Using aliases and catch-all
Aliases, plus addressing, catch-all, masked aliases, and stopping unwanted mail.
An alias is another address that delivers to the same inbox. In centomail they are cheap: make as many as you like, and turn off any that start getting spam.
Create an alias
- In webmail: open Settings → Addresses → New address, pick the domain and type the name.
- While writing: type a new address on your domain into the From field. It is created when you send.
- From the API or a password manager: see Using the API.
Each alias can have a note, for example "signed up at example-shop", and shows how many messages it received and when the last one arrived.
Plus addressing
Every address also accepts a +tag: mail to you+shop@yourdomain.com reaches you@yourdomain.com. No setup needed. You can create a rule that files mail with a given tag into a folder.
Some websites reject the + character. Use a real alias for those.
Catch-all
With catch-all on, mail to any address on the domain reaches you, even addresses you never created. Turn it on in the domain's settings. While it is off, mail to unknown addresses is rejected with a clear error to the sender, never silently dropped.
When a message arrives through catch-all, centomail remembers that address and lists it with your other addresses. If it starts getting spam, block just that address and keep catch-all on for everything else.
Catch-all is included in every account, the trial too.
Masked aliases
A masked alias is a random address such as bright.otter.17@yourdomain.com, made for one website. Create one in Settings → Addresses → New masked alias, from the API, or straight from the Bitwarden password generator (setup). Masked aliases are always on one of your own domains.
Pause or block an address
Every message has a Block this address button, and every address has a status:
| Status | Effect |
|---|---|
| Active | Mail is delivered |
| Paused | Mail is rejected and the sender gets an error |
| Blocked | Mail is accepted and quietly dropped, so the sender cannot tell |
Use Paused when you want the sender to know the address no longer works. Use Blocked for spam. You can switch an address back to active at any time.
Where mail goes
Per address, choose: the inbox, a specific folder, forwarding to another address, or both inbox and forwarding. External forwarding addresses must be confirmed by clicking a link we send them.
Replying from aliases
When you reply, centomail sends from the address the message was sent to. This keeps your main address private when you reply to mail that came through catch-all or a masked alias. You can always pick a different address in the From field.