What is an email alias?
An email alias is an intermediate address that forwards messages to your real inbox without revealing it. By creating a different alias for each service, you instantly spot who sold or leaked your address, and you can cut that alias off without touching anything else. The topic continues in chapter 4 of my book, Vivre sans Google.
Information verified on July 13, 2026
Your email address is a bit like your home address: once given out, you can never take it back. An alias solves the problem. It is a front address that receives mail on your behalf and forwards it to your real inbox. You read everything in one place, but nobody knows the real address.
The trick really pays off with a different alias per service: one for the online store, one for the newsletter, one for the gym. The day one of them starts receiving spam, no more mystery: you know exactly who leaked your address, or who sold it. And the penalty takes one click: you cut the alias, the spam stops, your inbox goes on as usual.
Do you need to be an expert to start? No. Alias services generate the address as you sign up, often right from the browser, and many integrate with password managers, as shown in the Proton Pass vs Bitwarden comparison.
Where it plays out: chapter 4 of the book rebuilds your email on healthy foundations, and the Email aliases category compares services to get started.
This topic is chapter 4 of my book
It answers these questions, among others:
- how do you migrate twenty years of email without losing a message or a contact?
- which address can no one ever take away from you, and how do you get it?
- and what do you do with the hundreds of accounts tied to your Gmail?
Forthcoming 22/10/2026 from Éditions Eyrolles
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