Note: The term "sending identities" is no longer used in Fastmail's interface. Where we previously referred to "aliases" (for receiving mail) and "sending identities" (for sending mail) as separate components, our interface now uses simply "aliases," which can both send and receive without being configured separately. For more information on setting up an alias, please see our How to set up aliases help page.
To ease the transition for customers who are used to sending identities, we've updated the instructions on this page to match our current interface.
What is an identity?
"Identity" is a commonly used term for an additional email address that is used for sending mail. Identities are helpful if you want to send mail from different addresses or names without creating multiple users. For example, you could have a nickname@mydomain.com address for sending personal emails, and a fullname@mydomain.com address for sending professional emails.
In our current interface, aliases can both send and receive mail. Identities do not need to be set up separately.
Managing identities
If you wish to send mail using a new address, you can create an alias by going to the Settings → My email addresses screen. For more information, please see the Creating an email address section of our My email addresses help page.
If you are an admin looking to create an alias for another user in your account, this can be done by going to Settings → Users & Sharing.
By default, the alias used to send messages from your account is your username. You can change your default alias by following these steps:
- Open the Settings → Mail preferences screen.
- In the Compose section, find the Default address option.
- Select the desired default alias from the dropdown menu.
You can also set the default email address for individual folders, which will override that account's default alias.
If you have a custom domain set up in your account, you can set up a catch-all alias at Settings → My email addresses, which allows you to send mail from any address at your domain. Please see our Catch-all/Wildcard aliases help page for more information.
Identity options
Sending options for an alias, including the sending name and signature, can be changed by going to Settings → My email addresses and clicking the Edit button for that alias.
From the same Edit page, we also offer a variety of more advanced sending options. For more details, please see the How to set up/edit an alias section of our How to set up aliases help page.
Identity verification
If you have previously manually created a sending identity that sends through Fastmail's servers, you may see the following error message:
To send as address@domain.tld you must first verify that you own this address.
You may also see the Fix it button next to an email address at Settings → My email addresses.
If you are prompted to verify your address, this means that you will need to prove that you can successfully receive mail at that email address before you can use it to send mail. More information of verifying your address can be found at the Authenticated delivery (SMTP settings) section of our My email addresses help page.