How to set up a forwarding email account

If you work with multiple email addresses, perhaps using different accounts for different businesses or clients, you may find it convenient to automatically forward email received by those addresses to your main account. You can do so by configuring email Forwarders in My cPanel.

An email forwarder sends a copy of any incoming email from one address to another. For example, dave@example.com to david@example.com, so that you only have one inbox to check.

Email forwarders offer a number of benefits. You can set up a generic company email address, such as info@mybusiness.com for inquiries and have those inquiries routed through to the relevant person in your organisation.

If you prefer to use the Gmail web client on the road rather than Outlook or another email application, you can forward your email to a Gmail address, such as mybusiness@gmail.com.

They’re also useful for catching misspelled names. For example, an email incorrectly sent to jacky@mybusiness.com rather than jackie@mybusiness.com can be automatically forwarded to the correct address.

Another advantage is the ability to forward email to multiple recipients. An email sent to sales@mybusiness.com can be automatically forwarded to all members of the sales team, ensuring no lead is missed.

While email forwarding can be convenient, you should be careful when responding to forwarded email messages. If you’ve forwarded email to another domain, for example, a Gmail address, email replies sent from Gmail will have that Gmail address (mybusiness@gmail.com) on the reply, which can look unprofessional. Wherever possible, use your company email address (dave@mybusiness.com) to respond to email.

Setting up an email forwarder

In this example, we’ll set up a new generic email account info@terrytestsite.com that will be configured to forward email automatically to an individual email account brad@terrytestsite.com.

To get started, head to My cPanel in the HostPapa Dashboard.

HostPapa Dashboard

Scroll down to the Email section and select Forwarders.

cPanel Email Section

On the Create an Email Account Forwarder page, click Add Forwarder.

Create a Forwarder

Now enter the name and select a domain for the forwarding email address. In this example, to create an info@terrytestsite.com address, enter info in Address to Forward and select the relevant Domain from the dropdown menu.

Select a domain

Under Destination, ensure the radio button next to Forward to Email Address is checked and then enter the email address to which you would like to forward email sent to the generic address.

To discard the message and send an error to the sender, click Discard with error to sender (at SMTP time). You can also optionally set the text for the error message that the sender receives.

Click Add Forwarder to set up the new forwarding address. You should see a message confirming the instruction.

Confirmed instruction

Forwarding email to multiple recipients

If you wish to forward email to multiple recipients, you will need to set up multiple forwarders. Repeat the instructions above for each recipient.

Deleting or changing email forwarders

Once a forwarder has been configured, it will be listed under Email Account Forwarders.

Email Account Forwarders

Note that forwarders cannot be edited once set up. If you wish to make a change to a forwarder, click Delete to remove the forwarder and then set up a new one with the amended details.

Setting up a domain forwarder

In addition to forwarding individual mail accounts, you can forward all email from one domain to another. A domain forwarder sends copies of all of a domain’s incoming email to another domain, but only when the system cannot deliver it to an address.

For example, if a user sends an email to the dave@mybusiness.com address, the following actions might take place:

If a dave@mybusiness.com address exists, cPanel will not forward the email.

If a dave@mybusiness.com address does not exist, cPanel will forward the email.

Click the Add Domain Forwarder button to get started.

Add domain forwarder

In Add a New Domain Forwarder, use the Domain dropdown menu to select the domain. In the adjacent box, enter the domain to which you wish to forward your email (e.g. example.com).

Click the Add Domain Forwarder button to complete configuration. You should see a message confirming your instruction.

Domain forwarding complete

Deleting a domain forwarder

Once a domain forwarder has been set up, it will be listed under Forward All Email for a Domain.

Domain forwarding settings

Use the Delete button adjacent to a forwarder to remove it.

Delete domain forwarder

You will be asked to confirm your request. Click Delete Domain Forwarder to continue.

If you notice any problems or if you need any help, please open a new support ticket from your HostPapa Dashboard. More details on how to open a support ticket can be found here.

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