Setting Up Email Forwarding
Email forwarders automatically redirect incoming messages from one email address to another. This is useful for consolidating email from multiple addresses into a single inbox or forwarding business email to a personal account.
Creating a Forwarder in DirectAdmin
- Log in to DirectAdmin.
- Navigate to Email Manager.
- Click on Forwarders (or Email Forwarders).
- Select the domain if you have multiple domains.
- Enter the email address you want to forward from (the local part, e.g.,
salesforsales@yourdomain.com). - Enter the destination email address you want to forward to (e.g.,
john@gmail.com). - Click Create or Add Forwarder.
Forwarding Options
When setting up a forwarder, you typically have these choices:
- Forward only - Messages are forwarded to the destination and not stored locally. The original email account does not need to exist.
- Forward and keep a copy - Messages are forwarded to the destination and also delivered to the local mailbox. This requires the email account to exist.
To forward and keep a copy, you must first create the email account, then set up the forwarder. DirectAdmin will offer the option to retain a local copy when the account exists.
Forwarding to Multiple Addresses
You can forward a single email address to multiple destinations. Simply create multiple forwarder entries for the same source address, each pointing to a different destination. For example:
info@yourdomain.comforwards tojohn@gmail.cominfo@yourdomain.comforwards tojane@outlook.com
Catch-All Forwarder
A catch-all forwarder captures email sent to any address at your domain that does not have a specific mailbox or forwarder. To set this up, use * as the source address. However, be cautious as catch-all addresses attract significant spam.
Forwarding email to external providers like Gmail or Outlook can sometimes cause delivery issues due to SPF and DKIM alignment. If forwarded emails are landing in spam, consider using the "forward and keep a copy" option and checking mail via webmail or IMAP instead.