Why does Gmail force a dot in my email address?

Question

Google insists that dots don't matter in an email address.

However:

• If I attempt to log in with firstnamelastname@gmail.com then it tells me I'm logged in as firstname.lastname@gmail.com.
• I am unable to send an email as firstnamelastname@gmail.com, it always comes from firstname.lastname@gmail.com.
• If I go into myaccount.google.com then I'm told my Google Account email is firstname.lastname@gmail.com and that this cannot be changed.

If dots really don't matter, why do they appear to matter?

Answer 1

Because the dots don't matter in an email address, but they do matter in your login name, which is what your Gmail account name is.

So, your account is firstname.lastname. (Actually, it's firstname.lastname@gmail.com because you can create a login with a non-Gmail email address.)

You can receive mail sent to firstname.lastname@gmail.com, firstnamelastname@gmail.com, first.namelast.name@gmail.com, etc.

But when you log in you need that dot in the right place.

As for sending without the dot, you can do that too, but you have to set up an alias in your Gmail settings. (See: Change my Gmail sender address from firstname.lastname to firstnamelastname)