What is a mail alias?

A mail alias simply forwards e-mail messages to a specific e-mail address. Mail aliases are often used for long or generic e-mail address likes sales@example.com or webmaster@example.com

A mail alias may also be called an e-mail or mail forwarder.

A mail address has two parts: the alias address and the e-mail address to forward messages onto. This last address is sometime called the forwarder address.

An Example

Joe has an e-mail account with the address of joe@bloggs.com. Joe wants all messages sent to the address info@bloggs.com to be sent to his address. He can do this using a mail alias.

In this example, the alias address is info@bloggs.com

The forwarder address is joe@bloggs.com