A catch-all email account simply refers to the ability for email sent to anything before the @ sign to reach you.

For example, you might have accounts set up for info@example.com, sales@example.com, and accounts@example.com. If somebody tries to email support@example.com, it would bounce. By having a catchall email account set up with your web hosting account, these emails will be received by the designated email account.

The disadvantage of catchall email accounts is that spammers will reach you much easier than if you have only a set few email accounts set up on your web server. Email harvesting programs will try many default email aliases such as info@, sales@, support@, admin@; as well as popular names such as john@. By changing your primary email address to, for example, chat@example.com, you can eliminate a lot of email spam.

When configuring your web hosting account you should weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of a catchall email address. Does the cost of receiving more email spam outweigh the cost of losing some customers through mistyped email addresses?

Most web hosting companies will allow catchall email accounts to be set up, however you should check first if it is not explicitly stated. You can usually specify a catchall email account in your web host’s control panel by using an asterisk (*) as your email alias.