Use Plus Addressing in Gmail

A great way to filter incoming messages is to use plus addressing in Gmail. You can also use this method if you are required to enter your email on a site you are afraid might sell your email to other companies: if they send you spam emails, you'll know which site gave them your email.

Steps

  1. Get a Gmail account.
  2. Go to the external site you want to sign up for e.g. Facebook, Myspace, eBay or Amazon.
  3. When asked to enter your e-mail address, add a suffix of a plus sign and the name of the service. Add this to the end of your name, but before the @ sign. For example: JoeSmith+Facebook@gmail.com
  4. Create a label in Gmail.
  5. Create a filter and enter the same e-mail address you just used in the "To:" field.
  6. Choose to label all messages sent to that address. If you notice spam emails going to that folder, merely change the filter to delete incoming emails from that address.

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Sources and Citations