How to Create, Edit, or Delete a Gmail Alias

Are you tired of giving out the same email address to all your clients, but still want to maintain a professional image, like using customer.care@yourdomain.com or accounts@yourdomain.com? You might think you need to create separate email accounts for each purpose. But there’s an easier way: Gmail aliases.

With Gmail aliases, you can manage multiple email addresses that all funnel into one inbox, making your communication look professional without the hassle of juggling multiple accounts.

In this blog, we’ll explore what Gmail aliases are and how to create and use them effectively to organize your email communications.

Brief breakdown:

• You can quickly create Gmail aliases by adding a “+” and a keyword after your username (e.g., yourname+work@gmail.com), and all emails still go to your main inbox.

• Personal Gmail accounts allow unlimited aliases using the plus addressing method, while Google Workspace accounts have a limit on formal aliases.

• Aliases help organize emails for different purposes like shopping, newsletters, clients, and projects, keeping your inbox clean and professional.

• Limitations include sharing the same inbox and storage with your main account and daily sending limits that apply across aliases.

What is a Gmail Alias?

A Gmail alias is an additional email address that lets you send and receive messages from the same inbox you already use. Think of it as having multiple business cards that all lead back to your desk; no need to check different email accounts or remember multiple passwords.

A Gmail alias is not a separate inbox or a completely new account. You're not getting extra storage or a different setup to manage. All emails sent to your alias simply show up in your regular inbox, and when you reply, you can choose which address the client sees.

Here's how this works in practice: Let's say your main email is sarah@ourcompany.com. You could create aliases, like support@ourcompany.com for customer questions or billing@ourcompany.com for invoices. Both addresses deliver straight to your main inbox, and you can reply as either Sarah or from the support team without any extra logins.

For your team, Gmil aliases solve two key challenges: keeping your communication organized and presenting the right professional image to different clients.

Whether you're handling multiple projects, managing different types of inquiries, or just want to separate internal communication from client-facing emails, aliases let you do this without the hassle of juggling multiple accounts.

How to Create a Gmail Alias

Creating a Gmail alias works differently depending on whether you’re using personal Gmail or Google Workspace. Personal Gmail users can set up aliases directly in their own account settings, while an admin typically creates Google Workspace aliases through the Google Admin Console.

Below, we’ll cover both methods step by step, starting with personal Gmail.

How to Create a Gmail Alias in Personal Gmail (Web/Desktop)

If you use a regular Gmail account, you can create an alias from the Gmail website.

Steps:

1. Open your web browser and go to Gmail. Log in if you aren’t already.

2. Click the gear icon (⚙) in the top-right corner.

3. Select “See all settings” from the drop-down.

4. Go to the Accounts and Import tab.

5. Scroll down to the “Send mail as” section.

6. Click Add another email address.

7. In the pop-up window, enter:

   • Name – This is the name recipients will see.

   • Email address – The alias you want to use.

8. Check “Treat as an alias” to keep all replies in your main inbox.

9. Click Next Step.

10. Choose a sending method:

    • Use Gmail’s servers (recommended for most users).

    • Or use your own SMTP server (advanced users only).

11. Click Add Account.

12. Gmail will send a verification email to the alias address. Open it and click the confirmation link.

Example for Personal Gmail Users:

If your email is emma.smith@gmail.com, you could set up emma.events@gmail.com for event registrations. Emails sent to the alias arrive in your main inbox, and when replying, you can choose which address appears in the “From” field.

How to Create a Gmail Alias in Google Workspace (Admin Setup)

If you’re using Google Workspace for business, aliases are managed at the admin level. An administrator can create role-based or branded addresses for team members.

Steps for Admins:

1. Sign in to the Google Admin console.

2. Go to Users.

3. Click the user you want to add an alias for.

4. Under User information, click Alternate email addresses (email aliases).

5. Click Add alternate email.

6. Enter the alias address and click Save.

For Users:
Once your admin adds the alias, you can enable it in Gmail by following the Personal Gmail steps above (from Step 2 onward in the “Send mail as” section).

Using an Alias on Mobile

You can’t create a new alias from the Gmail mobile app, but you can send from an alias that’s already been set up on desktop.

Steps:

1. Open the Gmail app on your phone or tablet.

2. Tap the menu icon (☰) and scroll down to Settings.

3. Select the Gmail account you want to use with an alias.

4. Compose a new email.

5. Tap the From field and choose the alias from the list.

Quick Gmail Hack: The Plus Sign Trick

If you don’t want to set up separate aliases through your email settings, you can still create unique addresses on the fly using the “+” trick. For example, you could give a client the address tom+invoices@ourcompany.com without creating a formal alias.

Any email sent to that address will land in your main inbox, and you can use filters to label or sort them automatically. This is especially handy for managing client-specific messages without extra setup.

Pro Tip: If you already use Gmail labels like "Client Work" or "Invoices," create aliases that match those labels. It'll make your filtering even smoother.

How to Edit or Remove a Gmail Alias

Editing Gmail aliases helps you keep your email addresses organized and relevant as circumstances change. You might need to update or remove an alias when an employee resigns, a project ends, or you no longer need certain messages coming into your inbox.

For Personal Gmail Accounts

If you’re using the “+keyword” alias trick, you can’t truly edit or delete an alias — it’s just a variation of your main email address.

To “change” it, simply start using a new alias with a different keyword (e.g., switch from yourname+shopping@gmail.com to yourname+stores@gmail.com). Old aliases will still work, but you can filter them into a folder or archive if you no longer want to see them.

If you’ve added an alias via Gmail settings → Accounts & Import → Send mail as, you can remove or edit it:

1. Open Gmail on the web.

2. Go to Settings (gear icon) → See all settings.

3. Open the Accounts and Import tab.

4. Under Send mail as, find the alias you want to edit or delete.

5. Click edit info to change its display name, or delete to remove it entirely.

For Google Workspace (Work/Business Accounts)

Only an admin can edit or remove aliases for Workspace users.

To remove an alias:

1. Sign in to the Google Admin console with an administrator account.

2. Go to Menu → Directory → Users.

3. Search for and select the user’s account.

4. In the left menu under the user’s name, click Add Alternate Emails.

5. Find the alias you want to remove and click Remove.

   • Note: If you don’t see “Remove,” the alias might be a domain alias (shared by all users). Removing it requires deleting the domain alias entirely.

6. Click Save. Changes usually apply within minutes, but can take up to 24 hours.

To view a user’s aliases:

1. Follow steps 1–4 above.

2. Click Show all alternate emails to see the full list.

How to Send & Receive Using a Gmail Alias

Sending emails from a Gmail alias is just as simple as sending from your main address. If you own another email address, such as Yahoo, Outlook, another Gmail account, your work or school domain, or even a custom alias, you can connect it to Gmail and send mail from it. Gmail lets you add and use up to 99 different email addresses.

On Desktop

1. When composing an email, click the From field dropdown.

2. Select the alias you want to use.

On Mobile (Gmail App)

• iOS: Tap Compose → From → Choose your alias.

• Android: Tap Compose → Menu → From → Select your alias.

Pro Tip: You can set an alias as your default sending address by going to Settings → Accounts and Import → Send mail as, clicking the three dots next to your alias, and selecting Make default.

Receiving Emails

All emails sent to your alias will land in your main Gmail inbox. You can set up filters and labels to sort them automatically.

6 Smart Ways to Use Your Gmail Aliases

Now that you know how aliases work, let's talk about the practical ways you can use them to make your work life easier. Think of each alias as a dedicated lane for different types of communication - it keeps everything organized without you having to think about it.

Here are some real-world examples that will actually make a difference in your daily workflow:

1. Customer-Facing Communication

Set up support@ourcompany.com or help@ourcompany.com for all customer inquiries. When clients email this address instead of your personal work email, it looks more professional and makes it easier to hand off customer issues when you're out of office. Plus, you can set up auto-responses that feel more official.

2. Different Business Functions

Create billing@ourcompany.com for invoices and payments, projects@ourcompany.com for project updates, or meetings@ourcompany.com for calendar invites. This way, your clients know exactly what they're emailing about, and you can prioritize accordingly.

3. Marketing and Lead Generation

If you're doing any outreach or marketing, use hello@ourcompany.com or info@ourcompany.com for initial contact. It feels more welcoming than a personal email address and gives prospects confidence that they're reaching a real business.

4. Internal Organization

Set up yourname.admin@ourcompany.com for HR stuff, expense reports, and company admin tasks, or yourname.vendors@ourcompany.com for supplier communications. This keeps your main inbox focused on client work and important business communications.

5. Event or Campaign-Specific

Planning a product launch or company event? Create launch2024@ourcompany.com or event@ourcompany.com for all related communications. When the project's over, you can easily archive or redirect these emails without losing track of anything.

6. Personal Productivity Hack

Here's a bonus tip for your personal Gmail: Use the plus sign trick and sign up for online shopping with yourname+shopping@gmail.com, newsletters with yourname+newsletters@gmail.com, and social media with yourname+social@gmail.com. Then set up filters to automatically label and sort these emails.

The Key is to Start Simple: Don't try to set up 10 aliases on day one. Pick the one or two that would solve your biggest email headaches right now. Maybe it's separating customer emails from internal communication, or maybe it's making sure all your project updates don't get lost in the noise.

Gmail Alias Limitations and Considerations

Gmail aliases are a powerful way to organize your inbox , but there are important limits and nuances you should understand, especially if you’re managing campaigns, client communications, or shared mailboxes in a business environment.

1. Alias Limits Per Account

• Google Workspace (Business Accounts):
  Each user can have up to 30 formal aliases created and managed by an administrator. These aliases are verified email addresses officially associated with your account and can be used to send and receive mail seamlessly.

• Personal Gmail Accounts:
  There is no strict limit on how many aliases you can create using the plus (“+”) addressing trick or by adding dots (“.”) in your username. However, you cannot add multiple fully verified sending addresses like you can in Workspace accounts. This means while you can receive emails sent to these variations, sending “as” those aliases is more limited.

Workaround: For marketers or project managers who want many aliases without using up Workspace slots, plus addressing (e.g., yourname+project1@gmail.com) offers a flexible, unlimited way to create variations. This allows you to organize incoming mail without hitting alias creation limits.

2. Sending Limits Apply Across Aliases

Gmail enforces daily sending limits that apply to your entire account, regardless of which alias you send from:

• Personal Gmail: You can send approximately 500 emails per day.

• Google Workspace: The limit is higher, about 2,000 recipients per day.

This means that switching between aliases when sending does not allow you to bypass these limits. The limits apply collectively to your total sent messages across all aliases and your primary address.

Additional Considerations

• No Separate Storage or Mailboxes: All alias emails share the same inbox and storage space as your primary account.

• Website Restrictions: Some sites and forms may reject emails with “+” signs, so aliases might not always work for sign-ups.

• Mobile Limitations: You can’t create or manage aliases directly in Gmail mobile apps; desktop or web access is required.

Manage Inbox Clutter from Multiple Aliases with NewMail AI

Using Gmail aliases is a great way to organize your email communication by channeling different types of messages to one inbox. However, this can also lead to inbox clutter since all alias emails arrive in the same place. For users juggling multiple aliases or accounts, simply having one inbox doesn’t always mean easier management — organizing and prioritizing your messages becomes a challenge in itself.

This is where NewMail AI steps in. Powered by advanced AI triage, NewMail AI helps you automatically organize and prioritize your inbox so you can focus on what matters most. Instead of manually sorting through hundreds of messages from various aliases and sources, NewMail AI smartly categorizes, highlights, and surfaces important emails with minimal effort.

Core Features of NewMail AI

• Smart Drafts: Automatically generates high-quality, context-aware email responses, saving you time and ensuring your replies sound professional and personalized.

• Daily Briefings: Receive concise summaries of important updates, calendar events, and tasks — helping you start each day prepared.

• Personalized Priority: Ranks emails based on your preferences, reducing noise by highlighting critical messages first.

• Actionable Insights: Tracks emails that require follow-up and links them directly to your to-do list so nothing slips through the cracks.

• Intelligent Tagging: Organizes emails into smart folders automatically, making it easy to locate specific messages later.

• Simplified Scheduling: Integrates calendar management into your inbox, enabling effortless event planning without switching apps.

• Privacy-Centric Design: Keeps your data fully secure by storing nothing externally and encrypting your preferences with military-grade standards.

Ready to Take Control of Your Inbox? Combine the power of Gmail aliases with NewMail AI’s intelligent triage to conquer inbox clutter and boost your productivity.

Get started today and experience how AI can simplify your email management while keeping your data safe.

Conclusion

Gmail aliases improve your email productivity, especially if you handle multiple roles at work. They help you create a professional presence while keeping all your messages organized within a single inbox.

If managing emails from different aliases becomes difficult, NewMail AI offers AI-powered tools to help you efficiently sort, prioritize, and manage your inbox with ease.

Discover how NewMail AI can simplify your inbox and help you stay focused. Try it today!

FAQs About Gmail Aliases

1. What exactly is a Gmail alias?

A Gmail alias is a variation of your primary Gmail address that lets you send and receive emails without creating a new account. It often uses the “+” sign or added dots in your email username.

2. Can I use Gmail aliases to send emails as well as receive?

Yes! You can send emails from your alias address after adding and verifying it in your Gmail settings, or by using the plus addressing trick, which automatically delivers to your main inbox.

3. Are there limits on how many aliases I can have?

For Google Workspace users, admins can create up to 30 formal aliases per user. Personal Gmail accounts can use unlimited “+” aliases but can only add a few verified sending addresses.

4. Will emails sent to my aliases show up in a separate inbox?

No. All emails sent to your aliases arrive in your main Gmail inbox. You can use filters and labels to organize these messages automatically.

5. Do Gmail aliases work with all websites and services?

Most sites accept aliases, but some may reject email addresses containing “+” signs. Always test when signing up, or use your primary email if you encounter issues.