PowerPlatformTip 139 – Plus Address Tracking

💡 Challenge

Automated notification emails often arrive with no clue which Power Automate flow or system triggered them, slowing support and audits.

✅ Solution

Embed a unique identifier in the sender address using plus addressing (user+tag@domain.com). The email itself now reveals its origin.

🔧 How It’s Done

Here’s how to do it:

1. Choose a clear tag, e.g. guest-management or invoice-processing
   🔸 Example tag: guest-management
2. Configure the sending system or Cloud Flow to use the address user+tag@company.com
   🔸 marcel.lehmann+guestmanagement@company.com
3. Gmail / Google Workspace works the same way
   🔸 marcel.lehmann+newsletter@gmail.com
4. (Optional) Create inbox rules or labels that sort or flag messages automatically.

🎉 Result

Every incoming email clearly shows which workflow generated it, cutting troubleshooting time to seconds and simplifying compliance reports.

🌟 Key Advantages

🔸 Immediate source identification
🔸 Faster troubleshooting for IT and support
🔸 Simplified audit and compliance tracking
🔸 Zero extra licensing or infrastructure cost

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🛠️ FAQ

1. Does plus addressing survive corporate mail gateways?
Most modern gateways keep everything before “@” intact; only rare legacy filters strip the tag. Test first.

2. Can I assign multiple tags to the same project?
Yes. Use addresses like projectX+finance@company.com and projectX+it@company.com to separate streams.

3. Are there security concerns?
Avoid including sensitive information in the tag; use generic labels or numeric IDs instead.