When you choose a Gmail address, you actually get more than just yourusername@gmail.com. Gmail address gives you greater control over your inbox and save your time and headache.

Here are three different ways you can modify your Gmail address and still get your mail:

1. Everyone who has sign up for an yourusername@gmail.com address can also receive mail sent to yourusername@googlemail.com. For example, if your address in Gmail was gmailfan@gmail.com, messages send to gmailfan@googlemail.com would be delivered to your gmailfan@gmail.com.

2. Insert one or several dots (.) anywhere in your email address. Gmail doesn’t recognize periods as characters in addresses — Gmail just ignore them. For example, you could tell people your address was gmailfan@gmail.com, gmail.fan@gmail.com or g.ma.il.fan@gmail.com.

3. Append a plus (+) sign and any combination of words or numbers after your email address. For example, if your address was gmailfan@gmail.com, you could send mail to gmailfan+friends@gmail.com or gmailfan+mailinglists@gmail.com.

The next time you sign up for a newsletter use an address like yourusername+news@gmail.com. This can help you to set up filters to automatically direct these messages to Trash, apply a label or star, skip the inbox, or forward to another email account.