If you have a Gmail address, you already own an almost unlimited number of variations of it. Add a plus sign and a word after your username, or put a few dots into it, and mail still lands in the same inbox. This is usually called the Gmail plus trick, or the dot trick, and it is one of the most useful free features in email that most people never use. It is also widely misunderstood, because it organises your mail far better than it protects it.
The short version: name+anything@gmail.com and n.a.m.e@gmail.com both reach name@gmail.com. That makes them good for filtering mail and for spotting which company shared your address. They do not hide your real address, they do not stop anything reaching your inbox, and plenty of sites reject or strip them. When you want a sign-up to stay completely away from your real inbox, a temporary address does that job better, and for long-term accounts an alias is the stronger tool.
How the Gmail plus trick works
Gmail treats everything between a plus sign and the @ as a label rather than part of the address. Mail sent to sara.k+shoes@gmail.com is delivered to sara.k@gmail.com, and the full tagged address stays visible in the To line of the message, so you can see which version the sender used. You do not need to set anything up or register the tag first. You invent it at the moment you type it into a form.
The idea is older than Gmail. It is known as subaddressing or plus addressing, and mail systems have long used a separator to add a detail to a mailbox name. Gmail simply made it available to everyone with a free account, which is why it is so often called a Gmail alias.
- The tag can be a word, a number or a short code, such as +news, +2026 or +shop-a.
- You can create as many tags as you like, and none of them cost anything.
- Replies you send still come from your normal address, not from the tagged one.
- Logging in to a site later means typing the exact tagged address you registered with.
How the Gmail dot trick works
The dot trick is a separate rule. For addresses ending in @gmail.com, Gmail ignores dots in the username, so sarak@gmail.com, sara.k@gmail.com and s.a.r.a.k@gmail.com are all the same mailbox. Google does not treat them as different accounts, which is also why nobody else can register a dotted copy of your address.
Dots are less useful than tags. Every dotted version looks like a normal address, but there are only so many places to put a dot, and none of them tells you anything about the sender. Their main practical effect is a safety net: if someone types your address with a dot in the wrong place, the message still reaches you. On most other providers, dots are real characters, so sara.k@ and sarak@ would be two different people.
What a Gmail alias like this is good for
People often call a tagged address a Gmail alias. It is not an alias in the full sense, since it never hides the address behind it, but it has three genuine uses.
Sorting mail automatically
Give each kind of sender its own tag and let a filter do the rest. In Gmail on the web, type to:sara.k+shoes@gmail.com into the search bar, open the search options and choose Create filter. You can then apply a label, skip the inbox or mark the messages as read. Menu names change from time to time, so look for the nearest wording if yours differs.
Finding out who shared your address
If you sign up to a shop as +shopname and spam later arrives addressed to that exact tag, you know where the leak started: the shop sold, shared or lost its list. That is useful evidence, and you can filter that tag straight to the bin. Our guide on how to stop spam emails shows how to use this as part of a wider clean-up.
Testing your own sign-up forms
Developers and testers use tags to create many test users that all land in one monitored mailbox, such as +test01 and +test02. It works well, provided your own sign-up form accepts the plus sign, and it is worth checking that it does, because your customers use it too.
Where the Gmail plus trick falls short
The limits matter more than the tricks, because they decide whether the address protects you or only labels you.
- Many sites reject the plus sign. Some sign-up forms wrongly treat it as an invalid character, so you cannot use the tag at all.
- Some sites strip the tag. A service can quietly remove everything from the plus sign to the @ before saving the address, and then the tag tells you nothing about who leaked it.
- Your real address is easy to work out. Anyone, person or script, can delete the tag and the dots in a second, and many mailing lists are cleaned this way as a matter of routine. A spammer who does this reaches your main inbox, and there is no tag left to filter.
- Everything still lands in your real inbox. Tracking pixels, phishing and junk reach the same mailbox as your bank and your family. A filter can move them, but it cannot stop them arriving.
- You cannot switch it off. If a tagged address starts receiving spam, all you can do is filter it, because the mailbox behind it is your real one.
- Sites use it against duplicate accounts. Many services normalise Gmail addresses by removing dots and tags, so variations do not count as new people. Using variations to claim the same free trial or offer more than once breaks most terms of service.
Google Workspace and other providers
Everything above describes personal @gmail.com addresses. Work and school accounts on Google Workspace use the organisation's own domain, and there the rules differ: dots are generally treated as part of the address, while the plus form usually works but depends on how the account has been set up. If you rely on it, send yourself a test message first.
Other providers have their own versions. Outlook.com supports plus addressing, and on business Microsoft 365 mailboxes an administrator controls the setting. Fastmail supports it as well, and iCloud Mail has its own options, including Hide My Email addresses for iCloud+ subscribers. None of them treat dots the way Gmail does, and details change over time, so a quick test message to yourname+test@yourprovider.com is the most reliable check.
Gmail plus trick vs temp mail vs email alias
The plus and dot tricks are one of three common ways to avoid handing out your main address. They solve different problems, and this table shows where each one stands.
| Question | Gmail plus or dot trick | Temp mail (VookMail) | Email alias |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup needed | None if you use Gmail | None; open the page | An account with an alias service, or your own domain |
| Hides your real address | No, it is easy to work out | Yes, there is no link to it | Yes, from the sender |
| Where mail arrives | Your real Gmail inbox | A separate inbox on the site or app | Your real inbox, by forwarding |
| Can you turn it off? | No, you can only filter it | It deletes itself after about a day | Yes, by disabling the alias |
| Account recovery later | Yes | No, the inbox expires | Yes, while the alias exists |
| Accepted by websites | Usually; some forms reject the plus sign | Often refused by large platforms | Usually; some alias domains are flagged |
| Best for | Sorting mail and tracing leaks | One-off sign-ups and codes | Accounts you keep but want separate |
The quick way to read it: the Gmail trick is about organisation, temp mail is about separation, and an alias is about control. We compare the last two in more depth in temp mail vs email alias.
When a temp mail is the better choice
A tagged Gmail address always leads back to you. A temporary inbox does not. It is a working address on a separate service, with no account and no route to your personal mailbox, and it deletes itself after a short time. Nothing sent to it ever reaches your real inbox. That makes it the better fit whenever you only need one message and want nothing more to follow.
- Confirming an email address to download a single file or guide.
- Receiving one verification code for a quick test of a tool, where the site allows it.
- Getting a file or a reply from a stranger, such as a marketplace buyer, without handing over your address.
- Checking a sign-up flow when you do not want test mail in your own inbox.
On VookMail, a temp mail address is ready as soon as the page loads. Copy it, paste it into the form, and the message appears within seconds, with codes and links shown above it. You can press New to choose a username and one of more than 30 domains, and messages and attachments are deleted after about a day. If you want a quick disposable address for a single sign-up, the burner email page explains that use in more detail.
Temp mail has its own limits, and they mirror the Gmail trick. You cannot recover an account once the inbox has expired, so never use it for anything you may need to log into again. Messages are not end-to-end encrypted, so nothing private belongs there. And some sites block disposable addresses on purpose, which is their decision to make; our article on why websites block disposable email explains the reasons. Where that happens, use an alias or your real address.
When an alias or your real address wins
For accounts you plan to keep, such as shops you buy from, newsletters you read or forums you post in, a forwarding alias is usually the better tool. It hides your address from the sender, it lasts as long as you need it, and you can switch it off if the list is sold. The plus trick is a reasonable middle option for senders you already trust and simply want to sort. For banking, government services, health and work, use your real address with a strong password and two-factor authentication, because recovery matters more than privacy there. If a site you use is ever breached, our guide to protecting yourself after a data breach covers the next steps.
A simple way to decide
- Will you need this address again to log in, reset a password or receive receipts? If not, use temp mail.
- Is it an account you will keep, but you do not want the sender to know your real address? Use an email alias.
- Do you trust the sender and only want the mail sorted, or want to trace a leak? Use the Gmail plus trick.
- Is it your bank, your employer or a government service? Use your real address.
Questions people ask about the Gmail plus trick
Does the Gmail plus trick still work?
Yes. Gmail still delivers name+anything@gmail.com to name@gmail.com. What varies is whether a particular website accepts the plus sign in its form, and whether it keeps the tag when it saves your address.
Can someone see my real address from a plus address?
Yes. Your real address is written inside the tagged one, and removing the tag takes no effort. Treat a plus address as a label for your own use, not as a disguise.
Is a Gmail plus address the same as an email alias?
Not really. A true alias is a separate address that forwards to you and can be disabled without touching your mailbox. A plus address is your own address with a tag, so it cannot be switched off and does not hide anything.
Why do I get mail meant for someone else?
Because Gmail ignores dots, a person who believes their address is s.arak@gmail.com may in fact be typing yours. Nobody can register a dotted copy of an existing Gmail address, so that mail reaches the real owner, which is you. Do not click password reset links you did not request, and use the service's "not my account" option where one exists.