January 01/23/26 Tech Tips

Zoe Davis
6 days ago
2 min read

Ever heard of plus email addressing? This easy tip allows you to automatically sort your emails and keep track of what companies are doing with your email!

What is Plus Email Addressing?

Plus addressing, also called subaddressing, is an email feature that lets you modify your existing email address by adding +keyword before the @ sign.

Example: alexsmith@gmail.com → alexsmith+shopping@gmail.com

Email providers ignore everything after the + sign, so messages still arrive in your main inbox.

Why?

What is the point of subaddressing? If everything ends up in the same inbox, why do it? Well, first, you can customize where that email lands in your inbox. For example, let's say your Amazon email is alexsmith+amazon@gmail.com, you can filter any mail going to that address into a specific label, like an Amazon label. It also helps with spam tracking. If you sign up for a service using you+service@gmail.com and later get spam to that exact address, you instantly know who leaked or sold your email.

How to Filter: Gmail

Open Gmail on your computer.
Click the Show search options icon in the search bar (a small downward arrow).
Enter the subaddressed email into the "From" category
Click Create filter at the bottom of the search window.
Choose what you want the filter to do:
1. Apply a label
2. Skip the inbox (archive)
3. Mark as read
4. Delete
5. Forward
6. Star
Click Create filter again to finalize.

You can also create a filter directly from an email:

- Check the box next to a message → click More → Filter messages like these.

How to Create a Rule (Filter) in Outlook:

Go to Settings (gear icon).
Select Mail → Rules (Outlook.com) or Rules & Alerts (desktop).
Choose Add new rule or New Rule.
Enter the subaddressed email into the "From" category
Choose the action:
1. Move to folder
2. Categorize
3. Delete
4. Mark as important
Save the rule.