How to Forward Email to Another Address
In cPanel, click Email, click Manage next to the address, open the Forwarders tab, click Add Forwarder, enter the destination and click Add Forwarder. Spam is forwarded too, so for Gmail or Outlook.com, adding the mailbox to that app is often more reliable.
Applies to: cPanel Blue Arctic Shared Web Hosting email (cPanel). Managed WordPress Hosting doesn't include email.
On this page
A forwarder passes every message for one address on to another address. Use it, for example, to send mail for sales@yourdomain.com to a colleague.
Note
These steps are for Blue Arctic Shared Web Hosting mailboxes, which use cPanel. Managed WordPress Hosting doesn’t include email. On a VPS, open a support ticket if you’re not sure how your email is set up.
Warning
Every message is forwarded, including spam. Forwarded spam can hurt our mail servers’ reputation, and our Acceptable Use Policy doesn’t allow mail forwarders that pass spam along. If an address gets a lot of spam, or you just want to read it in Gmail or Outlook, add the mailbox to that app instead (see below).
Forward one address
- Log in to cPanel. If you can’t log in, open a support ticket.
- In the cPanel sidebar, click Email.
- Find the address in the list, and click Manage in its row.
- Open the Forwarders tab.
- Click Add Forwarder.
- In Forward To, type the destination address.
- Click Add Forwarder.
The address needs a mailbox first. If it isn’t in the list, see how to create an email account.
If you see a Forwarders icon instead, click it, then click Add Forwarder. Type the part before the @ in Address to forward, choose the Domain, select Forward to Email Address, type the destination, and click Add Forwarder. Or type the tool’s name in cPanel’s search box (Ctrl+K or Cmd+K). If you can’t find it, open a support ticket.
Note
The mailbox may also keep its own copy of each message, so check its storage now and then. See how to fix a full mailbox.
Forward a whole domain
A domain forwarder catches mail sent to addresses that don’t exist at one domain, and sends it to the same name at another domain. For example, if old-name.com has no mailbox or autoresponder called anything, mail to anything@old-name.com goes to anything@new-name.com. Addresses that have their own mailbox keep their mail. To forward those too, add a forwarder for each one.
Warning
A domain forwarder also catches mistyped and made-up addresses, so it can pass along a lot of spam.
If your cPanel has Add Domain Forwarder (search for Forwarders), click it, choose the domain to forward from, type the destination domain, and click Add Domain Forwarder. If it doesn’t, open a support ticket and tell us both domains.
Stop forwarding
Warning
Once you delete a forwarder, mail is no longer passed on to that address.
- In cPanel, click Email, then click Manage in the address’s row.
- Open the Forwarders tab.
- Click Delete next to the forwarder.
You can’t edit a forwarder. To change where it sends mail, delete it and add a new one. (With a Forwarders icon: click Delete, then Delete Forwarder or Delete Domain Forwarder.)
Forwarding to Gmail, Outlook.com or Yahoo
Large providers may delay or reject forwarded mail when a lot of it looks like spam. Forwarded messages can also fail SPF checks (SPF is the record that lists which servers may send for a domain), because they arrive from a different server than the original sender’s.
A more reliable option is to add your mailbox to the other app as an IMAP account. The Gmail app, for example, can read other mailboxes directly; see how to set up email on Android. Your mail then stays in your Blue Arctic mailbox and nothing is forwarded.
How to tell it worked
Send a test message to the forwarded address from a third address: not the forwarded address, and not the destination. It should arrive at the destination within a few minutes. Check the spam folder there too.
Troubleshooting
- Forwarded mail doesn’t arrive: check the destination’s spam folder. If your cPanel has Track Delivery (search for it), check whether the destination rejected the message. If it doesn’t, open a support ticket with the forwarded address, the destination and the time of your test.
- cPanel shows an error when you add the forwarder: check the Forwarders tab. There may already be a forwarder to that destination. If not, open a support ticket with the exact error text.
- Mail goes somewhere unexpected: check the address’s Forwarders and Filters tabs for an old forwarder, or a filter that forwards mail, and delete the one you don’t want.
Still need help?
Open a support ticket from the Client Portal at my.bluearctic.com (see our support page). Include your domain, the forwarded address, the destination address, any bounce message text, a screenshot, and what you already tried. Never include a password.