You receive so many emails that, if stacked together, they could (almost) reach the Moon. Well, alright, we might be exaggerating a bit, but the daily flood of emails for an average user is often substantial, especially in the professional sphere!

To navigate this virtual jungle and maintain control over your online presence, it's wise to implement certain strategies. Creating an email alias, for instance, can help you stay organized while protecting your data.

Today, we’ll explain how to create an email alias using Outlook’s mail server.

What does "creating an email alias" mean?

Let’s go back to basics!

Creating an email alias is creating a secondary email address that forwards an email to a primary inbox. Even though it appears to be linked to a separate Microsoft account, the sole function of the alias is to redirect emails to a single inbox.

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It’s possible to create several aliases for different uses, depending on your goals. For example, a primary alias could be used for websites related to your professional activity, and secondary aliases for your personal activities. You could also use different aliases for signing up on various social networks or for online shopping, for added security.

To create an alias in Outlook, simply generate a new email address using the appropriate feature. We’ll detail the process further down in this article!

Why create an email alias on an Outlook account?

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An Outlook email alias, just like any other email software alias, serves a dual purpose. It allows you to manage your emails effectively, while also controlling your digital footprint.

More specifically, using email aliases has several advantages:

Filtering and sorting electronic messages;
Protecting your main address;
Reducing online fraud risks and phishing attacks;
Separating various user accounts on websites you’ve signed up for. This ensures the protection of your personal information in case of a data breach.

In the professional sphere, aliases also help separate emails related to your work from personal emails. This is an excellent method to distinguish different aspects of your activity and organize your communications with various collaborators.

And if you’re using an email signature management tool like Letsignit, you can even go as far as to automatically integrate a distinct email signature for each of your aliases.

How to create a new email alias on Outlook?

To create an Outlook email alias, you can do so in two ways: either by clicking directly on the link « Add an alias » provided by Microsoft on its website, or by going through your Outlook inbox.

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Note that it is not possible to create an alias from the Outlook desktop or mobile app. You’ll need to go through your Outlook Microsoft account online.

However, once the alias is created, you can choose the alias to send an email through the desktop or mobile app.

From "Add an alias"

To create an email alias directly via the link:

Visit Add an alias
Create a new Outlook.com email address, or add an existing email address
Click on "Add an alias"

From your Outlook inbox

To create and add an alias from your Outlook inbox, follow these steps:

Sign in to your Outlook account
At the top right, click on your user picture
Click on My profile
Under Account information, click on Edit account info
Under Account aliases, click on Add an email address
You’ll then have the choice between Creating an email address and adding it as an alias or Adding an existing email address as a Microsoft account alias

And while setting up your account, we recommend you take advantage of the opportunity to add a specific Outlook 365 signature for each alias created.

Can you create an alias with a Hotmail address?

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Currently, it’s not possible to add an existing address such as @hotmail.com, @live.com, @outlook.com, or @msn.com as an alias.

You cannot create an alias using a @hotmail, @live.com, or @msn.com address either. If you really want to use a Hotmail address, you will need to log out of your account, then create a new account (but in this case, it will be a full account, not an alias).

How to send an email with an Outlook alias?

While it’s impossible to create an alias in the Outlook app, you can still send an email from an existing Outlook alias on all versions of the server.

To do this, you first need to make sure the "From" field is displayed in your email composing window. Click on Display > Display Settings > Compose and reply > Always show the From field. Once this step is completed, you can then click on "From" at the top of the email composing window, and then select the desired email address. If you don't see it appear, click on Other email address and type the desired address.

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Pro tip for email signatures: no matter which address you send a professional email from, don’t forget to include a professional email signature so your recipients know exactly who you are!

How to delete an Outlook alias?

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Is one of your aliases being targeted by spam, or is your inbox flooded with unnecessary emails? No problem! You can simply delete one or more aliases responsible for this inconvenience.

Simply go to Manage how you sign in to Microsoft, and log in with your password if prompted. Then, select the alias or aliases you wish to remove and click on Delete.

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Now you know how to create and use an Outlook alias! To complete your communication strategy, remember to create your own Outlook signature templates using our signature creation and management tool.

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How to create an Outlook alias?