Email Forwarding in CPanel
Introduction
Email forwarding ranks among cPanel’s most useful features. It automatically sends any message that arrives at one address on to another, so you never have to open several mailboxes. It is particularly valuable when you manage multiple addresses such as sales@ and support@ and want every message collected in a single place. Below we explain how to configure each forwarding type that is available.
What Is Forwarding Good For?
- Everything in one place: it saves time compared with checking numerous mailboxes.
- Continuity when staff change: redirect a former employee’s mail to their direct manager so no message is lost.
- Managing marketing campaigns: send temporary or campaign-specific addresses to your main inbox.
- A backup copy: forward a copy of your messages to another mailbox as a precaution.
Email Forwarding in CPanel
Types of Forwarding in cPanel
1. Single-Address Forwarding (Forwarder)
It redirects everything that reaches a specific address, such as info@yourdomain.com, to another address, whether internal or external, like Gmail.
2. Whole-Domain Forwarding (Domain Forwarder)
It redirects all incoming messages for any address on your domain, even ones that do not exist, to an entirely different domain or address.
Steps to Set Up a Forwarder
- Sign in to cPanel.
- In the Email section, open the Forwarders icon.
- Click Add Forwarder.
- Enter the address you want to forward in the Address to Forward field.
- Choose one of the following options:
- Forward to Email Address: enter the address that will receive the messages.
- Forward to a Failure Message: send an automatic rejection reply instead of forwarding.
- Discard: drop the messages permanently with no reply.
- Pipe to a Program: advanced forwarding through a custom script.
Then click Add Forwarder to confirm.
Setting Up a Domain Forwarder
- From the same Email section, select Domain Forwarders.
- Click Create a New Domain Forwarder.
- Specify the source domain and the destination domain.
- Save your settings, and all mail for the source domain will be redirected automatically.
Tips When Using Forwarding
- Avoid creating a forwarding loop between two accounts that each forward to the other, as that stops message delivery altogether.
- You can keep a copy in the original mailbox by adding custom Filters.
- Check the original mailbox now and then to make sure forwarding is working as it should.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You can create several Forwarders for the same source address, and a copy of every message will reach all the addresses you specify.
No. By default, forwarding only moves the message. If you want to keep a copy, use Filter rules.
Yes, you can forward to any email address regardless of its provider.
The first redirects just one address, while the second redirects every address on the domain in a single step.
The cause may be a full destination mailbox, the message being marked as spam by the receiving server, or an unintended forwarding loop.
