How email masking with Hskky works

What happens when someone emails your alias

1. A website sends a message to your alias, for example k7x9m2@hskky.com.
2. Hskky receives it and checks that the alias exists and is active.
3. If it’s active, the message is forwarded to the inbox you verified. If the alias is stopped, the message is not delivered.
4. The message arrives in your inbox. The sender never learns where it went.

Because the alias is a real, working address, it behaves like any other email address from the sender’s side. Order confirmations, password resets and newsletters all arrive as normal.

Setting up

Enter your real email address and Hskky sends a confirmation link to it. Once you confirm, your first alias is ready. The confirmation step exists so that no one can point an alias at an inbox they don’t control.

On Plus you can verify up to three destination inboxes and choose which one each alias forwards to.

The alias lifecycle

Aliases never expire on their own. An alias only ends when you stop it, and even then there is a two-month safety window.

Active

Everything sent to the alias is forwarded. There is no expiry date while it stays active, on either plan.

Stopped

When you stop an alias, forwarding is cut off immediately. Messages sent to it are not delivered to you.

Two-month safety window

For two months after you stop an alias, it’s held for you. If you stopped it by mistake, or you suddenly need a password-reset code from a site that still uses it, reactivate it and forwarding resumes.

Removed

Two months after being stopped, the alias is purged from active routing and can no longer be reactivated.

Changing your alias

Free plan. You have one active alias at a time. You can swap it for a new random alias, which stops the old one and starts its two-month window. Changes are limited to 2 alias changes per rolling 30 days to keep the service sustainable and to stop automated abuse. If you need a fresh alias sooner, Plus lifts that limit.

Plus. You have up to 10 active aliases and can swap, rename or regenerate any of them freely.

Custom alias names (Plus)

Custom names make aliases easier to recognise and type. They follow a few rules:

• At least six characters, so short generic words stay unclaimed.
• Lowercase letters, numbers, periods and hyphens only.
• No two periods or symbols in a row.
• Names connected to running or impersonating a service are reserved for everyone’s protection, including admin, support, security, abuse, postmaster, billing and helpdesk.

Why deleted custom names are locked forever

Most of your online accounts can be recovered through a reset link sent to your email address. If a deleted alias went back into a public pool, someone else could register it and receive your reset links for any site you forgot to update.

Hskky never releases a deleted custom name. It stays locked permanently, so your old address can’t become someone else’s way into your accounts.

Forwarding limits

What Hskky doesn’t do

Being clear about limits helps you use an alias well.

• Replies show your real address. Aliases are for receiving. If you reply from your own inbox, the recipient sees your real address.
• It isn’t encryption. Forwarding hides your address, not the content of the message. Use an end-to-end encrypted provider for sensitive conversations.
• It can’t undo past exposure. If your real address has already leaked, an alias protects new sign-ups. Move important accounts over gradually.

Questions about how it works