Using Email Aliases to Stay Organized

An email alias is a secondary address that redirects to your main mailbox. With Infomaniak, you can create as many aliases as you need to organize your communication, filter your emails, and protect your primary address. It\'s a powerful and underused tool.

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What Is an Email Alias?

An alias is an email address that forwards to an existing mailbox. It is not a new mailbox (no additional storage, no separate login). It is simply an alternative "front door" to your main mailbox.

Example: you have the mailbox jean.dupont@company.com. You create the alias contact@company.com. Emails sent to contact@company.com arrive in jean.dupont@company.com\'s mailbox.

Alias vs Redirect vs Shared Mailbox

These three concepts are often confused:

• Alias: A secondary address that arrives in your mailbox. You can send emails "as" the alias.
• Redirect: Automatically forwards emails to another address (can be external). The original email is not kept on the server.
• Shared Mailbox: A real email mailbox accessible by multiple users with their own credentials.

Use Cases for Aliases

1. Generic Business Addresses

Rather than disclosing your personal address, create generic aliases:

• contact@company.com → for general inquiries
• quotes@company.com → for quote requests
• support@company.com → for customer support
• invoices@company.com → for accounting

These aliases can be redirected to the right person. If that person changes roles, you simply update the alias without impacting external communication.

2. Automatic Filtering

Create a different alias for each type of online registration:

• newsletters@yourdomain.com → for newsletters
• purchases@yourdomain.com → for purchase confirmations
• alerts@yourdomain.com → for automated alerts

Then create a filter based on the recipient: all emails sent to newsletters@ go into the "Newsletters" folder. Automatic sorting guaranteed.

3. Spam Protection

Signing up for a website you don\'t fully trust? Use a dedicated alias. If that alias receives spam, you can delete it without affecting your primary address.

This technique also helps you identify who sold or exposed your address: if you receive spam at siteX@yourdomain.com, you know siteX was compromised or unscrupulous.

4. Multiple Identities

Do you have multiple activities? Create an alias for each one:

• jean@dupont-consulting.com → for your consulting work
• jean@dupont-training.com → for your training work

Both arrive in the same mailbox, but you can reply with the appropriate identity.

Creating an Alias with Infomaniak

Alias creation is done in Infomaniak Manager, not in webmail.

Sending Emails from an Alias

Receiving emails on an alias is automatic. But to send emails using the alias as the sender address, you need to set up an identity.

In Infomaniak Webmail

1. Settings → Identities
2. Create a new identity
3. Enter the alias as the email address
4. Configure the display name and signature if needed
5. Save

When composing an email, you can choose which identity (and therefore which alias) to send from.

In Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.

Most email clients allow you to add additional identities or sender addresses. Look in the account settings for the "Identities" or "Reply-to addresses" option.

Catch-All Alias: Capture Everything

Infomaniak allows you to set up a "catch-all" alias. All emails sent to any address on your domain (even non-existent ones) arrive in a specific mailbox.

Example: you set up *@company.com to forward to admin@company.com. An email sent to anything@company.com will arrive at admin@company.com.

Advantages of Catch-All

• Never miss an email sent to a misspelled address
• Ability to give out addresses on the fly (clientX@company.com) without creating them
• Detect generic spam attempts

Disadvantages of Catch-All

• Attracts a lot of spam (spammers try random addresses)
• Can mask configuration errors (emails that should bounce but arrive instead)

Best Practices

Document Your Aliases

Keep a list of your aliases, their purpose, and which mailbox they point to. When you have 15 aliases, you\'ll be glad you can find your way around.

Use Naming Conventions

Adopt a consistent logic:

• service-type@domain.com (tech-support@, sales-north@)
• firstname.lastname@domain.com for individuals
• role@domain.com for roles (management@, accounting@)

Clean Up Regularly

Obsolete aliases can cause confusion. Conduct an annual audit and delete those that are no longer in use.

Combine with Filters

An alias alone does not sort emails. Create a filter that moves emails addressed to the alias into a dedicated folder. Example: everything arriving at newsletters@ goes into the "Newsletters" folder.

Limitations of Aliases

Aliases are not the solution for everything:

• No separate storage – Everything arrives in the same mailbox, which can become cluttered
• No multi-user management – For multiple people to manage the same address, use a shared mailbox instead
• No specific quota – Alias emails consume the main mailbox\'s quota

For these needs, consider a dedicated mailbox or a shared mailbox rather than an alias.

Conclusion

Email aliases are a simple yet powerful tool for organizing your communication. They let you multiply your points of contact without complicating management, automatically filter your emails, and protect your primary address.

Start by creating a few aliases for your most obvious needs (contact@, support@), then gradually expand as needed.

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