Email alias

TL;DR buy a domain on Google Domains and set up email forwarding to your Gmail.

I consolidated my online presence to raywu.org and finally created a short email alias to replace my personal email. I always found giving random / non essential website my personal email a bad idea.

What tipped me over was a data breach (T-mobile). They had too much of my PII. Why should I trust any other online retailer with my personal email or info?

Setting up an email alias is pretty simple. I used email forwarding on Google Domains (to forward emails to my personal account) and SMTP for Gmail to send email as my alias.

The minor trick there is to create an application specific password for my personal account to operate the SMTP.

Steps

1. Use Google Domains to purchase a domain
2. Go to Email > Forwarding to create an email alias and forwards to your main Gmail account
3. Go to https://myaccount.google.com/ > Security > Signing in to Google > App Passwords to create an application specific password for your SMTP operation

4. Go to Gmail > Settings > Account and Import > Send mail as to add your alias

   SMTP Server: smtp.gmail.com

   Username: your Gmail’s username (what’s in front of @gmail.com)

   Password: application specific password

That’s it!