iCloud: Create or change email aliases

Create or change email aliases

An email alias is an email address that conceals your actual email address from a recipient. You could create an alias to use when buying items from online stores, signing up for mailing lists, and registering online, and reserve your real email address for use with family and friends. In this way, aliases can help you better manage the email you receive and monitor the sources of unwanted messages.

You can also send email using an alias.

You can have up to three active email aliases, and you can delete or deactivate (turn off) an email alias at any time. You might want to deactivate an alias if, for example, you use an alias to make a purchase. After you receive the item, you can turn off the alias to avoid follow-up advertisements, then turn it on again when you make another purchase.

Deleting an alias is permanent, so if you think you might want to use the alias again, you should simply turn it off. When an alias is turned off, all email sent to that alias is returned to the sender.

Note:   If you had five MobileMe email address aliases when you moved your account to iCloud, you retain the five aliases. However, once you delete one of your five aliases, you can’t create a new one to replace it.

Create an email alias

  1. In iCloud Mail, choose Preferences from the Action pop-up menu at the top of the window.

  2. Click Accounts.

    Image of the Addresses button in iCloud Mail preferences.

  3. Click “Add an alias.”

  4. Provide the requested information:

    • Alias:
      The text you provide becomes the email address (alias@icloud.com). An alias must contain between 3 and 20 characters.
    • Full Name:
      The name you provide appears in the From field of the recipient’s email.
    • Label Color:
      Messages appear in your Inbox with the colored label that you specify.
    • Description:
      iCloud Mail uses the description to color code messages sent to your account.

  5. Click OK, then click Done.

Change, deactivate, reactivate, or delete an alias

  1. In iCloud Mail, choose Preferences from the Action pop-up menu at the top of the window.

  2. Click Accounts.

    Image of the Addresses button in iCloud Mail preferences.

  3. Select the alias in the Addresses list, then do any of the following:

    • To choose a new color for incoming messages, click a Color Label option. Alias labels appear only in Mail at icloud.com/mail.

    • To change the name or description, type a new alias name and description in the fields provided. Alias names must contain between 3 and 20 characters.

    • To turn off an alias, select the “Disable this alias account” checkbox.

      When an alias is turned off, all email messages addressed to that alias are returned to the sender.

    • To turn on an alias, deselect the “Disable this alias account” checkbox.

    • To delete an alias, click Delete Alias.

  4. Click Done.

Select addresses you can send from

  1. In iCloud Mail, choose Preferences from the Action pop-up menu at the top of the window.

  2. Click Composing.

    Image of the Composing button in iCloud Mail preferences

  3. Choose the address you usually use from the “Set a default address” pop-up menu.

  4. In the list of addresses, select the ones you want to be able to send from while using iCloud Mail.

    The selected addresses appear in the From pop-up menu when you create a new email message. For instructions, go to Send email using an alias.