Neat Gmail trick makes you go James Bond on your email ID leakers

Using this clever Gmail trick, you can track the person or entity sharing your email ID with others. Note that it only works with Gmail.

The Gmail trick involves giving most unknown entities a modified version of your actual email ID. (Unsplash)

Email IDs are easy to share and if you like to keep your contact details less reachable, it always remains a concern whether some third-party entity gets a hold of it. After all, nobody likes spam mails raining on your email inbox everyday. While there's nothing you can do other than unsubscribe those mailers, you can track who the person was that shared your email ID. All it takes is this neat Gmail trick.

First shared by BGR.com, the trick involves giving most unknown entities a modified version of your actual email ID. With this trick, you can then figure out who has shared it and reach out to the concerned person regarding the same. Additionally, you can also use it to simplify your search in the Gmail inbox. Do note that the trick is only known to work with Gmail.

Gmail trick to track your email ID leakers

Gmail ignores everything in IDs after a “+” sign

Gmail ignores everything in IDs after a “+” sign

The trick does not require any technical involvement.

-In fact, it only needs you to modify your email ID in a way that you can identify from other mail addresses.

- When sharing your email ID at a grocery store or petrol station or a mall, simple add a “+” to your ID and provide an identifier that's easy for you.

- For example, if your Gmail ID is ravip.12kumar@gmail.com, you can modify in this way – ravip.12kumar+grocery@gmail.com, or ravip.12kumar+mallstore@gmail.com.

- Don't worry, you are still providing the correct ID and you will receive the mails. Gmail does not identify anything after the “+” sign, hence you can use this trick to track whether your grocer shared the email ID or your nearest mall.

- Once this modified email ID is shared by other parties, Gmail will show you the modified ID with the "+" sign in the sender's details. For example, if your grocer shares it with the nearby garment store and the latter puts you on a mailer list, you will see the ID with "grocery@gmail" mentioned.

- You can also use this trick to sort out emails from a particular place easily. For example, searching for ravip.12kumar+mallstore@gmail.com in the Gmail search will return all emails, which could be helpful while collecting all monthly receipts from that store.