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.
11 marketer 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.
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.
28 Jul 2021 - 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.
30 Dec 2024 - Email Geeks
2 expert 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.
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.
22 Nov 2023 - 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.
2 Nov 2024 - Email Geeks
3 technical 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.
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.
4 Feb 2025 - 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.
31 Oct 2024 - Fastmail Help