Create a Generic Email Address With Gmail Filter

When you have a partner, you inevitably sign up for memberships and accounts that affect both of you in the same way: a double theater subscription or health insurance that covers both of you. Unfortunately, many of these memberships only allow you to register with one email address. Rather than setting up a third email account or creating a new forwarding rule for every signup, here’s a Gmail trick you can install and forget.

The trick suggested bya Lifehacker Trippple reader is to use Gmail’s “+” feature. Gmail allows you to add additional labels to your email address after the plus sign: bert@gmail.com, bert+work@gmail.com, and bert+newsletters@gmail.com all go to the same address. (This also works with Gmail for custom domains and organizations.)

So Bert could create an address called bert+ernie@gmail.com and tell Gmail to forward all emails sent to him to Ernie (regardless of whether Ernie is in Gmail).

To create a shared account, you need to set up a forwarding address in Gmail and then create a filter. But once you set it up, you don’t have to work anymore. You just need to use this special address to register joint accounts.

Configure a forwarding address

First, you need to designate your partner’s address as your forwarding address. (This is to prevent spam.)

1. Go to Settings (click the gear icon in the upper right corner) and open the Forwarding & POP / IMAP tab.
2. In the Forwarding section, click Add Forwarding Address .
3. Enter your partner’s email address and click OK .
4. Gmail will send your partner a confirmation email. Get the code from them and paste it into your Gmail settings. Click Submit .

Create your generic email address filter

You can now tell Gmail to always forward certain emails to your partner.

1. Go to your Gmail settings (via the gear icon in the upper right corner).
2. Go to the Filters and Blocked URLs tab.
3. At the bottom, click ” Create New Filter”.
4. In the new dropdown box under To , enter your general email address, such as bert+ernie@gmail.com. Click Create Filter .
5. In the new drop-down window, click Forward to: and select your partner’s email address from the drop-down list. Click Create Filter.

Register joint accounts with your special address

Now that Bert signs up for steamy yoga, he can enter bert+ernie@gmail.com. And Ernie too. Either way, an email will be sent to Bert, and then Gmail will automatically forward it to Ernie.

Please note that Bert’s label has nothing to do with Ernie’s email address. It could be bert+weirdo@gmail.com. And Ernie doesn’t need to have Gmail for that. Which is good, because Ernie still uses AOL.

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