Can I email users who have Apple's private relay email addresses?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 1 Jun 2025
Updated 18 Aug 2025
7 min read
The rise of privacy-focused features from major email providers has introduced new complexities for email marketers and senders. Among these, Apple's Private Relay and "Hide My Email" service stand out, allowing users to create unique, randomized email addresses that forward to their real inbox. This raises a crucial question for many: can I still effectively email users who have opted for these obfuscated Apple Private Relay email addresses?
The short answer is yes, you can. However, successful email delivery to privaterelay.appleid.com addresses, or those generated by "Hide My Email," isn't as straightforward as sending to a regular address. It requires specific configurations and adherence to Apple's guidelines to ensure your messages reach the intended recipient's inbox and avoid bounces or being marked as spam. Understanding the underlying mechanisms and necessary steps is vital for maintaining a strong email deliverability rate.
Decoding Apple's private relay
Apple Private Relay is a privacy service integrated with iCloud+ that helps protect user identity online. When a user enables "Hide My Email" or uses "Sign in with Apple," they can generate unique, random email addresses for different services and websites. These addresses, often formatted as xyz@privaterelay.appleid.com or similar, act as intermediaries, forwarding emails to the user's actual personal email address, while keeping their real address private.
The primary purpose of this service is to enhance user privacy, preventing companies from directly accessing or tracking users via their real email addresses. It gives users more control over who can contact them and allows them to disable a specific relay address if they start receiving unwanted emails, without affecting their primary inbox. This creates a privacy layer between the sender and the recipient.
It's important to distinguish between addresses generated by "Hide My Email" and those from "Sign in with Apple." While both use Apple's relay service, the context of their generation matters. "Hide My Email" allows users to create disposable addresses manually, often appearing as randomstring@icloud.com. "Sign in with Apple" generates privaterelay.appleid.com addresses specifically for apps and websites where users sign up using their Apple ID. For deeper insights into this, you can explore the comprehensive article on the email deliverability impacts of Apple's Sign-in with Apple private relay service.
Essential technical setups for delivery
To successfully send emails to Apple Private Relay addresses, you must adhere to Apple's specific requirements. The most critical step is to register your sending domains with Apple. This tells Apple that your domain is authorized to send emails to its relayed addresses. Without this registration, Apple will likely block your messages. You can find detailed technical documentation on communicating using the private email relay service on Apple's developer site.
Beyond domain registration, robust email authentication is non-negotiable. This includes Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC). These protocols verify that your emails are legitimate and sent from authorized sources, building trust with Apple's servers. A comprehensive guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM can help you understand these protocols.
Failing to properly authenticate your emails or register your domains will lead to significant deliverability issues, including bounces and emails being sent directly to spam folders. This can negatively impact your sender reputation, making it harder to reach any recipient, not just those using Apple's privacy features.
Before sending to Apple Private Relay
Domain not registered: Emails will likely be blocked or rejected by Apple's servers.
Poor authentication: Messages may fail SPF, DKIM, or DMARC, leading to spam folder placement or rejection.
Low sender trust: Apple's system may flag your domain as suspicious, affecting all your email campaigns.
Best practices for reaching Apple Private Relay users
Even with the correct technical setup, optimizing your email strategy is crucial for strong deliverability to Apple Private Relay addresses. Focus on sending relevant, valuable content to engaged users. Disengagement can quickly lead to users disabling their relay address, effectively blacklisting (or blocklisting) your sending domain for that user.
Maintain a clean email list by regularly removing unengaged subscribers and addresses that bounce. Apple's relay service is designed to protect users, and if your emails consistently trigger spam complaints or disengagements, your messages will face stricter filtering. Monitoring your email deliverability rates and sender reputation indicators is key to identifying and addressing potential issues early. For instance, understanding how Apple Relay affects email sender reputation can provide valuable insights.
Another best practice is to provide clear options for users to manage their subscriptions or update their email addresses. This empowers users, reducing the likelihood of them disabling their relay address due to unwanted mail. Transparency and user control are highly valued by Apple and contribute positively to your standing as a legitimate sender.
Overcoming common challenges and troubleshooting
Despite best efforts, you might encounter issues when emailing Apple Private Relay addresses. Bounces are a common indicator of a problem. If you see '5.7.1 Email rejected due to transformation error' or 'domain not found' bounces from privaterelay.appleid.com, it often indicates a misconfiguration in your Apple developer account or authentication records. These errors suggest Apple is actively preventing delivery because your sending domain is not properly recognized or authorized.
Emails ending up in spam is another frequent challenge. This can be due to poor sender reputation, low engagement from recipients, or content that triggers spam filters. Even with proper domain registration, if your overall sending practices are poor, Apple's filtering systems will still route your emails to the junk folder or blocklist (or blacklist) them entirely. For more on this, you might find our guide on why your emails are going to spam helpful.
Regularly review your DMARC reports for insights into authentication failures and deliverability to Apple domains. These reports can highlight if your SPF or DKIM records are misaligned or if Apple is rejecting emails from your domain for other reasons. Proactive monitoring and quick action are essential to resolve these issues and maintain good standing with Apple's mail servers.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Register all your sending domains with Apple to ensure your emails are recognized and relayed correctly.
Maintain strict consent practices, only emailing users who have explicitly opted in to receive communications from your specific application.
Implement and consistently monitor SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to authenticate your outgoing emails.
Segment your email lists and personalize content to improve engagement and reduce the likelihood of relay addresses being disabled.
Common pitfalls
Attempting to email privaterelay.appleid.com addresses if you are not the owner of the application or service the user signed into.
Failing to properly configure domain verification with Apple, leading to hard bounces for Private Relay addresses.
Ignoring bounce notifications or feedback loops from Apple, which can quickly degrade your sender reputation.
Treating Apple Private Relay addresses as generic email addresses without accounting for their unique privacy features and routing.
Expert tips
Monitor DMARC reports closely for insights into Apple's handling of your emails and any authentication failures.
Understand that privaterelay.appleid.com addresses are specific to "Sign in with Apple" and require app developer authorization.
Be aware that Apple may notify you of bounces for privacy-relayed emails, which helps in list cleaning.
Regularly review Apple's developer documentation for any updates to their private email relay service.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that the ability to email privaterelay.appleid.com addresses heavily depends on how the address was generated. If it was created through "Sign in with Apple," only the app owner (that the user signed into) has consent to send mail. Sending to these addresses without being the authorized app owner will likely result in delivery failure and is against Apple's data sharing principles.
Feb 14, 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says that verifying sending domains is crucial, otherwise Apple will bounce messages sent to Private Relay addresses.
Feb 14, 2023 - Email Geeks
Navigating Apple's privacy-first email landscape
Emailing users with Apple's Private Relay or "Hide My Email" addresses is entirely possible, but it demands a proactive and compliant approach. The core tenets involve registering your sending domains with Apple, ensuring robust email authentication through SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and consistently practicing good email hygiene.
By prioritizing user privacy and adherence to Apple's technical requirements, you can successfully navigate this evolving landscape. This not only ensures your messages reach your subscribers but also reinforces your brand's commitment to respecting user data, fostering a healthier and more trustworthy email ecosystem for everyone involved. Staying informed about Apple's ongoing privacy updates is also key to long-term success.
Apple. This tells Apple that your domain is authorized to send emails to its relayed addresses. Without this registration, Apple will likely block your messages. You can find detailed technical documentation on communicating using the private email relay service on Apple's developer site.
