Email forwarders let you redirect incoming emails from one address to another automatically. This is useful when you want to consolidate multiple email accounts or redirect messages to a different inbox. In cPanel's Forwarders interface, you can configure email addresses to forward messages, discard them, or pipe them to a program.
What Are Email Forwarders?
Email forwarders are rules that automatically redirect incoming mail from one email address to another destination. When someone sends an email to the forwarding address, the message is immediately sent to the destination address you specify.
To manage forwarders for a specific domain on your OBHost account, select the desired domain from the Managing menu in cPanel.
Important: Forwarders Don't Store Email
Forwarders do not store emails on the server. If you want to create a forwarding address that also retains a copy of inbound email, you need to take a different approach:
- Create an email account using cPanel's Email Accounts interface (cPanel >> Home >> Email >> Email Accounts).
- Create an email filter using cPanel's Email Filters interface (cPanel >> Home >> Email >> Email Filters) with these two actions:
- Configure the Redirect to email action to send to the desired destination address.
- Configure the Deliver to folder action to deliver to the INBOX folder.
Note: To manage forwarders for email accounts that use the BoxTrapper feature (cPanel >> Home >> Email >> BoxTrapper), use the BoxTrapper Forward List feature instead.
Managing Email Account Forwarders
The Email Account Forwarders table shows all email addresses that use a forwarder to redirect email to another address or service. You can easily manage existing forwarders from this interface.
- To quickly find a specific email address, enter a keyword in the Search text box and click Go.
- To view the route that a forwarded email takes, click Trace in the Functions column next to that email address.
Important: If the server uses a third-party mail service, the trace feature may return invalid results. If you experience issues when using this feature, contact OBHost support at support@obhost.org for information about your server's configuration.
- To delete a forwarder, click Delete next to that email address, then click Delete Forwarder to confirm.
- To change a forwarder, click Delete next to that email address and confirm. Then create a new forwarder with the updated settings (see instructions below).
Key Points About Forwarders and Email Accounts
- If a forwarder shares an address with an email account, both will receive mail.
- To stop receiving email at the account, delete it. Then only the forwarder will receive email.
- You cannot modify an existing email forwarder. To change the forwarding behavior for an address, you must delete the existing forwarder and create a new one.
How to Add a New Email Forwarder
To create a new mail forwarder in cPanel, follow these steps:
- Click Add Forwarder.
- In the Address to Forward field, enter the email address from which you want to forward mail. If you manage more than one domain, select the appropriate domain from the dropdown menu.
- Choose one of the following forwarding options:
- Forward to email address: Enter the destination email address in the text box.
- Discard and send an error to the sender: Select this option to automatically reject and return the message to the sender with a failure notice.
- Advanced Options: Click to reveal additional forwarding methods, including piping to a program or discarding the message.
- Click Add Forwarder to save your settings.
Your forwarder will become active immediately and begin redirecting emails according to your configuration.
Domain Forwarders (Forward All)
The Domain Forwarders section allows you to forward all emails for a domain that do not have a specific email account or forwarder set up. This is useful as a catch-all solution.
To set up a domain forwarder, select your domain and specify where you want unmatched emails to be forwarded. This ensures that no legitimate emails are lost even if they are sent to addresses that don't exist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I forward one email address to multiple destinations?
Yes, you can forward a single email address to multiple destinations. When adding a forwarder, simply enter multiple destination email addresses separated by commas, or add the forwarder multiple times with different destinations.
Will the original sender know their email was forwarded?
No, email forwarding happens transparently. The original sender will not receive any notification that their message was forwarded to another address. From their perspective, the email was delivered normally to the address they sent it to.
Why should I use email filters instead of forwarders if I want to keep a copy?
Email forwarders simply redirect messages without storing them on your server. If you want both a copy in your inbox and forwarding to another address, email filters give you this flexibility by allowing multiple actions (deliver to inbox and redirect) on the same incoming message.
How do I stop forwarding emails from an address?
To stop forwarding, simply delete the forwarder from the Email Account Forwarders table. Click Delete next to the forwarding address and confirm the deletion. The email address will no longer forward messages, and if no email account exists with that address, incoming mail will bounce.
If you need help setting up or managing email forwarders on your OBHost account, our support team is available 24/7. Visit our contact page or email us at support@obhost.org for assistance.
