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Geek Tip: Playing With Your Gmail Account

Thu, 03/06/2008 - 4:05pm by geeksugar
119,512 Views - 29 comments

Did you know the periods in your gmail address don't mean a thing? That's right, if you signed up as geek.sugar@gmail.com, you'd still get emails sent to geeksugar@gmail.com. You'll even get emails sent to g.e.e.k.s.u.g.a.r@gmail.com, for the wiseacres in your family. Ooh, and anything sent to "googlemail" instead of "gmail." Honestly, it's the little things that blow my mind (and btw, none of the above email addresses belong to us!).

More usefully, you can add a plus sign to the end of your address, and then you can set up a folders in your email that coordinate with that. For instance, say you open an online account with WellsFargo. When you sign up, give your email address as "geeksugar+banking@gmail.com", then in Settings, set up a filter. In the From box, add in WellsFargo or your chosen bank, in the To box, put in your newly-created geeksugar+banking@gmail.com address, and the set the filter to put in a folder titled "banking." You can also use this technique when you sign up for something and send their emails to you directly to the trash!

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29 Comments Add a Comment

  • clarient's picture
    clarient
    4

    Wow, the whole +thing sounds awesome! I'm definitely using that in the future.

    17 weeks 2 days ago Report Comment
  • wickedcupofjoe's picture
    wickedcupofjoe
    8

    I've tried the + thing. Some sites that I was registering on wouldn't accept the + in the field. Sad It is an awesome idea though -- if you can get it to work. Eye-wink I have a friend who uses this quite often.

    17 weeks 1 day ago Report Comment
  • Devilish Belle's picture
    Devilish Belle
    13

    Thanks so much for the tips; I love my gmail account and am always looking for ways to make it even more great!

    17 weeks 1 day ago Report Comment
  • Demani's picture
    Demani
    14

    The + thing should actually work on all mail servers- it's supposed to be a standard, though not all servers support it. It's pretty cool, but some sites don't accept emails with + in them which can put a damper on things. Still- very handy when it does.

    17 weeks 1 day ago Report Comment
  • plasticapple's picture
    plasticapple
    18

    It's actually not that cool. I never knew this...but it explains why I get emails for sarahmorrison. I wonder if she gets my sarah.morrison emails. I guess she probably does.

    Dang...now I'm thinking of changing it.

    16 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • Missy Prissy's picture
    Missy Prissy
    20

    um, you sort of confused me with the + sign thing but the . thing is awesome. I never knew that. I almost want to go practice.

    Do tell: does the meaningless . only apply to gmail or all providers?

    11 weeks 4 days ago Report Comment
  • vitisva's picture
    vitisva
    27

    This was awesome. And helpful for me since I am a CIS major.

    6 weeks 1 day ago Report Comment

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