How to reply to forwarded emails without revealing your address?

When someone sends a message to your alias, Alias Email forwards it to your real inbox. The natural reaction is "if I hit Reply, won't they see my real email?" Short answer: no. Your reply goes through Alias Email and lands at the recipient looking like it came from your alias — your real address never leaves our servers.

You don't need to install anything, copy any address, or use a special button. Reply works in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, Proton Mail — anywhere.

Premium feature. Replying from an alias requires a Premium plan. Free accounts still receive forwarded mail, but replies aren't delivered — and you won't get a bounce.

How it works

Every email we forward to you carries a Reply-To header pointing to a private reverse-routing address that only your account can use — something like reply.a3f2b9@reply.bumpmail.io. When you click Reply, your email client follows that header instead of the original sender's address. The message hits our servers, we strip your real email, replace the From line with your alias, and deliver it to the original sender.

Step 1 — Open the forwarded email

Find the message in your inbox the way you normally would. The sender shows up as the original person you're talking to, not as anything Alias-Email-flavoured.

Step 2 — Hit Reply

Click Reply (or Reply All) like you would for any email. Your email client opens a compose window with the To field pre-filled — but instead of the original sender's address, you'll see a reply.*@reply.bumpmail.io address. That's the magic Reply-To header doing its job.

Reply compose window with the reverse-routing address

Don't change that To address. It's the bridge — if you replace it with the original sender's email, the message will go directly from your real inbox and the alias is bypassed.

Step 3 — Send

Type your message and send. The recipient receives a regular email from your alias address. They can hit Reply, and the cycle continues — every round-trip stays inside Alias Email.

Want to start a new conversation from your alias?

Reply only works once you've received an email at your alias. To send a brand-new message from your alias, use the in-app Composer: open Compose in your dashboard, pick the alias under "From", fill in the recipient and body, and send. Premium feature — see the anonymous email guide for details.

Frequently asked questions

Can I reply from an alias on the Free plan?

No — replying from an alias is part of Premium. Free accounts keep receiving forwarded mail as usual, but a reply sent back through the alias isn't delivered to the recipient.

Will the recipient see my real email anywhere?

No. The message they receive shows your alias as the From address. Headers, body, and attachments are forwarded as-is, but anything that would identify you as the original sender is rewritten.

What if I delete the alias after sending a reply?

The reverse-routing address tied to that conversation stops working — neither side can reply through Alias Email. The recipient still has the original message, but it'll bounce back if they try to respond.

Can I reply from a different email than where the message was forwarded to?

Replies have to come from the inbox that originally received the forward — that's how we tie the reply to your account. If you forward the message to another address and reply from there, our routing won't recognize you.

Does this work on mobile?

Yes. The Reply-To header is part of the message itself, so any standards-compliant mail app — Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, Spark, etc. — picks it up automatically. No setup needed.