For years, the limit was three additional @icloud.com addresses. iCloud.com now allows nine email aliases – three times as many as before. However, Apple's own instructions still list the old limit.
The change was noticed by a user who described it on Reddit last week. Other users have since confirmed the new limit on iCloud.com; the increase is active there.
Email aliases are additional addresses that end up in the same mailbox as the primary iCloud email address. The overview iCloud explained: Services, Storage and iCloud+ shows what role iCloud Mail plays alongside storage, photos, and other services.
Key Facts at a Glance
- iCloud.com now allows you to create up to nine @icloud.com email aliases instead of three.
- The increase was first noticed by a user on Reddit; iCloud.com also offers nine slots for users with a German Apple account.
- Apple's German-language instructions still list three aliases as the upper limit.
- Aliases are different from the random addresses of "hide email address" and the addresses of a custom domain.
What changes with the limit
Previously, there was a fixed limit: in addition to the primary address, three aliases were possible. Now there are nine, meaning six additional addresses.
I checked this with my own Apple account on iCloud.com: The iCloud Mail settings also offer nine slots for aliases. This increase therefore also applies to accounts in Germany.
The instructions in Apple Support describe the old behavior: After setting up a primary iCloud email address, up to three aliases can be created on iCloud.com. The instructions and the actual behavior of iCloud.com currently diverge.
The instructions have long included one exception: Users who had five aliases when migrating from MobileMe to iCloud were allowed to keep them. However, deleted aliases from this set could not be replaced.
This is how aliases work
Aliases are created exclusively on iCloud.com in the iCloud Mail settings. The entered text becomes the address in the form alias[at]icloud.com; an optional label helps with sorting.
Once set up, emails can be sent and received via an alias – on iCloud.com and on all devices where Mail is enabled in iCloud settings. Aliases can be temporarily disabled or permanently deleted. According to Apple, a separate Apple account cannot be created using an alias.
Alias, hidden address and own domain
Three functions sound similar but fulfill different tasks:
| Feature | Address form | Requirement | Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Email alias | freely chosen, @icloud.com | primary iCloud email address | nine (instructions: three) |
| Hide email address | randomly generated | iCloud+ | – |
| Own email domain | own domain | iCloud+ | three active addresses per domain |
The random addresses from "Hide My Email" are meant to conceal the real address from shops and services. For this feature, Apple recently scrapped a domain change. An alias, by contrast, is a fixed, self-chosen address that also works as a sender.
More room for sorted mailboxes
I believe this increase is one of the changes that will be most noticeable to users whose inboxes have grown over the years. Three aliases were quickly assigned – for newsletters, shopping, and perhaps a club. With nine, the inbox can be organized much more precisely, for example, with individual rules or folders for each address.
Users who have already filled all three available email slots on iCloud can create additional addresses directly on iCloud.com. Switching to iCloud+ is not necessary; the primary iCloud email address remains the requirement.
Do you prefer using fixed aliases for newsletters and online shops, or the random addresses from "Hide email address"? Let us know which solution keeps your inbox organized.
