Email terms, clearly explained

Usually refers to unsolicited emails sent in bulk, often unwanted promotions or scam messages.

What to look for You don’t remember subscribing, the content is irrelevant to you, or you keep receiving similar promotions. But legitimate email can also be misclassified by filters.

ExampleA service you’ve never used sends you the same product promotion every day.

If you don’t recognise the sender, use your email provider’s report function. Don’t click an unfamiliar link just to unsubscribe.

An email sent to promote a product, service or event. Marketing emails sent to subscribers who opted in are a common example.

What to look for The email contains offers, new products or event announcements. Check whether you subscribed, verify the actual sender address and use the official unsubscribe option.

Example After you opt in, a shop sends you a newsletter about new products once a month.

“Marketing” doesn’t automatically mean “spam.” If you no longer want these emails, unsubscribe from a trusted business. See Unsubscribe or change your address.

A notification about a transaction, account action or service status, rather than primarily a promotion.

What to look for The time, order number and details match something you did recently. However, scammers can also fake invoices and failed payment notices.

Example After placing an order, you receive an electronic receipt with the matching amount and order number.

If you didn’t take the related action, don’t pay right away. Check your records in the official app.

An email with a short-lived code to confirm you can access an email account or authorise a specific action.

What to look for You just started a login or verification process, and the service, action and timing all match. Never share the code with someone claiming to be customer support.

Example After requesting a verification code on a registration page, you receive an email with a six-digit code.

Enter the code only on the original page where you started the action. Receiving a verification code doesn’t prove the sender or service is trustworthy.

An email that impersonates a trusted person or organisation to trick you into sharing passwords, verification codes or payment details, or taking a risky action.

What to look for Pressure to act immediately, demands for secrecy or verification codes, or a link to a domain that doesn’t match the official one. Their absence doesn’t prove an email is safe.

Example An email claiming to be from “Account Support” asks you to reply with your password to prevent your account from being disabled.

Don’t reply with sensitive information. Verify the message through an official channel you find independently. If you’ve shared credentials, change your password immediately and review your account activity.

A request to the sender to stop a particular type of subscription email. It changes your subscription with the business.

What to look forA subscription management page for a trusted business or an official unsubscribe option from your email provider. You may need to update each mailing list separately.

Example After unsubscribing from a new product newsletter, you still receive receipts for orders you placed.

Unsubscribing doesn’t delete your personal data. Don’t click links in emails from unknown sources. See When to unsubscribe.

Automatically handle emails based on the sender address, subject or other conditions. Filters usually apply to rules in your email account.

What to look forA rule has a condition to match and an action to take, such as moving a message to a folder, adding a label or deleting it.

Example Automatically move a known shop’s offer emails to your “Promotions” folder.

Filtering doesn’t stop the sender from sending emails. Test rules with archiving or labels first to make sure important messages aren’t deleted.

Tell your email provider that a message is unwanted or suspicious, helping it improve spam detection.

What to look for Usually done with the “Report spam” button in your email interface, not a link in the email itself.

Example Mark a bulk promotion you never subscribed to as spam.

This doesn’t unsubscribe you from the business or guarantee that all future emails will be blocked. If a legitimate email is marked by mistake, restore it from your spam folder.

Apply a blocking rule to a sender address. Its scope depends on the email provider or forwarding service where you set it up.

What to look for The rule targets a sender or domain. In Hushinbox forwarding rules, emails from blacklisted senders are blocked and won’t be forwarded.

Example Block a sender address that keeps sending irrelevant promotions.

Blocking a sender doesn’t disable the entire alias. The sender may also get around the rule by using a different address.

Mark a sender as allowed to reduce blocking caused by some automatic spam checks.

What to look for Verify the full address and your actual relationship with the sender first. In Hushinbox forwarding rules, an allowlisted sender can bypass spam classification, but that doesn’t mean the message has been security-verified.

ExampleA service notification you’ve independently verified keeps being misclassified, so you add its sender address to your allowlist.

Allow only senders you need, and review the list regularly. Even a trusted sender’s account could be compromised.

An email address for short-term use that expires later, suited to tasks that don’t require a lasting inbox.

What to look for Before using one, check how long it lasts, whether you can extend it and what happens to messages when it expires. Hushinbox addresses last 3 hours by default; each extension adds 3 hours.

Example Use an address to receive a verification email for a test, then discard it when you’re done.

Don’t use one for banking, healthcare or recovery of important accounts. To receive email now, go to the temporary inbox.

Describes an address you can discard after use. It’s often used interchangeably with temporary email, but doesn’t mean the address can receive only one message.

What to look for Check the service’s actual rules, not just its name. Retention periods, access requirements and message limits can vary.

ExampleA short-term address receives a registration confirmation and follow-up notifications while it’s active, then expires when no longer needed.

Before using one to sign up for a promotion, consider whether you’ll need to receive credentials later or recover the account. See the address guide for promotional sign-ups.

A common term for short-lived email services. It doesn’t mean every service using this name keeps messages for only ten minutes.

What to look for Check the countdown and service rules. New Hushinbox temporary addresses last 3 hours by default, not ten minutes.

Example Someone searches for “10-minute email” to quickly receive a code, but gets an address that lasts for several hours.

If you’re waiting a long time for an email, keep an eye on the countdown and extend it before it expires if needed. Expired messages can’t be recovered.

Often describes a service that doesn’t reveal your main email address or require registration under your real name. It doesn’t mean your identity can never be determined.

What to look for Whether registration is required and whether network information or access logs are processed are separate questions. The email itself may also contain information that identifies you.

Example You sign up for a short-term address without entering your name, but provide your real name on the registration form.

Hushinbox doesn’t promise complete anonymity. Avoid receiving sensitive information, and read our Privacy Policy to understand how your data is handled.

A separate address you use publicly; the service forwards incoming messages to your real inbox. Useful when you need to keep receiving email over time.

What to look for Messages arrive in your main inbox, and you can manage each alias separately. Sign in to Hushinbox to create aliases. Pausing an alias stops forwarding all messages sent to it.

Example Use separate aliases for shopping and newsletters. If one source sends too many emails, pause only the address used for that source.

Before pausing an alias, make sure you won’t miss receipts or account notifications. To keep receiving email long-term,sign in to manage forwarding aliases.