What Is an Email Alias, and How Do You Add One in Google Workspace?

Most Kenyan businesses we set up want the same thing on day one: info@, sales@ and accounts@ on their own domain. Most of them assume that means paying for three accounts.

It does not. Every Google Workspace user already has room for 30 extra email addresses, at no extra cost, and they all land in the one inbox they already check. The feature is called an email alias, and it is probably the most useful thing in the admin console that nobody mentions.

This explains what an alias is, the exact clicks to add one, how to send from it so replies do not come from the wrong address, and the six limits that trip people up. Everything here was read on Google's own documentation on 12 November 2026.

What an Email Alias Actually Is

An alias is a second address that delivers into an existing mailbox. Google describes it as a forwarding address added to a user's primary address: mail sent to the alias routes automatically into that person's normal inbox.

Say your business is on example.co.ke and Jane is jane@example.co.ke. Give her the alias info@example.co.ke and anything sent to info@ arrives in Jane's inbox. She does not sign in anywhere else. She does not get a second password. There is no second mailbox to keep an eye on.

That is the whole idea, and it is why aliases are free: no new account is being created, so there is no new licence to pay for.

Why This Saves Real Money

A one-person business often wants to look like a department. Aliases do that honestly. Google's own example is a sole trader running info@, billing@ and sales@ into a single personal address.

The saving is simple arithmetic. Business Starter is USD 7.00 per user per month on the annual plan. Three separate accounts for info@, sales@ and accounts@ is USD 21.00 a month for what one account plus two free aliases does. Over a year that is the difference between paying for one seat and paying for three. Our Google Workspace page has the current prices and what we charge for setup.

The honest caveat: aliases are the right answer when one person handles all those addresses. When three different people need to see the same mail, you want something else, and the section on groups below says which.

Adding One, Step by Step

You need to be a Workspace administrator with user management rights. It takes under a minute.

1. Sign in to the Google Admin console at admin.google.com.
2. Go to Menu, then Directory, then Users.
3. Click the person's name to open their account page.
4. On the left, under their name, click Add Alternate Emails.
5. Click Alternate email and type the part before the @ sign, so info for info@yourdomain.co.ke.
6. If you have more than one domain on the account, pick the right one from the domain menu.
7. Repeat for as many as you need, then click Save.

Google says the change can take up to 24 hours, though in practice it is usually working within a few minutes. If you are still waiting after an hour, send a test message from a phone rather than assuming it has failed.

If you ever need to find what somebody already has, the same screen has Show all alternate emails.

Sending Email From the Alias

Receiving works the moment you save. Sending from the alias does not, and this is where most setups are left half finished. A customer writes to info@, somebody replies, and the reply arrives from jane@ instead. It looks careless and it trains customers to use the personal address.

The fix is in Gmail, not the admin console, and the user does it themselves:

1. In Gmail, click the gear icon, then See all settings.
2. Open the Accounts tab.
3. Next to Send mail as, click Add another email address.
4. Enter the name customers should see and the alias address, leave Treat as an alias ticked, and save.

Now the From menu offers both addresses. Set the alias as the default reply address if that role is the main one for that person.

The Six Limits That Catch People

These come straight from Google's documentation, and each one has bitten somebody.

There is one more use worth knowing. When somebody leaves and you delete their account, add their old address as an alias on a colleague who takes over. Mail to the departed person then lands with the person handling their work, instead of bouncing in front of a customer.

When a Group Beats an Alias

If three people must all see mail sent to sales@, an alias is the wrong tool. Use a Google Group instead. A group is a shared address with its own members, every member sees the mail, and groups do not consume user licences either. A group can itself carry up to 30 alias addresses.

There is a third option for a single shared mailbox somebody else manages day to day: Gmail delegation, where one person's inbox is opened to a colleague. Google recommends delegation specifically for the case where an address needs more than one pair of hands.

Short version: one person, many hats, use aliases. Many people, one address, use a group. One mailbox, an assistant, use delegation.

Aliases Worth Setting Up Today

The ones that earn their place on a small Kenyan business account:

• info@ for the address on your website, signage and Google Business Profile.
• sales@ or orders@ so enquiries are findable later, separate from personal mail.
• accounts@ or invoices@ for suppliers and KRA correspondence.
• A misspelling of your own name, because half the country will type it wrong.
• The address of someone who has left, pointed at whoever replaced them.
• A throwaway for sign-ups, so you can see which service sold your address on.

Set them up once and put the right one on the right page of your website. If you are not sure which addresses belong where, our guide to business email versus free Gmail covers the wider question of how your mail should look to a customer.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many email aliases can a Google Workspace user have?

Up to 30 for each user, at no extra cost. If you need more than 30 for one person, Google says you have to create another account and add aliases to that instead.

Do email aliases cost extra in Google Workspace?

No. An alias is not a new account, so there is no additional licence to pay for. Only real user accounts are charged, which is why aliases save money for a small team wearing several hats.

Can two people share the same email alias?

No. An alias delivers to exactly one mailbox. If several people need to see the same address, use a Google Group, or Gmail delegation if it is one mailbox somebody else helps manage.

Can I log in to Google with an email alias?

No. Aliases are not Google Accounts, so they cannot be used to sign in or to access Drive, Calendar or any other Google service. The person signs in with their primary address as normal.

How long does a new email alias take to work?

Usually a few minutes. Google allows up to 24 hours for the change to apply across the account, so test with a real message rather than assuming it failed in the first ten minutes.