Filter Your Emails Smarter: Gmail Tips with + and .

Drowning in emails? Wish you had better control over your inbox without creating multiple accounts. Gmail’s hidden trick—using + and . in your email address—can help you effortlessly organize, filter, and protect your inbox.

With Gmail’s flexible email addressing, you can:
Organize your inbox with custom filters.
Track sign-ups and identify spam sources.
Improve security by creating unique addresses for different services.
Use unlimited variations of your email without creating new accounts.

What It Is

Gmail ignores periods (.) in email addresses and recognizes + as an alias separator. This means:

📌 ashok.kumar@gmail.com = ashokkumar@gmail.com = a.s.h.o.k.k.u.m.a.r@gmail.com
📌 ashokkumar+newsletter@gmail.com still delivers to ashokkumar@gmail.com

How to Use It

1. Organize Your Inbox with Filters

👉 Sign up for newsletters using yourname+newsletter@gmail.com
👉 Set up Gmail filters:

  • Go to Settings → Filters and Blocked Addresses → Create a new filter
  • Enter youremail+newsletter@gmail.com in “To”
  • Choose actions like “Skip Inbox” or “Apply label: Newsletters”

2. Track Spam and Unwanted Emails

👉 Use youremail+website@gmail.com when signing up for websites.
👉 If you get spam at this address, you’ll know where it leaked.
👉 Easily block unwanted senders in Gmail.

3. Manage Work & Personal Emails with One Account

👉 Use youremail+work@gmail.com for job applications.
👉 Use youremail+shopping@gmail.com for online orders.
👉 All emails arrive in the same inbox, but filters keep them organized.

How can it help, some use cases:

💡 Test services for data leaks – You’ll know if a company sells your email! Sign up for a service using a email, like email+service@gmail.com . Monitor incoming emails – If you start receiving spam to that address, you know who leaked or sold your email. Take action – Block the sender, unsubscribe, or report the company for privacy violations.
💡 Use . variations for different accounts – Some websites treat them as unique, while Gmail does not.
💡 Combine with aliases for automation – Forward specific addresses to other inboxes.

Example

🚀Milind, a freelancer, uses +client for client emails, +finance for bills, and +subscriptions for newsletters. He never loses important emails and keeps her inbox clutter-free!

Try Gmail’s + and . tricks today! How do you use them? Drop a comment below!

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