Plus addressing: name+tag addresses to sort sign-ups and see who shared your address

E-mail·· 4 views· 3 min read

The short answer: a message sent to ana+shopping@asuaempresa.co.mz lands in the ana@asuaempresa.co.mz mailbox, with nothing to create. Whatever comes after the + and before the @ is a tag of your choice. It helps you sort mail by where it came from and find out who passed your address on. It works on cPanel mailboxes, on hosting plans and on the Professional E-mail plan alike.

What it is good for

Use Example
Sign-ups on websites and online sales sites ana+supplierX@asuaempresa.co.mz when registering on the supplier's site
Newsletters you subscribed to ana+news@asuaempresa.co.mz, easy to filter into a folder
Spotting address leaks If spam arrives at ana+fair2026@asuaempresa.co.mz, you know which list was passed on
Testing your own website ana+test1@asuaempresa.co.mz, ana+test2@asuaempresa.co.mz, without creating mailboxes

A folder for each tag, automatically

cPanel can create a folder by itself whenever a message with a new tag arrives. A message to ana+news goes into a folder called "news".

1 Log in to cPanel and open Email Accounts.
2 Click Manage on the mailbox you want.
3 Under Plus Addressing, turn on the option to create folders automatically, and save.

If you would rather keep everything in the inbox and decide case by case, leave that option off and use a webmail filter: condition "To contains +news", action "move to folder". See creating filters in Roundcube.

The limits

1 Some websites reject the + in their forms, through their own fault. Use the plain address there.
2 It only works for receiving. Your replies go out from ana@, and the recipient then knows the address without the tag.
3 It hides nothing from anyone who knows. A spam robot can strip the tag and write to ana@. For a real separation, use an address of its own or a forwarder: forwarders and aliases.
Use tags you will still recognise in a year. "+supplierX" tells you where it came from; "+a1" tells you nothing.
Do not give tagged addresses to customers. The address people use to work with you should be simple and easy to say on the phone. Tags are for sign-ups and lists, not for your business card.

Questions about sorting your mail with tags or filters? Talk to us.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

How to create e-mail filters in Roundcube

Catch-all, forwarders and aliases: the three that get confused

Global Email Filters in cPanel: one rule for every mailbox on your domain

Keeping a business inbox under control: folders, flags, Archive and a weekly routine

How to stop spam reaching your mailbox: what we filter and what you can do

Which e-mail addresses a business should create: role addresses and personal ones

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