Setting up email forwarding

Setting up email forwarding

What you'll learn: how to make mail sent to one address automatically arrive at another.

What's forwarding?

A forwarder is a redirect for email. Mail sent to info@yourdomain.com is automatically delivered to (say) your personal Gmail address.

Forwarders are useful when:

  • You want a professional address (hello@yourbusiness.com) but want the mail to land in your existing inbox.
  • You have many addresses (info@, support@, billing@) and want them all to land in one place.
  • You're handing off a role and want a colleague to receive the mail temporarily.

Unlike a mailbox, a forwarder doesn't store any email — it just hands it off.

Step 1 — Open the Mail page

Sidebar → Mail. Click Forwarders (or a similar tab).

[screenshot here: forwarders page]

Step 2 — Add a forwarder

  1. Click New forwarder.
  2. From: the part before @ — like info — and pick the domain.
  3. To: one or more email addresses to deliver to (you can usually enter several, separated by commas).
  4. Click Save.

That's it. Mail to info@yourdomain.com now arrives at the address(es) you listed.

Forwarder vs mailbox — which should I use?

Forwarder Mailbox
Stores email on the server? No Yes
Can you log in and read it? No Yes
Can you send from this address? No (forwarders only forward incoming mail) Yes
Counts against mailbox limit? Usually no Yes

If you want to send mail from the address (not just receive), you need a mailbox. If you only want to receive, a forwarder is lighter and simpler.

Sending from a forwarded address

A common setup: forward info@yourdomain.com to your Gmail, but also configure Gmail to send as info@yourdomain.com. To do that, you'll usually still need a small mailbox (or "send-only" credentials) so Gmail can authenticate. Your hosting provider can help you set this up.

Tips

  • Use catch-alls sparingly. A forwarder from * (everything at your domain) catches typos but also catches a lot of spam. Better to set up specific addresses.
  • Keep an eye on spam. Forwarded mail sometimes triggers spam filters at the destination. If your Gmail flags forwarded mail as spam, mark a few as "Not spam" to teach it.
  • Test your forwarder. Send a test email to confirm it arrives.

If something goes wrong

  • The forwarded mail doesn't arrive — check spam at the destination. If it's not there, the forwarder might have a typo.
  • The destination is bouncing back — the destination address might not exist, or it might be rejecting forwarded mail. Try a different destination to confirm.
  • You stopped receiving forwarded mail suddenly — your destination provider may have started rejecting forwarded mail (Gmail occasionally tightens this). Set up SPF and DKIM for your domain (your hosting provider can help).

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