Email Forwarding explained
This article will explain what email forwarding is and how you can set it up through your 123 Reg Control Panel.
Simply select a question from the list below to find out more information:
What is email forwarding?
Email forwarding allows you to automatically direct messages to an alternative email address. For example, if you have a long or unremarkable personal address like ‘johnsmith-enterprises@hotmail.co.uk’, you could set up the forwarding address ‘contact@johnsmith-enterprises.co.uk’ (which you would share with customers and promote on your website) to deliver emails to your personal address.
For Generation 2 mailboxes, you will be able to create a maximum of 50 email forwarders in total per account. Each email forwarder can then forward to a maximum of 10 recipients.
Please note: you will need to set up at least one mailbox on a domain name in your account before you can set up forwarders for that specific domain. For example, if you set up a mailbox for ‘hello@example.com’ but not ‘hello@example.xyz’, you would only be able to create forwarders for the former domain.
For Generation 1 mailboxes, you will be able to create a maximum of 100 email forwarders if you only have domain names within your 123 Reg account. If, however, you have any additional products and services within your 123 Reg account, you will be able to create a maximum of 300 email forwarders in total. Each email forwarder can then forward to a maximum of 100 recipients, regardless of which products or services you have within your 123 Reg account.
What is the difference between an email forwarder and a mailbox?
An email forwarder can only be used to direct mail to an existing account. Additionally, you cannot send messages from a forwarding address.
With a mailbox however, you can send and receive emails. They also have built-in spam and anti-virus protection, plus you can easily set it up on third-party email clients such as Outlook, Apple Mail and Gmail. Alternatively, you can access your emails on-the-go from any device through Webmail.
If, however, you’ve purchased a Microsoft 365 package, you can store copies of forwarded messages within your forwarder’s inbox. That way, your messages can be viewed from both the forwarding address and the mailbox it will be passing messages on to.
Please note: with Generation 1 mailboxes, you cannot set up email forwarding on an email address if it’s attached to a mailbox. For example, if you have a mailbox called my.name@my-domain.co.uk, you cannot forward this to another email address (i.e. my.address@hotmail.com). To have an email address going to both a mailbox and an alternative email address, you would need to set up a “dummy” mailbox with a different address (i.e. 123my.name@mydomain.co.uk). You can then set up ‘my.name@mydomain.co.uk’ to forward to ‘123my.name@mydomain.co.uk’ and ‘my.address@hotmail.com’.
With Generation 2 mailboxes, you can enable auto forwarding, so that all messages sent to your email address are forwarded to another address. To do this, simply follow the instructions outlined in the following guide: Configuring your Webmail
How do I set up an email forwarder?
For Generation 2 mailboxes
Select the heading Forwards.
On the next page, click Add Forward.
Enter a forwarding address into the provided field. Make sure this is an original name because you won’t be able to create a forwarding address for existing mailboxes.
Next, enter the email address(es) you want to forward to into the provided field. Be sure to use commas to separate each one.
Once you’ve done this, click Save to continue.
You will now see your new email forwarding address on the Email Forwards page, along with the associated email addresses.
For Generation 1 mailboxes
From there, select Email within the ‘Manage active products’ section and then click Manage opposite Manage your email.
On the next page, select the Create option. From there, select Forward from the drop-down menu that appears.
Enter the email address prefix in the box provided and select your chosen domain from the provided drop-down box. Once done, enter the addresses you wish your emails to be forwarded to into the Forward to* field and then click Save & Exit.
Please note: To forward to more than one email address, enter all the addresses you wish to forward to into the Forward to Please ensure all the emails are separated with a comma, but without any spaces. For example:
one@example.com,two@example.com,three@example.com
How do I edit email forwarding?
For Generation 2 mailboxes
Select the heading Forwards.
On the next page, find the forwarding address you wish to edit and select the three-dot icon that appears opposite it. From there, click Edit from the menu that appears.
You’ll now be able to edit the email addresses associated with your forwarding address. Be sure to use commas to separate each one.
Once you’re finished, click Save to confirm your changes.
For Generation 1 mailboxes
From there, select Email within the ‘Manage active products’ section. Next, select Manage opposite Manage your email.
Select Options for the forwarder you wish to update, then click Forwarder Settings from the drop-down menu that appears.
This will take you to the settings for your email forwarder. From here, click Edit opposite Forward address.
Now you can enter your new email address(es) into the provided text box. Be sure to add a comma after each email address you enter to separate them.
From there, click Save to confirm your changes.
How do I delete an email forwarder?
For Generation 2 mailboxes
Select the heading Forwards.
On the next page, find the forwarding address you wish to edit and select the three-dot icon that appears opposite it. From there, click Delete from the menu that appears.
Next, you will need to confirm your decision by clicking Delete.
Your email forwarder will now be removed from the Forwards page.
For Generation 1 mailboxes
From there, select Email within the ‘Manage active products’ section and then click Manage opposite Manage your email.
Tick the box for the forwarding address that you wish to remove and then click Delete selected.
A pop-up window will now appear asking if you wish to confirm your decision. Simply click Save & Exit to confirm the deletion.
What is catch-all email forwarding and how do I set it up?
Catch-all email forwarding gives you the ability to forward all emails sent to your domain on to an email address of your choice.
Please note: from 19th May 2023, the creation of catch-all forwarders is no longer supported due to our ongoing Email Hosting migration. You can create a catch-all mailbox on your Generation 2 mailbox instead by following the steps outlined below:
From there, select Manage for the mailbox you want to enable catch-all forwarding for.
Scroll down the page and Edit within Account information.
Select the toggle below Catch-all to enable your account as the catch-all for your domain.
