • Use canned responses for faster replies
• Limitations of Using Email Aliases
  • 1. Potential for mix-ups
  • 2. Spam can still slip through
  • 3. Communication challenges
  • 4. Issues with automatic filters
  • 5. You’re still tied to your primary email
  • 6. Customization limitations on certain platforms
• The Solution with Hiver
• Easily Manage Your Email Aliases With Hiver

What is an Email Alias?

An average Gmail account user receives 121 emails a day! Imagine trying to juggle multiple accounts on top of that. With email aliases, you can simplify your workflow and stay organized.

An email alias is like a nickname for your main email address. It allows you to create multiple email addresses that all route to one inbox—no need to manage separate accounts or logins.

For businesses, aliases are often used to represent teams (like [email protected]) or specific purposes (like [email protected]),keeping everything centralized and easy to manage. 

They share the same settings and contact lists as your primary account, saving time and effort.

Let’s say Emma Roberts works for Hiver and wants to simplify her email management. Here’s how she might use email aliases:

• [email protected]: This is her formal email address for company-wide communications.
• [email protected]: A shorter, more casual version for internal team emails.
• [email protected]: An alias for customer service inquiries, which forwards to her main inbox.

With these aliases, Emma can handle different roles without needing to check separate email accounts. Everything is neatly organized in one place!

What’s the difference between additional email addresses and aliases?

An additional email address is a standalone account with its own login credentials, separate inbox management, and individual settings. For example, you might use [email protected] for personal emails and [email protected] for your business. 

An alias is simply a secondary address tied to your main inbox. It’s not a separate account but a secondary address that routes emails directly to your main inbox. No extra logins, no new inbox to maintain. 

For instance, if you want to shop on a website you don’t fully trust, you can use an alias like [email protected]. If the alias starts receiving spam, you can simply disable it without affecting your primary account.

The key difference? Aliases eliminate the hassle of managing multiple accounts, keeping everything centralized while offering flexibility and control.

The Benefits of Using an Email Alias

From better privacy and security to improved organization, here’s a deeper look at why businesses and individuals use email aliases.

1. Stay private and keep your real email safe

One of the main reasons people turn to email aliases is to protect their privacy. An alias lets you interact with websites, services, or individuals without exposing your personal email. This way, your primary inbox stays secure and free from unwanted attention. If an alias starts getting too much attention or spam, simply delete or deactivate it—leaving your real email untouched.

A Reddit user k847cc shared how using aliases helped protect their primary inbox from being exposed to a data breach: 

“….If you use aliases, meaning unique email addresses for most/all services, it is almost like having two passwords. And if you can limit bad actors from getting into your other accounts, you increase your privacy – because information that is available on your other accounts are less likely to be exposed.

If you share your main/true email address with every service you use, if even one of the services are compromised, *your entire email* (all the information in your inbox) is at risk of being compromised, and so are all your accounts that use the same email address. And moving to a new email address, and changing the email address on all your accounts (some websites/services won’t even let you do that),is just a huge amount of work. With aliases, all you have to do is turn off the compromised alias. By using aliases, you basically shield yourself from going through that, and protect your main email address (and protect your inbox more as well),and also help protect all your other accounts.” 

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2. Get organized and be more productive

Email aliases are also a great tool for organization. Instead of having everything mixed together in one inbox, you can create specific aliases for different areas of your life—work, personal, hobbies, or shopping. 

This structured approach lets you filter emails effortlessly and improves productivity. Work-related emails can flow into one folder, personal messages into another, and shopping deals into a separate tab—all while arriving in the same inbox.

If you’re working on a deadline, you won’t be distracted by shopping discounts or social invitations. And when it’s time to unwind, your work emails won’t crowd your leisure time.

3. More security, less spam

Using email aliases can help protect your inbox from spam and security risks. If you create an alias for a specific purpose, like signing up for a store or newsletter, and start getting too much spam, you can simply deactivate the alias. This keeps your primary email safe and clean.

Reddit user West_Degree5527 shared a painful experience that perfectly illustrates how spam can wreak havoc on your inbox when you’re not using aliases. They explained how they once started receiving tens of thousands of emails per second—a phenomenon known as a “spam bomb.” 

A third party had used their email to sign up for random newsletters, flooding their inbox with around 29,500 irrelevant messages in different languages. West_Degree5527 watched helplessly as their inbox filled to the point of crashing, ultimately taking weeks to clean up.

This spam attack became even more damaging when they realized the third party had used the flood of emails to hide a social media account hijack attempt. It was a brutal reminder of how quickly spam can turn into a security threat. Had they used a separate alias for these sign-ups, they could have simply deactivated the alias and avoided the mess altogether. 

4. Better email management

Segmenting your inbox reduces the mental load of having to process everything at once. 

Instead of using a single account for everything, email aliases help you organize your inbox by segmenting emails based on their purpose—work, personal, shopping, or projects.

For example, if you run a small business, you can create aliases like [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. Each category goes to its own folder, making it easier to prioritize important messages and avoid unnecessary clutter.

If you’re an avid online shopper, an alias like [email protected] keeps order confirmations and promotions separate, so you can find receipts or track deliveries with ease.

The result? You’ll experience less overwhelm and more productivity, responding to the right people, at the right time, without missing a beat.

When Is an Email Alias Useful?

An email alias can be super helpful in a variety of situations, including both personal and professional uses. Let’s break down these use cases:

For Personal Use

Email aliases are great for personal use, especially when you want to keep things organized and private. For example, you could set up an alias like “[email protected]” to use exclusively for online shopping. This keeps your main email address safe from potential spam or promotional emails.

You can also create aliases for specific projects or activities. For instance, if you’re signing up for a service or newsletter, you could use an alias just for that purpose. This way, your real email stays private, and you won’t have to deal with unwanted emails cluttering your inbox.

The best part? If the alias starts getting too much junk or spam, you can simply delete it. This makes email management so much easier and keeps your primary inbox clean and secure.

For Professional Use

Here’s how an email alias works in professional settings:

• As a temporary address for online use
  
  Sometimes, you need to share your email online, like when posting a job ad or or selling an item online. The downside? Once your email is public, it’s a magnet for spam. 
  
  Instead of using your main email address, create an alias for these one-off purposes. Once the job is filled or the item is sold, you can delete the alias and move on. 

• When you have multiple roles
  
  When starting a business, you might wear many hats. You could be the CEO, marketer, and sales rep all at once. 
  
  Rather than using your personal email, create aliases for each role—like [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. 
  
  This gives a professional touch while keeping communications organized. It helps you separate tasks and ensures you’re responding to the right inquiries without mixing things up.

• For an internal mailing list
  
  If you run a group, like a drama club or a school organization, an alias can save time. Instead of sending emails to a long list of people, you send it to one alias. The alias forwards the message to everyone on the list. Since all forwarding addresses are verified, you know they’re correct. 
  
  Plus, this keeps everyone’s email addresses private and secure, as they can’t see who else is on the list.

How to Set Up Your Email Alias (It’s Easier Than You Think)

Having multiple email aliases can help you stay organized and avoid switching between accounts. You can use them for different purposes, and they all funnel into one inbox. 

Here’s a simple guide on how to create email aliases on three of the most commonly used email services.

For Gmail Users

Gmail is one of the most popular email services worldwide, so let’s start there.

1. First, log in to your Google Admin account.
2. Go to the Users section from your homepage.
3. Scroll through the User list and find the user you want to create an alias for.
4. Click on the chosen account and look for the “Alternate email addresses” option.
5. A new field will open where you can enter your desired alias. Just make sure the alias isn’t already in use.
6. If you have access to multiple domains, select the appropriate one for the alias.
7. Save the changes, and you’re done.
8. It might take up to 24 hours for the alias to become active, so don’t worry if you don’t see emails coming in immediately.
9. To send emails from your alias, go to your primary inbox and add the alias.

💡Here’s a helpful tip: Gmail lets you create up to 30 aliases per user at no extra cost. If you need more, you’ll have to set up another Google Account. Also, you can’t create an alias with the same name as an existing Google Account in your company (e.g., if you already have [email protected], you can’t create an alias with the same name).

For Outlook Users

Creating an alias with Outlook is pretty straightforward too. Just follow these steps:

1. Sign into your Microsoft account.
2. Navigate to the “Add an Alias” section.
3. You’ll have two options:

• Create a new Outlook email address and add it as an alias.
• Add an existing email address as an alias.

4. Fill in the part before the “@” symbol with your desired alias and click “Add alias.”

Remember that you can’t use work or school email addresses as aliases, and can’t reuse aliases already linked to other microsoft accounts. They can’t include spaces and special characters. Finally, older email addresses from services like @hotmail.com or @msn.com can’t be used as aliases.

Other Providers (Apple Mail, iCloud, etc.)

iCloud users can also create aliases easily. Here’s how:

1. Log into your iCloud account and locate the gear icon in the sidebar. Click on it and choose “Preferences.”
2. Go to the Accounts section and select the “Add an Alias” option.
3. Fill in the required details, including your alias name, full name, label, and label color.
4. Click “OK” and then “Done.”
5. Finally, enter your preferred alias name before the “@” symbol and click “Add Alias.“

💡Note: iCloud limits you to three @icloud.com aliases per account. Your alias name must be between 3 and 20 characters. You can also change the alias name anytime.

How to Manage Email Aliases Using Hiver

Hiver is a customer service solution that helps manage email aliases, especially for teams using Google Workspace. Here’s how it makes handling multiple aliases more efficient and collaborative:

Keep aliases organized with a shared inbox

A shared inbox allows multiple team members to access and respond to emails, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks. This is especially useful for teams dealing with customer support, sales, or any task that requires collaboration.

For instance, a customer support team can use a shared inbox for emails sent to [email protected]. Everyone can access these messages, making it clear who is working on which email. This visibility helps reduce response times and keeps things moving faster.

With Hiver’s shared inbox, all support emails are centralized, and multiple team members can access them. This means you no longer need to worry about one person missing a message or having to manually assign emails. This visibility lets everyone see who’s working on what, ensuring better distribution of work and quicker response times. You can even tag emails to assign them to specific team members, making it clear who’s responsible for handling each request.

Collaborate easily with internal notes and @mentions

With Hiver’s internal notes and @mentions feature, team members can communicate and coordinate within an email thread, without the need to switch to other platforms or apps

For instance, let’s say a customer support agent receives an email from a frustrated customer who needs a technical fix. Instead of forwarding the email or leaving a separate message, the agent can add an internal note right within the thread, tagging a colleague with @mention for assistance. The colleague sees the note instantly and can jump in to offer advice or provide a solution. No need to search through long email chains or switch between tools to communicate—everything stays in one place.

The right people are notified at the right time for faster response times and improved efficiency. 

Automate email sorting to save time

Automation can save a lot of time by sorting emails for you. Hiver allows you to set up workflows that automatically assign emails to the right team member based on the alias or keywords in the email. 

Let’s say you manage a tech support team. Any email sent to [email protected] with the keyword “downtime” can automatically be assigned to John, the expert in handling system outages. The same goes for other departments—emails about billing issues can go directly to your finance team, and inquiries about new products can land in your sales inbox. With this level of automation, there’s no need to waste time manually sorting through each email. Every email gets the attention it needs, fast.

Use canned responses for faster replies

Canned responses are pre-written replies that your team can use to answer frequently asked questions quickly. 

No more typing out the same answers over and over—just select a email template, make a quick tweak if necessary, and hit send.

For example, if your customer support team regularly gets inquiries about return policies, instead of typing out the same response every time, they can simply select a pre-written reply. Whether it’s a question about shipping, account issues, or product details, having these ready-to-go responses cuts down on response times and frees up your team to focus on more complex tasks.

Canned responses also help ensure consistency. Every customer receives the same accurate information, no matter who’s handling the request. This eliminates the risk of inconsistent messaging and ensures your brand voice stays aligned across all communication.

Limitations of Using Email Aliases

While email aliases are a great tool for managing different tasks and protecting your primary inbox, they do come with some limitations. 

1. Potential for mix-ups

One common issue with email aliases is the risk of mix-ups. If you manage multiple aliases for different purposes, it’s easy to get confused about which alias should be used for what. 

For example, you might accidentally use your [email protected] alias for personal matters, or send a client email from a [email protected] alias meant for support. These mix-ups can lead to emails getting lost or misdirected, creating unnecessary confusion and wasting time sorting through them.

2. Spam can still slip through

While aliases can help you shield your main inbox from unwanted messages, they’re not completely foolproof. If one of your aliases gets targeted by spammers, you may still end up receiving unwanted emails.

Since aliases forward emails to your primary inbox, you need to manage the spam in your main email account. 

Even if you delete the alias, it doesn’t always stop the spam from reaching your primary inbox.

3. Communication challenges

Using aliases can sometimes complicate communication, especially if the recipient isn’t aware that you’re using an alias. For instance, if someone replies to an email sent from your [email protected] alias, they might not realize it’s not your primary email, leading to confusion if they don’t receive a response. This can cause missed connections or misunderstandings—especially in situations where quick replies are important.

4. Issues with automatic filters

Email services rely on filters to sort incoming messages into the right folders or prioritize important emails. But filters aren’t always perfect, especially when you’re using aliases. Emails sent to a specific alias may get flagged as spam, or worse, land in the wrong folder.

This can make it harder to track important messages, leading to missed opportunities or delayed responses.

5. You’re still tied to your primary email

Even though aliases help separate your emails, you’re still tied to your primary email account. All the messages are forwarded to your main inbox. This means you have to manually organize and manage these emails. 

If you’re using several aliases, this can lead to an overwhelming influx of emails that requires constant attention.

6. Customization limitations on certain platforms

Not all email platforms offer the same level of customization for aliases. While services like Gmail allow multiple aliases, the customization options can be limited, leaving you with basic functionality. For teams looking for more control over how their aliases work, this can be a major drawback.

The Solution with Hiver

Unlike basic platforms, Hiver lets you customize every aspect of your email workflows to fit your team’s unique needs. You can use custom fields to tag emails based on their context to quickly prioritize and route messages to the right team member.

For example, emails sent to your [email protected] alias can be automatically assigned to specific team members based on keywords, urgency, or workload. This helps reduce response times and keeps things organized, ensuring no email gets lost in the shuffle.

You can also set up custom tagging systems that automatically sort incoming emails, making it easier for your team to stay focused and on track. No more digging through cluttered inboxes to find what’s important! Plus, Hiver’s reporting and analytics give you a clear view of how your aliases are performing. You’ll see where emails are coming from, how quickly they’re being handled, and where your team’s attention is needed most.

Easily Manage Your Email Aliases With Hiver

Email aliases simplify communication by organizing workflows, separating functions like support and sales, and keeping your primary inbox clutter-free.  They act as a first line of defense against phishing and cybersecurity risks. Using unique aliases for different purposes contains potential breaches protecting your primary email stays secure.

Hiver takes this further by providing tools to organize, track, and automate alias-based communications seamlessly. Enhance your control, security, and productivity—all from one platform.

Start managing your email aliases smarter. Sign up with Hiver today—free!