What is an alias and how do I use it
Email Aliases at mailbox
If you want more flexibility in creating and managing email addresses, or if you need individual addresses for specific purposes, you should take a look at our email aliases. Email aliases allow you to create additional email addresses with minimal effort. This can help protect your primary address from spam or misuse.
This article focuses specifically on aliases. Similar to disposable addresses, email aliases let you create permanent, separate email addresses for specific use cases. We’ll explain exactly how this works on a technical level and how it can help you increase your privacy, improve security, and keep your inbox well organized.
Email Aliases
What Exactly Is an Alias?
Email aliases are essentially server-side forwarding addresses that allow multiple email addresses to be directed to a single primary inbox. This means that all emails sent to any of the aliases will appear in the same inbox as those sent directly to the main address.
Of course, you can use filters to assign incoming messages for each alias to a separate folder within your mailbox. Unlike disposable addresses or mail extensions, aliases can also be used for sending emails. This feature is often used to manage multiple email addresses for different purposes without having to create or maintain multiple accounts.
This is especially useful for businesses or teams that want to share a single email address without giving all users access to the same account.
In short: Email aliases offer the full potential of dedicated email addresses—without the additional setup effort required to create new mailboxes.
Additional Benefits of Using an Alias
Enhance Security & Protect Your Privacy
Use aliases, for example, when signing up for online services where you prefer not to provide your personal email address. If the alias does not include your real name, it becomes much harder to trace the address back to you, offering an extra layer of protection against online tracking. Combined with anonymized contact information, aliases can significantly strengthen your privacy.
Avoid Spam with Aliases
A great side effect: every time you use an alias instead of your personal email address, you prevent the spread of your private address—reducing the chances of receiving unwanted spam.
If, despite these precautions and our strict spam filtering rules, you start receiving spam through an alias, or no longer need it, you can simply delete the alias at any time and create a new one. With our Standard and Premium plans, you can create, delete, and recreate up to 25 aliases using the @mailbox.org domain whenever you like.
Aliases & Filter Rules – The Perfect Synergy
Using email aliases in combination with filter rules offers numerous advantages for maintaining a well-organized inbox.
First, they allow you to separate personal and professional emails by using different addresses for different purposes. Second, they help reduce spam by keeping your primary email address hidden from unwanted senders. Third, filter rules make it easier to organize your emails by automatically sorting messages into relevant folders, which improves findability and boosts productivity.
Finally, email aliases and filter rules add an extra layer of security by making it easier to identify phishing attempts and other threats.
Aliases – Availability by Plan
Did you know? You can also use email aliases at mailbox in combination with your own domain.
| Plan | Aliases @mailbox.org | Aliases with Custom Domain |
|---|---|---|
| Premium | 25 | 250 |
| Standard | 25 | 50 |
| Light | 3 | – |
Creating and Deleting Aliases
Creating an Alias
You can add a new alias via the menu: All Settings | E-mail Addresses | E-mail Aliases.
Don’t forget to confirm your changes by clicking the Save button!
Optionally, you can assign a short note (memo) to each alias. This can help you stay organized if you use multiple aliases for different purposes.
Figure 1: Add an external alias.
Deleting an Alias
In the same menu, you can delete an alias if you no longer want to use it. When you delete an alias, it is automatically blocked for a certain period to prevent third parties from registering a previously used alias and potentially (accidentally or maliciously) gaining access to someone else's emails.
During this blocking period, you can also lift the block at any time under All Settings | E-mail Aliases | Deleted Aliases | Unlock Deleted Aliases to make the alias available for re-registration.
Alias Cannot Be Deleted?
An alias that cannot be deleted is usually still set as the default sender address under "All Settings | E-mail Addresses | Primary Address" – remove it there and try again.
FAQ About Aliases
Can I combine aliases with mail extensions at mailbox?
Yes, mail extensions are active at mailbox and can be combined with aliases at any time. For more information about the benefits of mail extensions, please refer to the related FAQ article.
Can I add aliases from other email providers (e.g., "my.name@gmail.com")?
Unfortunately, this is not technically possible. However, you can set up automatic POP3 retrieval, which regularly fetches emails arriving in the external mailbox to your mailbox account.
If you also activate the external provider’s address under "All Settings | Email Addresses | Alternative Sender," you can use it to send emails via mailbox.
Can I turn an alias into a standalone mailbox?
Unfortunately, this is not directly possible because aliases and mailboxes have very different structural setups.
As an alternative, you can delete the alias and then register it as a new account at mailbox.
