What is an Email Alias?
An email alias is an additional email address for an email account, with which a user can send/ receive emails or set forwards to. This allows one mailbox to receive emails sent to seemingly different addresses.
How do they work?
An email alias is added to the primary email account of a user. Any emails sent to the email alias will be directed into the primary email account of the user.
Why Might I Need One?
A user might request an email alias for any number of reasons. Some of the most likely are:
- The current email address is hard for others to remember or is constantly misspelled.
- Shared resources - a department may want to add an alias to an existing shared resource for an upcoming project to have those emails directed to a specific location.
- Example: a department has shared mailbox: StudentEvent20-21@msu.edu. They want anything sent to StudentEvent21-22@msu.edu to go into the same mailbox. An Email Alias makes this possible
Which Accounts are Eligible to Receive One?
Any account that has email enabled on it has the ability to have an alias added.
How to Request a New Email Alias or to Change an Existing Alias
Submit a service request indicating the primary email account and the alias at issue. New aliases require a clear business case. The ID Office reviews all requests. Any alias that is within the 3-8 character netID scope will receive higher scrutiny.