The Gmail Dot Trick and Plus Trick: How Gmail Aliases Really Work
Gmail has two features that let one mailbox have many addresses. People call them the dot trick and the plus trick. They are not hacks. They are documented behaviour, and they are the reason Gmail-style temporary addresses can exist at all.
The dot trick
For Gmail addresses, Google ignores periods in the username. That means these all go to the same place:
To a person they look like different addresses. To Gmail they are one mailbox. This matters because many websites treat each spelling as a different email and let you create separate accounts with each.
Note that this rule is specific to Gmail. Other providers may treat dots as meaningful, so the trick should not be assumed to work elsewhere.
The plus trick
Gmail also lets you add a tag after a plus sign:
All of these arrive in janedoe's inbox. The tag is just a label you choose. It is useful in two ways. First, you can set a filter in Gmail to sort or delete anything sent to a particular tag. Second, if a tagged address starts receiving spam, you know which company shared it.
Using them together
You can combine both: jane.doe+shop@gmail.com is valid and reaches the same mailbox. The combinations are effectively unlimited, which is why a single Gmail account can supply a long list of aliases.
Where the tricks help
- Tracking who sold your address. Use a different tag for each site.
- Filtering. Create a Gmail filter that labels or archives mail to a tagged address.
- Testing. Developers can create many test accounts from one mailbox.
- Free trials. Some people use aliases for separate sign-ups, though many services forbid duplicate trials, so check the terms first.
Where they fail
- Some websites reject the plus sign in a form field.
- Some systems remove the plus tag before saving the address, so the alias does not stay separate.
- Anyone who knows the base address can guess the alias.
- Aliases are not private. The mailbox owner reads everything.
- They do not hide your identity from the website.
How temp mail services use this
A Gmail-style temp mail generator owns a real mailbox and builds aliases from it with dots and plus tags. When a message arrives, the service shows it only to the person using that specific alias. The address looks ordinary, so forms that block throwaway domains tend to accept it. You can try this on our Gmail generator or read the longer comparison in temp mail vs Gmail alias.
If you want an alias without a service in the middle, you can use your own Gmail account. Our explainer on what an email alias is covers other ways to set one up.
Practical tips
- Pick tags that you can recognise later, such as the site name.
- If a form rejects a plus sign, switch to the dot version.
- Do not use aliases for accounts you may need to recover unless the mailbox is yours.
- Remember that a plus alias is easy to strip. If you need real separation, use a different mailbox or a temporary address.
The short version
Dots are ignored. Anything after a plus sign is ignored. Both reach the same Gmail inbox. That is all the trick is, and it is why one Gmail account can behave like hundreds of addresses.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the Gmail dot trick?
Gmail ignores dots in the part of the address before the @. So jane.doe@gmail.com, janedoe@gmail.com and j.a.n.e.d.o.e@gmail.com all deliver to the same mailbox.
What is plus addressing in Gmail?
You can add a plus sign and any text after your username, such as janedoe+shopping@gmail.com. Mail sent to that address still arrives in your normal inbox, and you can filter it by the tag.
Does the dot trick work with googlemail.com?
Yes. Googlemail.com is an older Google domain that delivers to the same mailbox, and the same rules about dots and plus tags apply.
Do all websites accept plus signs in email addresses?
No. Some forms reject the plus character even though it is valid, and some sites strip it. The dot version usually avoids that problem.
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