Email mailbox

An email mailbox is a recipient or destination that receives messages. In everyday use, it usually means the account where a person can read stored email, but the technical concept does not require messages to be kept as files in a particular inbox.

How does a mailbox relate to an email address?

An email address tells mail systems which destination a message is for. The part before @ is interpreted by the system responsible for the domain after @. For example, alex@example.com names a recipient under example.com; the provider handling that domain decides whether the address maps to Alex's mailbox, an alias, a group, or another destination.

A mailbox may be accessible through webmail or an email app, and a provider may store its messages on a mail server. An address and a mailbox are therefore related, but they are not interchangeable: an address can route to an existing mailbox without being a separate mailbox of its own.

Is an alias a separate mailbox?

Usually, no. A provider may configure info@example.com as an email alias that delivers into Alex's existing mailbox. Alex can read the message there, but the alias may not have its own password, storage allowance, or login. Another provider may use different terms or offer a separate shared mailbox, so check what the service actually creates.

Related terms

• Custom domain email — uses your domain in email addresses
• Email alias — an additional address that may feed a mailbox
• Email provider — supplies mailbox service
• Mail server — transfers or handles email