The Short Answer
Gmail treats your username as if dots do not exist. So john.doe@gmail.com and johndoe@gmail.com are the exact same inbox. You can add dots anywhere in your username and emails will always reach you.
Official Google Feature
"If someone accidentally adds dots to your address when sending you an email, you'll still get that email. For example, if your email is johnsmith@gmail.com, you own all dotted versions of your address." — Google Mail Help Center
Examples
All Deliver to johndoe@gmail.com
john.doe@gmail.com
j.o.h.n.d.o.e@gmail.com
jo.hn.do.e@gmail.com
j.ohndoe@gmail.com
johndoe@gmail.comWhy Does Gmail Do This?
Google normalizes email addresses before routing. Every username is stripped of dots and lowercased before the lookup. This was a usability decision to prevent confusion when people mistype addresses with or without dots.
How Is This Useful?
- Unique accounts per site: Most websites store your email as-typed. So
john.doe@gmail.comandjohndoe@gmail.comare treated as different users by their database, but you receive all mail in one place. - Filtering: Create Gmail filters that trigger on exact dotted variants to auto-organize mail.
- Privacy: Use different dot patterns for different services to compartmentalize your identity.
Does It Work on Googlemail.com Too?
Yes. Every Gmail account also owns the corresponding @googlemail.com address. Dot insensitivity applies to both domains. So john.doe@googlemail.com and johndoe@gmail.com both reach the same inbox.
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