Microsoft has added a feature that will help to keep our personal mail just that – filled with email from people we actually know instead of being crammed with newsletters, flyers, announcements, etc. If you have a hotmail or live mail account, you can quickly make an alias (up to 5 per year with a total of 15), and use your new alias address for signing up for newsletters, a shopping account or to get something free on-line.
Here’s how to start. Just log into your mail account and click the little sunburst next to your inbox. You’ll see three choices, select, ‘create a hotmail alias’.
The really hard part is choosing a name that’s not already taken. You can be really whimsical, daring or even boring with your name. The great thing is that you don’t have to have any part of your other email addresses in the name, which means more privacy for you. You could choose to set alias accounts up for contests, shopping, etc. Then, sit back and watch that account and see how fast your address was sold or shared with someone else.
It takes just a minute or two to get your account set up and then you’ll need to decide where you want this new mail to appear – in your regular inbox with your ‘real’ mail (bad idea), or have it go into a folder bearing this new account name (good idea). Why wouldn’t you want your new mail going into its own folder – that’s why you set up the account – to keep your mail separated – right?
If you want to send an email from your alias account, Microsoft has made it easy to do – it automatically selects your alias address when you’re in the alias folder. If you’re in your regular email inbox, simply click the drop-down above the ‘to’ box, and choose the account you wish to send from. When replying, the reply address will naturally be the one that it was sent to. You can click the drop down and change the ‘reply from’ address if you wish.
So that’s pretty much it – simple for anyone to set up and use. Take a few minutes and set up some alias accounts and but a system in place to make your email life less cluttered.
