How to Set Up Email Forwarding

A forwarder is an address on your domain that does not have a mailbox of its own. Mail sent to it is passed straight on to one or more other addresses, including outside addresses such as Gmail.

Before you start

• The domain needs at least one mailbox before you can add a forwarder to it. A mailbox on a different domain does not count.
• A forwarder address must not already exist as a mailbox on the domain. Pick an address that is not in use, for example info@ or sales@.
• Forwarders are not billed. Only mailboxes and extra storage are.

Create a forwarder

1. Sign in to the control panel at https://system.atriomail.com
2. Go to Email Forwarders
3. Create a forwarder
4. Enter the address on your domain that should receive the mail
5. Enter one or more destination addresses
6. Save

Mail sent to that address is now passed on to every destination you listed.

Example: sales@yourdomain.com passed on to john@yourdomain.com and jane@gmail.com

What a forwarded message looks like

A forwarded message shows the original sender's name followed by "via" your domain, and a reply goes back to the original sender, not to you. This is what lets the message pass authentication checks at the receiving provider.

Catch-all instead of one address at a time

To pass on everything sent to addresses you have not created, go to Email Catch-All, select the domain and choose the destination. Like a forwarder, a catch-all needs the domain to have at least one mailbox, and it is not billed.

A forwarder is not a copy of a mailbox

A forwarder replaces a mailbox, it does not duplicate one. If mail already arrives in a mailbox and you also want a copy elsewhere, set that up on the mailbox side instead: look for a filter, rule or redirect setting in your webmail at https://system.atriomail.com/webmail or in your mail app. Those settings live in the mail software, not in the control panel.

Turn forwarding off

1. Go to Email Forwarders
2. Open the forwarder
3. Delete it, or switch it off

Troubleshooting

Mail is not arriving at the destination

• Check the forwarder still exists and is switched on
• Check the destination address for typos
• Check the destination's spam folder
• Make sure the destination mailbox is not full

Forwarding loops

Never point two addresses at each other. If A forwards to B and B forwards back to A, the messages bounce instead of being delivered.

Forwarded mail lands in spam at the destination

• Add the original sender to the contacts of the destination account
• Mark a forwarded message as "not spam" there
• Make sure your domain's SPF, DKIM and DMARC records match the values in the domain's DNS Setup dialog under Email Domains. You can check them with the DNS Checker in Tools.

Good practice

• Test a new forwarder with one message before you publish the address
• Keep a note of which addresses forward where, and review them now and then
• Only forward to addresses you trust: a forwarded message carries its full content

Need help? Contact support through the live chat in the control panel. Support is available during business hours.