Creating and managing email aliases
Email aliases are at the heart of Cleanbox. An alias is a unique email address that forwards incoming messages to your real mailbox. Instead of giving out your personal email, you give out an alias — keeping your real address completely private.
Why use aliases?
- Privacy — Your real email address is never exposed to websites, services, or strangers
- Spam control — If an alias starts receiving spam, disable it instantly. Your real inbox stays clean.
- Breach detection — Use a unique alias per service. If spam starts arriving on a specific alias, you know exactly which service leaked your data.
- Organization — Separate your email by purpose: one alias for shopping, one for newsletters, one for work signups
Note: Aliases are receive-only. You cannot send outbound email or replies through an alias. They are designed to forward incoming mail to your connected mailbox.
Creating an alias
- Navigate to Aliases in the sidebar
- Click "Add alias"
- Choose your alias type:
- @cleanbox.me — Use a Cleanbox-provided domain (available on all plans)
- @yourdomain.com — Use your own custom domain (requires a connected domain)
- Enter a name for the alias, or click "Generate random" for a random suggestion
- Select which mailbox to forward messages to
- Click "Create"
Your alias is active immediately. Any email sent to it will be forwarded to your selected mailbox after passing through your filters and rules.
The random alias generator
Don't want to think of a name? The random generator creates aliases that are easy to recognize as a Cleanbox alias but impossible to guess. This is ideal for one-off signups where you don't care about the address looking "professional".
Managing your aliases
Enabling and disabling
Every alias has an on/off toggle. When disabled:
- Incoming messages are rejected (the sender receives a bounce)
- The alias is not deleted — you can re-enable it at any time
- Your address is reserved and cannot be claimed by anyone else
This is the fastest way to stop spam: flip the switch and the alias goes silent.
Display name
You can set a custom display name per alias. This name appears in the "To" header when messages are delivered to your mailbox, making it easier to identify which alias received the email. For example, set "Amazon Shopping" as the display name for the alias you use on Amazon.
Viewing alias statistics
Each alias has its own statistics page showing:
- Total messages received
- Message breakdown by status (delivered, quarantined, denied, etc.)
- Recent messages with sender, subject, and status
Alias limits per plan
| Plan | Aliases |
|---|---|
| Free | 1 |
| Personal | 5 |
| Premium | 25 |
| Advanced | 50 |
| Enterprise | Unlimited |
Deleting an alias
If you no longer need an alias, you can delete it permanently from the alias settings page. Deleting an alias:
- Stops all message delivery immediately
- Removes the alias from your account
- Frees up one slot in your alias quota
- Does not delete messages already delivered to your mailbox
Note: Deleted aliases cannot be recovered. If you're unsure, disable the alias instead — you can always re-enable it later.
