Why do email addresses use “@”?
Short answer
The “@” sign separates a mailbox name from the domain that handles the delivery. In an address such as [email protected], the two sides have different roles.
How it works
The part before “@” identifies a mailbox within a domain. The part after it identifies the organization or service domain that receives mail for that address.
Mail systems use the domain on the right as a clue for finding the destination domain and its mail server. They then use the name on the left to distinguish the mailbox within that domain.
Key point
The left side does not have to be a person’s name; it can identify a team, a service, or a public contact address. The domain decides how that local name is interpreted. The “@” is the boundary that lets the two parts be read separately.