Email aliases & forwarding explained
Aliases let you send and receive email using multiple addresses from a single inbox — here's what they are and how to use them.
Have you ever wanted emails sent to info@yourbusiness.com and hello@yourbusiness.com to both arrive in the same inbox? That's what email aliases are for. This guide explains what aliases are, when to use them, and how forwarding fits in.
Quick summary
An alias is an extra email address that points to an existing mailbox. Email sent to the alias arrives in the main inbox, and you can reply using either address. Forwarding does something similar but passes email on to a different account.
What is an email alias?
An alias is an additional address that maps to your existing inbox. You don't get a separate mailbox — all email arrives in one place.
Example:
- Your main address:
jane@yourbusiness.com - Aliases:
hello@yourbusiness.com,contact@yourbusiness.com,info@yourbusiness.com - All three deliver to Jane's inbox
Jane can also choose to send replies from any of those addresses, so the reply comes from info@ rather than her personal jane@ address.
When aliases are useful
| Situation | How aliases help |
|---|---|
You want a professional generic address (hello@, info@) without creating a separate user | Create it as an alias on your main account |
| You're rebranding and have a new domain name | Add the old address as an alias so emails to either address arrive in one inbox |
You want a role-based address (sales@, billing@) that goes to one person | Create it as an alias — no extra cost |
| You're testing a new format before rolling it out | Use an alias to try it without committing |
Aliases vs separate accounts
| Alias | Separate account | |
|---|---|---|
| Needs its own license/cost | No | Yes |
| Has its own storage | No (shares the main inbox) | Yes |
| Can have its own password | No | Yes |
| Multiple people can access it | No | Use a shared mailbox instead |
If multiple people need to access the same inbox (like a support@ address that the whole team monitors), you want a shared mailbox instead of an alias.
What is email forwarding?
Forwarding sends a copy of incoming email to a different email address — which might be at a completely different domain.
Example: Email sent to old@previousdomain.com is forwarded to jane@yourbusiness.com.
Forwarding is useful when:
- You're migrating from an old domain and want to catch emails sent to the old address
- You want messages sent to one address to go to multiple people (though a distribution list is often better for this — see Group & distribution lists explained)
- You're consolidating multiple accounts into one place temporarily
Forwarding and spam filters
When you forward email, the forwarded messages may be flagged as spam by the receiving server, because they appear to come from a different original sender. This is a known limitation. Ask Chykalophia about better alternatives if forwarding causes deliverability issues.
How to add an alias
The steps vary by platform.
Open the Admin console at admin.google.com.
Go to Users and click the user you want to add an alias for.
Find the Alternate emails section (sometimes listed under 'User information" or a similar section).
Add the alias address and save. The alias starts working immediately.
To send from the alias: In Gmail, go to Settings → See all settings → Accounts → Add another email address.
Open the admin center at admin.microsoft.com.
Go to Users → Active users and click the user.
Go to the Manage email aliases section and add the new address.
Save. The alias starts working within a few minutes.
To send from the alias: In Outlook, add the alias as a 'From" address in account settings.
How many aliases can I have?
- Google Workspace: Each user can have up to 30 aliases.
- Microsoft 365: Each user can have up to 400 email aliases (proxy addresses).
In practice, most businesses use just a handful.
Common questions
Related guides
- Shared mailboxes (like support@) explained
- Setting up a new email address
- Group & distribution lists explained
- Email routing & catch-all (Google Workspace)
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