# Too many email addresses **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 22, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-many-email-addresses/554620 "2010-09-22T07:40:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-many-email-addresses/554620/1 "2010-09-22T07:40:48Z")
I started out with one email address. Then I changed ISPs, got a new address, and found that my original one still works. So that’s two. I then got an Android phone, and found that to use the android marketplace, I had to have a gmail address. That’s three. I have my own website, and although it’s not compulsory, it gives me the option to create a new email address. So that’s now four. I’ve just bought a Kindle, which come with an @kindle address. I’m now up to five. Somehow, I don’t see it stopping there. I know I don’t have to use more than one of them, but I feel like a kid in a sweet shop. Which to use? How to decide? It’s all too much. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-many-email-addresses/554620/2 "2010-09-22T09:18:14Z")
Use one and have all the others forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-many-email-addresses/554620/3 "2010-09-22T09:22:16Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Use one and have all the others forward to it. Not only can you set everything to forward to your Gmail address (the only true e-mail provider out there), but you can set Gmail up so that you can send mail _as_ any of your accounts, all while logged into the one Gmail account. I do this all the time at work - where I’ll be logged in to my personal e-mail but if I need to send anything official out, I can do it as if I were on my work e-mail without changing logins. It’s pretty damn slick. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-many-email-addresses/554620/4 "2010-09-22T13:28:26Z")
I have my “home” email from my ISP, which is the one I give out to most people and businesses. I have a yahoo address, which I use for freecycle and a few other things. I’ve got two gmail addresses, one of which I set up for a convention I work at, so I can access it when I’m not home, and the other I set up for OKCupid and Facebook, except that both of those accounts are closed at the moment, so I hardly ever check it. Then there’s my hotmail account, which I had to set up for an IM account years ago, but which I no longer use, so I check the account once a month or so just to clear out the junk mail and in case a voice from the grave surfaces. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-many-email-addresses/554620/5 "2010-09-22T17:52:52Z")
1. Work e-mail. I don’t give this out to anyone that isn’t work-related. 2. Personal gmail. 3. Spam/anonymous gmail. I have/had a blog, and set this up to filter/direct e-mail to my main gmail account. I don’t like using my main for spam-like things, since it’s [fullname@gmail.com](mailto:fullname@gmail.com). Spam is [nickname@gmail.com](mailto:nickname@gmail.com) Did you know that you can use your primary gmail address as a spam filter? If Spammy, Inc. needs an e-mail address, but for some reason need to give it your regular e-mail address, you can give it as [fullname+SpammyInc@gmail.com](mailto:fullname+SpammyInc@gmail.com) and it’ll get to you. Then set up a filter that sends all mail sent to “[fullname+SpammyInc@gmail.com](mailto:fullname+SpammyInc@gmail.com)” to the junk pile. The problem is that many online forms don’t let you input a “+” in them. Also, gmail doesn’t reserve the period. So if you signed up for [fullname@gmail.com](mailto:fullname@gmail.com), you also have [full.name@gmail.com](mailto:full.name@gmail.com). As well as [f.u.l.l.n.a.m.e@gmail.com](mailto:f.u.l.l.n.a.m.e@gmail.com). (And if you signed up for “[full.name@gmail.com](mailto:full.name@gmail.com)” you actually signed up for “[fullname@gmail.com](mailto:fullname@gmail.com)”.) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/too-many-email-addresses/554620/6 "2010-09-22T20:54:33Z")
Hell I have more than 5 gmail accounts alone, in addition to various other addresses. Most things forward into one gmail account, however.