Using DuckDuckGo Email Protection

DuckDuckGo Email Protection is a free email forwarding service that removes hidden trackers and allows you to create unique, private Disposable Aliases. This ensures your personal email address remains hidden from companies and advertisers.

1. How the Privacy Feature Works

When you sign up, you receive a personal @duck.com address.

• Tracking Removal: Emails sent to your Duck address are stripped of hidden trackers (like pixels that track when you opened an email).

• Forwarding: The "cleaned" email is forwarded to your regular inbox (Gmail, Outlook, etc.).

• Disposable Aliases: You can generate random addresses (e.g., oblong-parlor-icy@duck.com) for websites you don't trust.

2. Replying to an Email Using Your Alias

If you receive an email sent to your DuckDuckGo alias, replying is self-evident:

1. Open the email in your standard email client.

2. Hit Reply as you would with any other email.

3. Everything is handled automatically. DuckDuckGo routes the reply through their servers to ensure the recipient only sees your alias, not your real address.

3. Initiating a New Email From an Alias

What if you want to start a conversation with someone using your alias? Since an email address can only have one "@" symbol, you must use a specific workaround to "nest" the recipient's address inside a Duck address.

The Workaround: Using _at_

To tell DuckDuckGo where to send the email, you must replace the @ in the recipient's address and the @ in your alias domain with text so that the only actual @ symbol is at the very end.

The Format:

[Recipient] + [_at_] + [Recipient Domain] + [_] + [Your Alias Name] + [@duck.com]

Step-by-Step Example

If you want to send an email to jim@dct.com using your alias oblong-parlor-icy@duck.com:

1. Modify the recipient's address: Change jim@dct.com to jim_at_dct.com.

2. Connect to your alias: Add an underscore followed by your alias name: jim_at_dct.com_oblong-parlor-icy.

3. Finalize the address: Add @duck.com to the very end.

Final Address for the "To" Field:

jim_at_dct.com_oblong-parlor-icy@duck.com

4. Quick Reference Table

Note: When the recipient receives this email, they will see only your alias (oblong-parlor-icy@duck.com) in the "From" field. The complex string you typed is only used by DuckDuckGo's servers to route the message correctly.