How to Use Brave Email Aliases and Containers

Giving every website your main email address can make it harder to control spam. Switching between work and personal accounts can be frustrating too, especially when you keep getting signed out.

Brave has two built-in tools that help: Email Aliases and Containers.

Email aliases give websites a different address while messages still reach your usual inbox. Containers let you keep separate website logins in the same browser window.

Here’s how to set them up on your computer.

Watch the Video Walkthrough

Watch the video below to follow along with me, or use the written steps.

Step 1: Update Brave

Start by checking that your browser is up to date.

1. Open Brave.
2. Click the three-line menu in the top-right corner.
3. Select Settings.
4. Open About Brave.
5. Allow any available update to finish, then relaunch if prompted.

You can also type brave://settings/help into the address bar.

Email Aliases launched in desktop version 1.94. Containers arrived in desktop version 1.92, for Windows, macOS and Linux. Updating first helps ensure the features are available.

Step 2: Set Up Brave Email Aliases

An alias is an alternative email address that forwards messages to your main inbox. You can give it to a website instead of sharing your primary address.

To get started:

1. Open Settings → Autofill & Passwords → Email Aliases.
2. Select the option to log in or create a Brave account.
3. Follow the account setup and email verification instructions.

You can reach the settings page directly by typing brave://settings/email-aliases into Brave’s address bar.

Brave uses the email address associated with your Brave account as the destination for forwarded messages. This account is separate from a Brave Premium account.

Step 3: Create an Alias for a Website

You can create an alias while filling in a sign-up form.

1. Open the website’s registration form.
2. Click its email address field.
3. If Brave offers New Email Alias, select it.
4. If the suggestion doesn’t appear, right-click the field and choose New Email Alias.
5. Add a useful note, such as the website’s name.
6. Create the alias and use it for registration.

Using the website’s name as your note makes it easier to remember where an address belongs.

You can also create aliases in Settings → Autofill & Passwords → Email Aliases:

1. Click New Alias.
2. Add a note.
3. Create the address.
4. Use Copy to paste it into the website’s email field.

Save the alias with that website’s login in your password manager. It may be the address you need when signing in later.

Step 4: Manage an Alias That Starts Receiving Spam

If an alias starts attracting unwanted messages, find it in your alias settings.

1. Open Settings → Autofill & Passwords → Email Aliases.
2. Find the address using its note.
3. Click the three-dot menu beside it.
4. Select Delete and follow the confirmation prompt.

Before deleting an alias, check whether you still need it. If it belongs to an account you use, change that account’s email address first. Otherwise, you could miss receipts, verification messages or password-reset emails.

If expected messages aren’t arriving, check your inbox’s spam folder too.

Step 5: Enable Brave Containers

Containers keep cookies and other website storage separate between browsing groups. This lets you use different accounts on the same website without constantly signing out.

To enable them:

1. Open Brave Settings.
2. Select Content → Containers.
3. Switch on Enable Containers.

Brave provides default containers for Personal, Work, Social and School. You can edit them or create your own.

Start with the groups you actually need. Personal and Work may be enough.

Step 6: Open a Website in a Container

Once containers are enabled:

1. Open the website you want to use.
2. Right-click its tab.
3. Choose Open in Container.
4. Select a container.
5. Sign into the account you want to use there.

For example, open your work Google account in Work and your personal Google account in Personal. The separate sessions let you use both side by side.

Containers are useful for separating logins, but they aren’t completely separate browser profiles. Settings, extensions, saved passwords and browsing history are shared within the profile.

You don’t need a container for every website. Choose a few that make your browsing easier.

An Extra Benefit of Updating Brave

Brave also introduced stronger protection against GPU fingerprinting starting in version 1.93.

Websites can use information about your graphics hardware and drivers as part of a browser fingerprint. Brave reduces the identifying information exposed through WebGL and WebGPU.

These protections are enabled by default on desktop and Android, so there isn’t a separate switch you need to turn on for this update.

Keep the Setup Simple

Try an email alias the next time you register with a website, and use containers for accounts you regularly switch between.

Both tools work best when you give them clear purposes: aliases for controlling where your email address is shared, and containers for keeping your website logins organised.