Plus + , disposable or instant alias email addresses are now available for Microsoft 365 hosted mailboxes and Outlook.com accounts. Here’s how to get this useful email trick for your mailbox.
Outlook.com
All Outlook.com accounts have plus addresses automatically. It was introduced to Hotmail (‘as was’) back in 2013.
It’s such an ‘old’ feature, many people don’t realize it’s available. Now Microsoft is adding it to Exchange Server, there’s a revival of interest in this existing Hotmail/Outlook.com option.
Microsoft 365 hosted mailboxes
Organization admins can now enable plus addressing using the PowerShell command.
Set-OrganizationConfig -AllowPlusAddressInRecipients $true
There’s no Microsoft 365 admin web page option to start plus addressing which is a pity because many smaller Microsoft 365 organizations use that instead of the complications of PowerShell. If you’re new to PowerShell admin of Microsoft 365 see our guide Simple start with Microsoft 365 and PowerShell .
Before allowing + addressing, admins need to check there are no existing addresses using a + sign. The possibility of conflict with existing mailboxes is why plus addressing hasn’t been turned on by default.
Test first
Call us cautious but before giving out ‘plus’ email addresses for a mailbox, we like to test it out. That especially applies to Microsoft hosted mailboxes where the admin has to turn the feature on.
No need to test each different +… variation, just a one-off trial to make sure the option is working for your mailbox.
What are email Plus addresses and how to use them
Get the most from Plus addresses in Outlook
A simple check for Plus addressing with your email address
What can you put in your email address?
