What to Do When Your Preferred Gmail Username Is Taken

When your preferred Gmail name is taken, adding a dot will not help; change the name itself. Enter the name in the Gmail username availability checker. It asks Gmail's mail server whether a mailbox with that name exists, and if one does, it suggests variants, each tested live. No account is made.

Why a dot or a plus does not work

Gmail ignores dots and anything after a plus sign. If janesmith exists, then jane.smith is the same account, and janesmith+work delivers to it. So the variations that look like new addresses are not. Gmail dots and plus signs explains it from the list-cleaning side.

Step 1: check the original

Enter it with or without @gmail.com. The tool also checks Google's rules for new names: 6 to 30 characters of letters, numbers and periods.

Step 2: change the name, not the punctuation

Options that really give a different address:

• Add a middle initial or both initials: janemsmith.
• Add a role or place: janesmithdesign, janesmithlondon.
• Reverse the order: smithjane.
• Add a number you can remember, such as a birth year only if you are comfortable with it being public.

Step 3: test each one

Each variant is one live check. Taken means a mailbox exists. If none answers, try it on Google's sign-up page, which is the only place that can confirm a name is free. Names of deleted accounts are never reissued, and some names are held back, so a "not found" is a good sign rather than a promise.

Step 4: consider your own domain

For a business or a job search, an address on your own domain avoids the problem. jane@smithdesign.com is not limited by Gmail's namespace. The find an available domain name guide and the bulk domain availability checker help with the domain, and the email provider lookup shows what a domain's mail is hosted on.

What this check cannot do

• It cannot say a name is definitely free.
• It cannot see deleted accounts or held-back names.
• It cannot reserve a name.
• Suggested variants are checked live but still need confirming at sign-up.

If you are checking other people's Gmail addresses

Upload your list on the verify page: the first 100 email checks are free with a Google sign-in, no card. Each address comes back valid, risky or invalid with a reason, and nothing is sent to anyone on the list. For larger or recurring lists, see bulk email verification, list cleaning and pricing.

Try a name now

Enter it in the Gmail username availability checker.