How does Gmail handle dots in email addresses and can it cause issues?

Summary

Gmail disregards dots in email addresses, treating addresses with and without dots as identical. This is officially documented by Google. While intended for user convenience, this behavior can lead to several issues. Users report receiving emails intended for others with similar (but dot-less) addresses, leading to privacy and security concerns. Someone might accidentally (or intentionally) sign up for services using a variation of another's address, leading to unwanted emails or even account access. Conversely, users can use dots for filtering emails. There are considerations for users switching email providers, as other providers might not ignore dots. There's also a suggestion of potential historical inconsistencies in Gmail's dot handling. This can cause issues for the email ecosystem as a whole as well as create edge cases for user security.

Key findings

  • Dot Ignorance: Gmail treats email addresses with and without dots as the same.
  • Accidental Sign-Ups: Gmail's dot-ignoring behavior can lead to accidental sign-ups using variations of other people's addresses.
  • Privacy Concerns: Sensitive information can be misdirected due to Gmail's dot handling.
  • Non-Standard Practice: Gmail's dot handling is not a standard email practice and may cause issues outside of gmail.
  • Filtering technique: Dots can be used to create unique emails to help filter in Gmail

Key considerations

  • Security Risks: Be aware of the potential for others to access your accounts through password resets sent to variations of your email address.
  • Data Privacy: Understand that your email address might be inadvertently associated with services and communications intended for someone else.
  • Filter Emails: Use the feature to put dots anywhere in the email address before the @ symbol to filter emails in Gmail
  • Email Provider Migration: If switching from Gmail, be aware that other email providers may treat dots differently.
  • Compatibility: Be aware that other systems may handle dots differently, potentially causing issues and edge cases.

What email marketers say
11Marketer opinions

Gmail ignores dots in email addresses, treating addresses with and without dots as the same. While this is intended for user convenience, it can lead to issues. Users have reported receiving emails intended for others with similar (but dot-less) addresses. This can create security and privacy concerns, as people might accidentally (or intentionally) use a variation of someone else's address to sign up for services, potentially leading to unwanted email or even account access. Conversely, users can use dots for filtering emails, signing up to different websites, and then using this as a filtering option. There are also considerations for users switching email providers, as other providers might not ignore dots, causing confusion and deliverability problems.

Key opinions

  • Dot Ignorance: Gmail treats email addresses with and without dots as the same.
  • Accidental Sign-Ups: Gmail's dot-ignoring behavior can lead to accidental sign-ups using variations of other people's addresses.
  • Privacy Concerns: Sensitive information can be misdirected due to Gmail's dot handling.
  • Filtering technique: Dots can be used to create unique emails to help filter in Gmail

Key considerations

  • Security Risks: Be aware of the potential for others to access your accounts through password resets sent to variations of your email address.
  • Data Privacy: Understand that your email address might be inadvertently associated with services and communications intended for someone else.
  • Filter Emails: Use the feature to put dots anywhere in the email address before the @ symbol to filter emails in Gmail
  • Email Provider Migration: If switching from Gmail, be aware that other email providers may treat dots differently.
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks clarifies that he was able to log in to Gmail with his email ID without a dot using his password, and concludes that the other user probably provided the wrong email ID to an organization, which resulted in him receiving their emails.

November 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that Gmail ignores dots in email addresses and treats addresses with and without dots as the same. He suggests to rule out user error or input validation errors.

November 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit discusses password reset issues related to gmail dot convention. The user reports that other people are signing up for services with emails close to his own (with or without dots) and he's receiving their password reset emails. This allows them to access his account.

August 2022 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit shares an anecdote about constantly receiving emails meant for someone with a similar email address (differing only in the presence of a dot). He reports receiving everything from flight tickets to medical records.

January 2023 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit explains that using periods or the + sign after your email can help filter emails. You can sign up for services with youremail+service@gmail.com. All emails sent to that address will still come to your primary email but you can filter them better.

January 2024 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Stack Exchange explains that Gmail ignores dots in usernames for mail delivery. They state that `my.email@gmail.com` is treated the same as `myemail@gmail.com`. The user can tell websites and services to send mail to either of these addresses and will receive the mail in the same inbox.

May 2023 - Stack Exchange
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit highlights privacy concerns, mentioning that because Gmail ignores dots, someone could accidentally (or intentionally) sign up for services using a variation of someone else's email address. This can lead to the other person receiving sensitive information.

July 2021 - Reddit
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares his personal experience where two email IDs existed, one with a dot and one without. He states that he sometimes receives emails intended for the other person, and guesses that this might be because he created the email ID before Gmail introduced the rule of excluding dots.

February 2025 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Stack Overflow comments that a user can put dots wherever they like in their gmail address for email filtering. A user can create different accounts on different web pages by adding or removing dots, and filter based on this in gmail.

June 2022 - Stack Overflow
Marketer view

Email marketer from Better Allies states that most email systems, including Gmail, ignore periods. They tell a story of someone who signed up for a service with the wrong email, and both email addresses received the emails. They state that there are edge cases for security and user experience where this can be a real issue.

April 2024 - Better Allies
Marketer view

Email marketer from Quora shares his experience of getting someone else's emails (who has an address similar to his but without dots), and his worry about the dot-less email address also belonging to someone else, and both receiving the emails. He found no way to contact the 'other' Robert Graham.

September 2022 - Quora

What the experts say
2Expert opinions

The answers indicate that Gmail ignores periods in email addresses. It treats addresses with dots and without dots as identical. While generally consistent, there is a suggestion that there may have been historical inconsistencies in Gmail's handling. The primary consideration is that this behavior differs from some other systems, which can lead to compatibility issues and problems within the broader email ecosystem.

Key opinions

  • Dot Ignorance: Gmail treats email addresses with dots as the same as those without.
  • Potential Inconsistencies: There might have been periods where Gmail's handling of dots wasn't always consistent.
  • Ecosystem Issues: The divergence from other systems can cause problems in the overall email ecosystem.

Key considerations

  • Compatibility: Be aware that other systems may handle dots differently, potentially causing issues.
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains how Gmail handles dots, stating that Gmail ignores periods in email addresses and treats them as the same address. This can be a problem, because other systems may treat them as different, which can cause issues for the email ecosystem as a whole.

June 2022 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks suggests that there may have been a short period where something was screwy with Gmail's handling of dots in email addresses.

June 2024 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says
3Technical articles

Google's official documentation confirms that Gmail disregards dots in email addresses, treating variations with and without dots as identical. This can lead to complications with email aliases and when users switch to providers that do recognize dots. Fastmail documentation highlights that this behavior is not standard across all email systems and can cause issues with validation and user understanding of their own email address.

Key findings

  • Dot Irrelevance: Gmail ignores dots in email addresses.
  • Alias Conflicts: Dot and dot-less addresses can be aliases, potentially causing issues.
  • Non-Standard Practice: Gmail's dot handling is not a standard email practice.
  • Validation Problems: Some websites don't properly validate emails with dots.

Key considerations

  • Migration Issues: Switching from Gmail might create confusion and deliverability problems due to dot handling differences.
  • Address Validation: Be mindful of websites and services that don't properly validate email addresses with dots.
  • User Awareness: Ensure users understand that Gmail ignores dots, as this might not be obvious.
Technical article

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help details that you can add email aliases to a user so they can receive mail sent to another address. This could theoretically cause issues where a dot and dot-less email address are used as aliases for the same user.

August 2021 - Google Workspace Admin Help
Technical article

Documentation from Fastmail Help explains that Gmail's "dot convention" is not a standard email feature, and causes serious problems for users that switch to a different email provider. Some websites do not properly validate emails, and don't allow dots. Also, people may believe their email address is one thing, and it's actually something else.

June 2024 - Fastmail Help
Technical article

Documentation from Google Help explains that Gmail doesn't recognize dots as characters within a Gmail address. It states that you can add or remove dots from your address and still receive email. For example, `johnsmith@gmail.com` is the same as `john.smith@gmail.com` or `j.o.h.n.s.m.i.t.h@gmail.com`.

September 2022 - Google Help


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