# Gmail plus addressing: how the + trick works and where it falls short > Gmail plus addressing lets you add +anything to your address and still get the mail. How to filter and trace leaks with it, and why it won't hide you. Source: https://yelmail.com/blog/gmail-plus-addressing · Last updated: 2026-04-02 By the YelMail team · Published 2026-04-02 **Gmail plus addressing** lets you add a plus sign and any word before the @, like `yourname+netflix@gmail.com`, and the mail still lands in your normal inbox. There is nothing to switch on and nothing to register. It's good for two jobs: sorting mail with filters and spotting which company passed your address on. It does not hide your real address, because anyone can delete the tag. ## How does Gmail plus addressing work? When Gmail delivers a message, it ignores everything between the plus sign and the @ but keeps the full address on the message. So `yourname+news@gmail.com` arrives at `yourname@gmail.com`, and the `+news` part is still there for filters and searches to read. Google documents this on its own help page, where it calls these tagged addresses [Gmail aliases](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/22370?hl=en) and uses examples like `janedoe+school@gmail.com`. A few details that trip people up: - You don't create tags in advance. You invent one in the sign-up form and it works on the first email. - A tag can hold more than one word. Google's own example is `+important.emails`. - It works on Google Workspace accounts too, so `name+news@yourcompany.com` reaches `name@yourcompany.com`. It isn't a Gmail invention, either. The convention is old enough to have a formal name, subaddressing, and a standard for filtering on it ([RFC 5233](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5233)). Many other mail providers support it, though not all of them, so if you use something other than Gmail, send yourself a tagged test message before you rely on it. ## What is plus addressing good for? Plus addressing is good for sorting mail automatically and for finding out who shared your address. Both work because the tag survives delivery, so every message shows which version of your address it was sent to. ### Sorting mail with filters Give each kind of sign-up its own tag, then let a filter deal with it. In Gmail on a computer: 1. Click **Show search options** in the search box at the top. 2. Type the tagged address, for example `yourname+news@gmail.com`, into the **To** field. 3. Click **Create filter**. 4. Pick what should happen: apply a label, skip the inbox, mark it as read, forward it or delete it. 5. Click **Create filter** again to save. Google's page on [creating Gmail filters](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6579?hl=en) lists every action. For a quick one-off look, typing `to:yourname+news@gmail.com` into the search box does the job without a filter. A naming tip. Tags by category (`+shopping`, `+news`) make tidy labels. Tags by company (`+runningshop`, `+citygym`) make leak tracing possible. One tag can't do both, so if you care about leaks, use one tag per company and group them under labels afterwards. ### Finding out who leaked your address If mail starts arriving at `yourname+runningshop@gmail.com` from someone who isn't the running shop, that address left the shop's hands somehow. The tag can't tell you how. A sale to a "partner", a marketing vendor with sloppy security and a full-blown data breach all look the same from your inbox. If it smells like a breach, our [data breach checklist](https://yelmail.com/blog/email-data-breach-checklist) covers what to do in the first hour. Two limits apply. It only works while the sender keeps the tag intact. And a tag named after a company tells anyone who reads the address where you have an account. ## Why doesn't plus addressing hide your email address? Because your real address is sitting right there in front of the plus sign. Delete `+news` and what's left is your inbox, and stripping a tag takes one line of code. So assume that any list your tagged address lands on also has your plain address, or soon will. The same goes for breaches: a leaked `yourname+shop@gmail.com` is a leaked `yourname@gmail.com`. Plus addressing sorts mail. It doesn't block it, and it doesn't keep you out of anyone's database. If privacy is the goal, you need an address that doesn't contain your real one. That means a forwarding alias or a temporary inbox with no connection to you at all. Our [comparison of temp mail and email aliases](https://yelmail.com/blog/temp-mail-vs-email-alias) puts the options side by side, and the rundown of [alias services like Firefox Relay and SimpleLogin](https://yelmail.com/blog/email-alias-services-compared) covers the forwarding kind in detail. ## Where does plus addressing break? Some sign-up forms reject the plus sign and some sites strip it before saving. Others treat the tagged and plain versions as one account. None of this is your fault. The plus sign is a perfectly valid character in an email address; the form is simply wrong. What you'll run into: - **The form says your address is invalid.** That's bad validation on the site's side. There's no fix on yours except using a different address. - **The tag quietly disappears.** Mail then arrives at your plain address and your filter never fires. - **You can't log in later.** If the site uses your email as the username, you need the exact tag you signed up with. Let your password manager save it. - **Support can't find you.** Give an agent `yourname@gmail.com` and they may search for an account that, as far as they're concerned, doesn't exist. - **Your replies drop the tag.** Replies go out from your normal address by default, so anyone you write back to sees it untagged. One more. A site that treats `yourname+2@gmail.com` as a brand-new person is not an invitation to open extra accounts for another free trial. That breaks many sites' terms, and a site that notices can close every account tied to your inbox, including the one you actually use. ## When should you use something other than a plus address? Use plus addressing for sites you trust and want to keep hearing from. For sites you don't trust yet, or ones you'll use exactly once, give them an address that has nothing to do with yours. A one-time download, a café Wi-Fi login or a forum you need to join to read one answer doesn't need your Gmail at all. A [free temp mail inbox](https://yelmail.com/) is quicker, and nothing from that site ever reaches you. An account you'll keep but want private is a job for a forwarding alias, or for your own domain with a [catch-all address](https://yelmail.com/blog/catch-all-email-own-domain) so every site gets its own name. Anything involving money, health or the government gets your real address, untagged, so support and account recovery work without surprises. You may also see the [Gmail dot trick](https://yelmail.com/blog/gmail-dot-trick) suggested as an alternative. It has the same privacy problem and fewer uses. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is there a limit to how many plus addresses I can use in Gmail? Google doesn't publish a limit, and since you never register a tag, there's nothing for it to count. You can use a different one for every site you sign up to. The practical limit is your memory: sites that use your email as the login need the exact tag again, so save each one in a password manager when you create the account. ### Does plus addressing work with Google Workspace accounts? Yes. Google's Workspace help describes the same feature for company addresses, so `name+news@yourcompany.com` is delivered to `name@yourcompany.com` and you can filter on the full address the same way. Your organization's admin controls how mail for the domain is routed, so if tagged mail doesn't show up, send yourself a test and ask them before relying on it. ### Can a website tell that I used a plus address? Yes. The tag is in plain sight, so any site can read it, strip it or refuse it. Some remove it so they can match you against records they already hold, which also wipes out your leak-tracing tag. If you'd rather a site didn't know or care, a separate address does that job better than a tag. ### Can I block a plus address that starts getting spam? Not the way you'd switch off an alias, because a tag isn't a separate address. What you can do is create a Gmail filter for that exact To address and have it delete or archive everything sent there. That keeps your inbox clean, but the sender still has your plain address and nothing stops them using it. ## Where plus addressing fits Use tags for the shops and newsletters you actually want, and let filters do the sorting. For everything you'd rather never hear from again, skip the tag and hand over a [throwaway address](https://yelmail.com/) instead.