Alias Magic: How Alias in Gmail can Improve your Organization

How many times have you wanted to sign up for a newsletter but gave up once you remembered your precious inbox will probably be bombarded with several emails a day? If you still want to enjoy emails which are not of high value for your business, such as newsletters, online comments, websites and social media notifications, there’s a really simple solution to that.

You can disguise your email address and instead of giving your real one to those who will send you a lot of emails, you could create an alias email address. This can also be helpful when you’re checking out your competitors and want to sign up but don’t want to give your business email address.

Whatever the reason for using an alias in Gmail might be, there are certain things you need to know about it, from creating it to various situations where you can use an email alias.

What Is an Email Alias?

An email alias is a different name you chose for your email address. For example, your real email address can be john.smith@gmail.com, but you’ll use a fake name for your alias email. Keep in mind that the fake name you decide to use has to sound realistic, professional and credible.

This email address will be used when you don’t want to give out your real personal or business address but still want to have emails being delivered to your inbox. If you were thinking that creating a Gmail alias in your existing account is not an easy task, you couldn’t be more wrong.

It actually takes just a few minutes to set it all up and then you can enjoy received emails without the fear of giving your personal information. When setting up your Gmail alias email, there are two methods to choose from: temporary and permanent.

Email Alias: Temporary Method

With a temporary method, you are using your main email address but adding special characters to make it seem like it’s a completely new address, which Gmail will actually recognize as your original one.

For instance, if your address is janedoe@gmail.com, you can create another one: jane.doe@gmail.com and add as many variations as you want. Gmail treats these email addresses identical to your original one, so anything sent to your alias email address will still go to your primary as well.

Here are the steps if you want to try out the temporary method:

1. Go to your Gmail account and click the triangle on the right side of the search bar.
2. In the menu that appears, type the email address of your temporary alias in the “To” field.
3. Click “Create Filter.”
4. Find the “Choose Category” dropdown submenu and click on it.
5. Choose the category where you want these emails to be sent.
6. Click “Create Filter.”

Email Alias: Permanent Method

To create your alias in Gmail, you will need to access your Gmail account and already have the email address you want to use as your email alias. The best way to create an alias email is by opening another Gmail address to simplify the verification process. As we already said, choose a credible email address. The best alias emails include the first and the last name.

After you’ve created that email, log into your Gmail account and click on the “Settings” in the top right corner. Find “Accounts” and when you click on it, you will see an option “Import” or “Accounts,” depending on your Gmail account type.

Under “Send” mail, simply click the option “Add another email address,” and you will see a pop-up window. It will ask for your name and the email alias address you would like to use. Tick “Treat as an alias’ box.” After you have verified the address and opened your other email address, you will need to click on the link in the message. Lastly, close the window and you will have an alias in your Gmail account.

Numerous Benefits of Gmail Alias

There are plenty of benefits if you decide to use a Gmail email alias. One of them is that it helps you manage your inbox better.

#1 Receiving Task Reminders

Gmail alias can help you become more productive and organised with your assignments. Send yourself brief task reminders by sending email tasks from any address to your dedicated alias. If you want your Gmail account to recognize that incoming task reminder and store it in one place, you can set up a filter for it.

Creating a Gmail Filter is a quick and painless process of just a few steps:

1. Click on the Settings of your Gmail account that’s placed below your profile picture.
2. Switch to the “Filters and Blocked Addresses” tab and click on “Create a New Filter” link, which is below the list of the ones you already have.
3. For the filter criteria, add the alias you will use for these task reminders in the “To” field and click on “Create Filter.”
4. Check the “Apply the label” box and create the label from the corresponding menu.
5. Click the “Create Filter” button.

Your label can be called “ToDo” and you can use this list of emails as your own to-do list. If you’re already using Google Tasks, you can open a reminder email and simply add it to Google Task directly within the app. You can create multiple Gmail aliases as you like to improve your efficiency and organization level!

#2 Keeping Your Email Address Private

Keeping our business or personal email address private is something we all tend to do these days. But, to ensure you’re not missing on this truly exciting digital marketing and email marketing world that is evolving nonstop, you should create another email.

Here is how you can have these emails delivered to you without having to share your real email address:

1. Share your Gmail alias instead of your work or personal email address.
2. Add your work email address as a forwarding one in your Gmail account.
3. Set up a filter to forward these emails to your work email address.

Once again, go to your Gmail settings and switch to “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” tab. Add your forwarding address i.e. private email address in the pop-up and verify it. When you’re creating a Gmail filter, use your alias email in the “To” field and simply check the “Forward” box.

#3 Accessing Important Data on Demand

How about using an alias in Gmail to access birthdays, server names, weekly grocery lists, etc.? With an unlimited number of aliases, you can craft all types of lists and notes which can be accessed from anywhere with just your email.

You can create canned responses with that data you want to access, such as birthdays. Open a “Gmail Compose” window and type the birthday details you want. To save that as a template or canned response, you should look under “More Options” and then find “Canned Responses” and choose the best option.

As you open your Gmail account daily, you can easily add or remove birthdays by composing a new email, opening up canned responses and editing the list of birthdays you have as a template.

Final Thoughts

The majority of our personal and business lives is online, so it has become challenging to stay organized with your emails, while also receiving all the information you want in your inbox without hesitation.

With limitless options when it comes to Gmail alias email, you can have it all: a perfectly organized inbox and the ability to stay up to date with the topics of your interest. Don’t neglect this fantastic opportunity and make the most of all of your Gmail email addresses — real ones and aliases!