If I get an email from a service I’m using the Hide My Email process, and need to reply with the email address (hide my email address) on file, how can I reply with the same email address (using the hide my email address)?
When you receive the email from the merchant or website using the Hide My Email feature, it will say "hide my email" instead of your actual. Here's the trick: when you hit reply, or forward, it will show your actual default email. But behind the scenes it will relay your email, via your Hide My Email, and the recepient will get the Hide My Email only in the from field. If you have a spare gmail account, or friend, you can create one and test it that way. I did that the first week with Apple Engineers becuase of the difference in the released docs and the implementation. You will not be able to select the hide my email from the drop down. I made a feedback suggestion to Apple that we need to have some way to identify in our email send boxes what will utelize the HME process.
When you receive the email from the merchant or website using the Hide My Email feature, it will say "hide my email" instead of your actual. Here's the trick: when you hit reply, or forward, it will show your actual default email. But behind the scenes it will relay your email, via your Hide My Email, and the recepient will get the Hide My Email only in the from field. If you have a spare gmail account, or friend, you can create one and test it that way. I did that the first week with Apple Engineers becuase of the difference in the released docs and the implementation. You will not be able to select the hide my email from the drop down. I made a feedback suggestion to Apple that we need to have some way to identify in our email send boxes what will utelize the HME process.
i don’t think that David Morton2 was referencing the two support articles that you’d linked but rather that apple support docs such as the following do indicate the ability to send as well as forward: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210425
However it is worth mentioning that in fact the second link you’d provided does talk about sending from the hide-my-email address. Use and send are definitely different words. The issue seems that that article does not mention “send” rather it uses the word reply. Below is an excerpt from the second link in the original response.
“Mail sent to Hide My Email addresses gets forwarded to your personal email account: your iCloud Mail address or any email address associated with your Apple ID. When you reply to a message sent to a Hide My Email address, your personal email address remains private. The message appears as if it was sent from the Hide My Email address.”
As someone further down found that the functionality to reply was not included in the first iteration. The reply function was always an intended feature. Reading this thread it seems that apple updated the doco before releasing the code to activate it. Makes sense to do it that way but it can create a window where the feature is documented but not yet implemented.
As far as I can tell it is used with web site forms asking for an email address. Apple does not say why there is this limitation but I could see that if they were to allow unfettered usage that iCloud would become a home to spammers.
Set up and use Hide My Email in iCloud+ on all your devices
https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/set-up-hide-my-email-mm9d9012c9e8/icloud
Create unique, random email addresses with Hide My Email and iCloud+
Reply seems to be working just fine.
I have however now run into a problem where a company to support me with an issue request me to send an email to them from the HME address I registered on their site. Since I can’t initiate an email conversation using a specific HME address already in use I will have to update to my real email address on their site first.
It would be a nice improvement in Mail to be able to send from any of the already active HME addresses in addition to create new random address. Maybe there is a way which I haven’t figured out yet.
I appreciate the response; however, I have read the info (before submitting the question) and did not see anything about how to reply to an email with the HideMyEmail address… it defaults back to my actual iCloud email with no option to switch to the HideMyEmail address the message was received with.
"Apple’s support pages for Hide my email say that you can send and receive email"
In neither of the two articles I link does it talk about sending email. In fact the word "send" does not occur in the first article at all, and in the second one it is a title of a related link about iCloud mail, not the hide my service. The terms Apple has in these articles is "use" which is not the same as "send."
Moderator: I had redacted the personal email address. I thought that would be sufficient since it was helpful to show. Thank you for the correction and I will note.
The example showed the actual HME address in your reply you assigned to the Merchant or company (it does not say HME like the recepient email says). But it does confirm in the latest updates that you are using the HME where as prior, it was not apparent (but was still using the HME when sent to the Merchant as a reply).
Great to now that Apple continues to improve this.
The main issue now is how to start when you don’t have “if you have a prior email from them, using your HME”.
But hopefully Apple will solve this in a future update.
Learn more about Hide My Email and iCloud+ --> https://support.apple.com/HT212519
What is Hide My Email? --> https://support.apple.com/HT210425
Apple’s support pages for Hide my email say that you can send and receive email using the random Hide my email address. But when I try to reply I get an error.
Yeah. I was not even able to try because the email address isn’t an option to use.
iPadOS Mail / iCloud+
Correct, it forwards received email to you box.
I have successfully initiated and sent an email (using Mail app iOS 15) from a newly generated Hide My Email address (which amusingly was treated as Spam at my receiving Mail app)
I don't understand the issue (unless 25 days since the thread was initiated, Hide My Email functionality has been enhanced)
a work around to send using an HME email you need to initiate - if you have a prior email from them, using your HME:
open that email
>reply or >forward (if you need the attachment from their email)
you will use this to create your blank slate to send a new email to the merchant etc
Delete the subject, and prior content in the email body (I used command A to ensure I get everything in the body such as formatting etc)
now "send" using your HME.
Clunky but reliable until Apple tweaks HME a little more. They are getting there. Amazon has been my beta useing HME since they have a website forum as a back up that logs all customer and merchant interactions.
HME visibility now on reply emails: I've noticed with the last update to 15.2, the HME is actually visible - I just updated my iphone 13 Max Pro and see it wonderfully there now. My latest MacBook 16" M1Max is still on Monterrey 12.0.1, showing I have one update pending for 12.1 and the HME is not visible in 12.0.1 - I suspect 12,1 will also update the HME visibility to match the latest iphone update so they are all visible in Sent folder emails (I'm sure I wasn't the only one to senbd feedback at the value of having this).
You'll see the "Hide My Email" in your receipt email from the Merchant.
When you use reply, it will now show the entire email (to you) so you not only know it's HME but you know WHICH.
If you any reason you reply to an email you've deactivated you'll get an error saying HME is not avaiable. You'd to restore the email to active to resume using it as an HME.
EXCEPTION: If you have a threaded email with the merchant, be sure to use the right thread if it pertains to a new subject. This would be the only downside to this work around.
If you need to start a fresh subject with the merchant, find their online "contact us" form to initiate a new thread for your new subject, and use your existing assigned HME.
There's so many scenarios I can see why Apple delved into this a little slow so they could use the feedback to make the right adjustments on a broad need.
Examples
The email from Amazon I used before I cleared the subject and body (scroll down to a second to see after hitting reply result):
The "reply" email result, after removing subject and body:
[Image Edited by Moderator to Remove Personal Information]
What if I need to reply with a hide my email address
