Use one domain and separate mailboxes for the people who need their own correspondence. A family address should survive a new phone or a change of email provider, so agree who owns the domain and can recover it before creating everyone’s accounts.
Start with two people. Give each a mailbox, their own password, and a recovery plan they understand. An extra address pointing into someone else’s inbox is useful for shared arrangements, but it is not a private account for another family member.
Decide who manages the domain
Choose someone to pay for domain renewals, keep access to the registrar, and manage email settings. The registrar handles the domain name; the email host stores messages. They can be different companies.
Keep a recovery address for the registrar outside the family domain as well. Otherwise a domain problem could affect both your email and the recovery message needed to fix it. Store backup sign-in methods somewhere the responsible person can access.
After adding the domain to the email service, configure its DNS records as instructed. MX records direct incoming messages to the mail servers. Outgoing authentication records help recipients check that messages were sent through an authorized service.
Create personal mailboxes and useful extra addresses
If Anna and Ivan need private correspondence, create two independent mailboxes in TrekMail. Adding ivan@example.com as an alias of Anna's mailbox would deliver Ivan's messages to her inbox. It would not give him a separate password or personal space.
An alias works well for a different purpose. Anna could receive family travel documents at travel@example.com in her own mailbox. That is an additional address one person has agreed to monitor. The alias guide explains how these addresses work.
For a shared address, agree in advance who reads messages and replies. Calling it family@example.com doesn't automatically give every family member access. Permissions and routing need to be configured separately.
Use different passwords for personal mailboxes. The service administrator manages email, so discuss their permissions and account recovery powers with each user. This arrangement requires trust.
Connect devices and check replies
Start by signing in to webmail. Send each family member a message from an external address and ask for a reply. Then set up their preferred email apps on phones and computers.
The mailbox's Apps & devices section contains the exact servers and sign-in methods. IMAP reads messages and synchronizes mail folders; SMTP sends messages. Use the TrekMail connection settings reference when setting up an app manually.
A separate app password for each device makes access easier to manage. If a phone is lost, you can disconnect it without reconfiguring all of that person's email apps. Calendars and contacts need separate setup if the family wants them; adding an IMAP account does not transfer them automatically.
After connecting a phone, test another message and reply. If the computer shows a message as read but the phone still shows its old status, first check that both devices are connected to the correct mailbox.
Plan storage and everyday maintenance
Look at the account's total storage and decide how to divide it among mailboxes. One person may mostly exchange short messages, while another regularly receives photos and documents. Estimate space based on each person's correspondence.
Compare mailbox counts, storage, and sending options in the TrekMail plan guide. Nano requires your own outgoing SMTP provider; managed sending is available on Starter and above. Alias availability also depends on the plan.
Agree what separate mailboxes do and do not mean
A personal password gives each family member their own sign-in rather than access through another person's inbox. It doesn't remove the service administrator's management and recovery powers. Discuss that trust openly before moving private correspondence. If the family needs a different relationship with the administrator, consider that requirement before choosing the arrangement.
Decide how requests for help will work. A person should be able to ask for an app connection to be repaired without routinely handing another family member their password. Use the supported recovery or app-password process when needed, and explain what action the administrator is taking. Avoid leaving personal mailbox credentials in a shared household document.
For addresses intended for everyone, identify the actual reader and reply method. Travel bookings may only need to reach the person arranging the trip, while a shared household contact may need a different access arrangement. A friendly address name does not establish who can see the messages. Confirm the configured destination with each person who depends on it.
Prepare for a new phone or an unavailable organiser
Keep device setup instructions with the relevant mailbox rather than with a particular handset. When someone replaces a phone, they should know which mailbox to add, where to obtain the current settings and how to create the appropriate connection credentials. Calendars, contacts and locally stored material need their own checks if those are being moved too.
Choose a second responsible adult or other appropriate trusted person who can find the domain and provider details if the usual organiser is unavailable. Record renewal dates and the agreed recovery route. Do not make access depend on one person's phone being available at the exact moment a renewal or sign-in problem occurs.
An address tied to a personally owned domain can remain useful through device changes, but keeping that continuity requires renewing and controlling the domain. If the family later changes email providers, stored messages and device settings still need a planned move. The address itself does not transfer those items automatically.
Add people after the small setup is understood
Use the first two mailboxes to check receiving, replies, recovery instructions and device access. Ask each person to explain which inbox is theirs and which extra addresses they monitor. Resolve uncertainty before adding several more people.
Review total mailbox and storage needs against the chosen plan as the family grows. An alias is an additional receiving address, not additional storage or another private user. Keep that distinction in the handover so a later administrator does not accidentally put a new family member's correspondence into somebody else's inbox.
Keep the family handover note current
Include the renewal contact, registrar, mail provider and agreed recovery route. Review the note when a responsible person or recovery contact changes. Check current plan terms before adding mailboxes; this arrangement uses ordinary domain email and does not imply a dedicated family plan or parental controls.
