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Add a plus sign and a tag before @gmail.com—for example, name+news@gmail.com—to receive mail at your existing Gmail inbox under a recognizable variation. You do not need another account. Create a Gmail filter that matches the variation in the message’s To field to label, archive, or otherwise handle those messages automatically.

How Gmail plus addresses work

A plus address keeps your usual Gmail username and adds a tag after it: name+tag@gmail.com. Google says mail sent to that variation arrives in the inbox for name@gmail.com. For example, you might use name+receipts@gmail.com for purchase confirmations and name+news@gmail.com for newsletters. These are variations of one address, not separate mailboxes. Google Gmail Help gives yourname+news@gmail.com as an example for signing up for newsletters.

How to set up a plus-address filter

  1. Choose a short tag that identifies the source or purpose, such as receipts or news.
  2. Enter your variation, such as name+receipts@gmail.com, wherever you want to receive mail at that address.
  3. In Gmail, start creating a filter and enter the full plus address in the To field.
  4. Choose what Gmail should do with matching messages, such as applying a label or archiving them, and save the filter.

Google documents using an address variation with a filter to organize incoming mail. Available filter actions may depend on the page or context; the key is to match the variation and select the handling you want. Google Workspace Learning Center also describes this workflow for organization addresses on custom domains.

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Plus signs, dots, and “Send mail as” are different

Option What it does What to know
Plus address Adds +tag before @gmail.com for receiving and filtering incoming mail. Messages go to the existing Gmail inbox; it is not a separate account.
Dotted variation Changes where dots appear in the username. For consumer @gmail.com addresses, dots do not create a distinct username or inbox. Google says dots do matter for work, school, and other organization-managed domains. Google explains the distinction here.
“Send mail as” Configures Gmail to send outgoing messages from another address. This is separate from using a plus address to receive and sort mail. Google says that beginning January 2027, Gmail will stop supporting “Send as” for third-party addresses such as Yahoo and Outlook; Google Workspace aliases and other Gmail addresses owned by the user are unaffected. Check Google’s current guidance because this is a dated product notice. Google’s setup and notice

What plus addressing does not guarantee

A plus address is not a separate private mailbox, and it should not be treated as a way to conceal your identity. Google warns that aliases are not private and may sometimes be visible to others. That warning appears in its broader alias guidance, including organization group aliases; it does not establish exactly how every website or recipient handles every plus-tagged address. See Google’s alias guidance.

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