Email aliases, several addresses and "Email has already been taken"

With Standard setup, Commslayer files each incoming email by the address it was sent to. An email creates a conversation only when that address belongs to an inbox, as the inbox's own address or as an alias added to it. Mail sent to any other address doesn't show up in Commslayer, even when your email provider forwards it.

This article covers how to bring in mail for more than one address, and what to do when an address is already in use.

Pick the setup that fits#

• Another address on the same domain, and replies can come from your main address: add it as an alias on the inbox. Example: info@yourstore.com on an inbox for support@yourstore.com

• Replies have to come from that address: give it its own inbox. An alias only receives

• An address on another domain (a second brand, a country domain): give it its own inbox

• A catch-all mailbox: not supported. Add each address your customers really use as an alias or as its own inbox

• A Gmail quick setup inbox: nothing to add. Everything the connected Google mailbox receives arrives, including mail to its aliases, and replies go out from the connected address

Add an alias to an inbox#

1. Go to Settings → Inboxes and click Manage on the inbox
2. In the Configuration card, find Email aliases below Forward to Email
3. Type the address and press Enter, or click Add

Don't see Email aliases? The field isn't on for every account yet, and it only shows on Standard setup inboxes. Contact support from the chat inside the app and we'll enable it for your account.

Then check your email provider. An alias in Commslayer doesn't create a forward. Mail for that address still has to be forwarded to the inbox's Forward to Email address. If the alias delivers into a mailbox that already forwards everything to this inbox, you're done.

Rules for aliases:

• Same domain: the alias must be on the same domain as the inbox address

• One inbox only: it can't be an address that another inbox already uses

• Receiving only: replies go out from the inbox's main address

• Plus addresses work without an alias: mail to support+returns@yourstore.com counts as mail to support@yourstore.com

Give an address its own inbox#

Use a separate inbox when replies should come from that address, or when the address is on another domain.

1. Create the inbox with that address
2. Sort out DNS. A second inbox on a domain you've already verified needs no new records. An address on another domain needs that domain's own two records
3. Forward mail for that address to the new inbox's own Forward to Email address. Every inbox has a different one

Create your email inbox →

The address doesn't need a mailbox of its own. When several addresses share one mailbox, use a forwarding rule per address instead of forwarding everything:

Gmail alias setup →

Microsoft 365 alias setup →

Microsoft 365 multi-domain setup →

"Email has already been taken"#

An email address can belong to one inbox only, across all Commslayer accounts. This message means an inbox with that address still exists, in your account or in another one. It has nothing to do with the email you log in with or with your agents.

Where the address may still be in use:

• In this account: go to Settings → Inboxes and look through the All tab, including inboxes marked Incomplete or Disconnected

• In another Commslayer account: an account from a previous store, a test account, or one a colleague or agency set up

• As a Gmail quick setup inbox: one Google account connects to one inbox

Only deleting the inbox frees its address. Uninstalling the Commslayer app from Shopify, removing a shop under Settings → Shops or closing the Shopify store does not.

To use the address in another account, delete the inbox in the old account, add it in the new one and update the forwarding rule at your email provider. Deleting an inbox removes its conversations, so do this only when you no longer need that history. Can't log in to the old account? Contact support from the chat inside the app with the address and the store it was used with.

What deleting an inbox does →

Change the address of an existing inbox#

An inbox's address can't be edited. After a new domain or a rebrand:

1. Create a new inbox for the new address
2. Set up forwarding for the new address to the new inbox
3. Keep the old inbox. Its conversations stay visible, and mail still sent to the old address keeps arriving there for as long as you forward it

Common problems#

Emails to an alias don't create conversations

The alias isn't added to the inbox yet. Add it under Email aliases, then send a test from an outside address. If your inbox settings have no Email aliases field, contact support from the chat inside the app and we'll enable it.

The alias is added and mail still doesn't arrive

Check that your email provider forwards mail for that alias to the inbox's Forward to Email address. If you forward with a filter, the filter has to include the alias.

Mail to our catch-all address doesn't arrive

A catch-all collects mail sent to any address on your domain. The address it was sent to matches no inbox, so no conversation is created. Add the addresses customers really write to as aliases or inboxes.

Nothing arrives at all

Start with the email troubleshooting article.

Email troubleshooting →