Gmail - Getting mails not exactly sent to me

[Frick]

Hey.

I just noticed that I recieve mail that is sent to an adress similar to mine. My mail is this:

xx.xx@gmail.com (there are more letters, the important thing is the dot)

I am also getting mails sent to this adress:

xxxx@gmail.com (meaning the same adress but without the dot)


Why is this? It looks like most of the random not-exactly-junk mail (for example some spanish schools that looks at least sort of legit, a gym located in Boston for some reason) is sent to the adress without the dot. It does not matter where it's sent from btw.

 

[R0H1T]

Well this is quite an old gmail bug that has existed for as long as I can remember, the important thing is whether the other person is also getting your email(s)

For this very reason alone I've not signed up to any banking or other important services using gmail as my primary account (I use outlook/hotmail) & from what I know this bug won't be fixed anytime soon

 

[95Viper]

Well this is quite an old gmail bug that has existed for as long as I can remember, the important thing is whether the other person is also getting your email(s)

For this very reason alone I've not signed up to any banking or other important services using gmail as my primary account (I use outlook/hotmail) & from what I know this bug won't be fixed anytime soon

No one else is getting anyone's mail because of this... It is NOT a bug.
It is intentional. All those addresses belong to you, no matter where the dot.

Quoted from GMail help:

Sometimes you may receive a message sent to an address that looks like yours but has a different number or arrangement of periods. While we know it might be unnerving if you think someone else's mail is being routed to your account, don't worry: both of these addresses are yours.
Gmail doesn't recognize dots as characters within usernames, you can add or remove the dots from a Gmail address without changing the actual destination address; they'll all go to your inbox, and only yours. In short:

• homerjsimpson@gmail.com = hom.er.j.sim.ps.on@gmail.com
• homerjsimpson@gmail.com = HOMERJSIMPSON@gmail.com
• homerjsimpson@gmail.com = Homer.J.Simpson@gmail.com

All these addresses belong to the same person. You can see this if you try to sign in with your username, but adding or removing a dot from it. You'll still go to your account.
If you get mail that seems to be intended for someone else, it's likely that the sender entered the wrong address, just like if you've ever dialed a wrong phone number for someone. In these cases, we suggest contacting the original sender or website when possible to alert them to the mistake.
One last thing: Google Apps does recognize dots. If you'd like to have a dot in your username, please ask your domain administrator to add your preferred username as a nickname.

Test it... send yourself an email with no dot in your name.

 

[Sasqui]

No one else is getting anyone's mail because of this... It is NOT a bug.
It is intentional. All those addresses belong to you, no matter where the dot.

Quoted from GMail help:

Test it... send yourself an email with no dot in your name.

I've been wondering the same thing for a few years, since I can put a dot (or not) and it all comes back to me with a test email.

 

[95Viper]

You should, even, be able to sign into your gmail account this way.

 

[R0H1T]

No one else is getting anyone's mail because of this... It is NOT a bug.
It is intentional. All those addresses belong to you, no matter where the dot.

Quoted from GMail help:



Test it... send yourself an email with no dot in your name.

In which case I'd still label it as a bug but yeah you're right about the rest

 

[Guitar]

In which case I'd still label it as a bug but yeah you're right about the rest

It's not a bug. For instance our QA department uses it (along with the whole email+email@gmail.com) for our app so they don't have to make multiple aliases and such for our app I believe.

 

[Frick]

No one else is getting anyone's mail because of this... It is NOT a bug.
It is intentional. All those addresses belong to you, no matter where the dot.

Quoted from GMail help:



Test it... send yourself an email with no dot in your name.

That did cross my mind, but now I know. Thanks!