Google Shielded Email: how will Gmail feature work, is it free and release date

• Google users could soon be able to better protect their emails. 
• A Shielded Email feature is coming.
• It will create dummy email addresses instead of giving out your real one. 

Do you feel like you are constantly having to sign up and make a new account every time you stumble across a new website or download a new app? And inevitably you will have to type in your email address to finish the process. 

But if you are reticent about giving so many people access to your email, Google might be about to change the game. It is quietly introducing a major new feature called Shielded Email, which will prevent your address from so easily falling into the hands of scammers. 

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The change could affect millions of Gmail users across the country once it is fully rolled out. Android Authority reports that currently the feature has been spotted in the Autofill settings menu but currently takes you to an empty page. 

What is Shielded Email? 

Google is introducing a new feature which should help protect you from spam emails - which is increasingly important as phishing scams prove to be a serious threat. Shielded Email works in a similar way to Apple’s Hide My Email and will create a one-time dummy alias address each time they need to sign up for a website or a service. 

It means that your actual email address will be protected and won’t fall so easily into the hands of spammers or fraudsters. Metro reports that emails sent via the unique address are forwarded to the user’s primary account which means you can also send and receive emails without exposing your main address. 

According to the website, the feature will also enable Gmail users to identify “who has shared or sold their email address”. 

Will the feature be free? 

Apple’s Hide My Email is part of the paid iCloud service and the Metro reports that it is not yet known if Google’s Shielded Email will be free or cost extra. 

When will it be released? 

Android Authority, as previously mentioned, have spotted the shielded email option in the autofill settings menu - but it took them to an empty page. Suggesting that it is still a work in progress, with a release date to be confirmed in due course. 

What do you think of the Shielded Email feature? Share your thoughts by emailing me: [email protected].