There are times when you need emails sent to one address to automatically arrive at another. Maybe you are transitioning to a new email account, covering for a colleague, or you want a copy of your work emails sent to a personal inbox as a backup. Outlook makes this straightforward to set up.
Forwarding from Outlook on the web
This is the easiest method and works regardless of which device you use.
Go to outlook.cloud.microsoft and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account. Click the gear icon in the top right corner to open Settings. Click Mail, then Forwarding.
Tick the box that says Enable forwarding. Enter the email address you want to forward your emails to. If you want to keep a copy of forwarded emails in your current mailbox, make sure the box that says Keep a copy of forwarded messages is ticked. Click Save.
From this point on, every email that arrives in your inbox will be automatically sent to the address you specified.
Forwarding a single email
If you do not want automatic forwarding but just need to send a specific email to someone else, open the email and click Forward in the toolbar, or press Ctrl + F. Type the recipient's address, add a note if you need to, and click Send.
If you want to forward the email with the original attachments included, make sure they are still attached in the forwarding window. Outlook includes them by default, but it is worth checking before you send.
Forwarding from the Outlook desktop app
You can also set up automatic forwarding using rules in the Outlook desktop app, though it is slightly more involved.
Open Outlook and go to File, then Manage Rules and Alerts. Click New Rule. Under Start from a blank rule, select Apply rule on messages I receive and click Next. Click Next again without selecting any conditions, which means the rule will apply to all incoming messages. Outlook will warn you that this applies to every message. Click Yes.
In the actions list, tick Forward it to people or public group. Click the underlined text at the bottom to add the email address you want to forward to. Click Next, then Next again, give the rule a name and click Finish.
Important things to know
Your IT administrator may have policies in place that restrict automatic forwarding to external addresses. This is a common security measure to prevent data from being sent outside the organisation. If forwarding does not work, it is likely blocked at the admin level for good reason.
Be careful about forwarding business emails to personal accounts. Sensitive client information, financial details and internal communications should generally stay within your business email system. If you need remote access to your email, using the Outlook mobile app is a more secure alternative to forwarding.
Forwarding rules stay active until you turn them off. If you set one up temporarily, remember to go back and disable it when you no longer need it. Forgotten forwarding rules are a surprisingly common security issue.
When to get help
If you need to set up forwarding for a team member who has left the business, if you want to forward emails to a shared mailbox, or if forwarding is not working and you suspect it has been blocked, your IT provider can sort this out at the admin level. Recloud manages Microsoft 365 email for businesses across Cape Town and can configure forwarding, shared mailboxes and mail flow rules to suit your setup.