Forwarders, aliases, catch-all and auto-replies

You do not need a separate mailbox for every address you publish. A forwarder passes mail on, an alias delivers it into a mailbox you already have, and an auto-reply answers while you are away. All of these are set in your control panel: choose Mailboxes, then click your domain.

Forwarders and lists

A forwarder sends mail for one address to one or more other addresses. Give it several addresses and it works as a simple distribution list.

1. Open the Forwarders tab.
2. In the Add a forwarder card, type the Address, for example sales.
3. In Sends to, type where it should go. Separate several addresses with commas. To deliver into one of your own mailboxes, pick it under Deliver to a mailbox here.
4. Click Add forwarder.

A new forwarder can send to up to 16 addresses. To change who receives it, click Edit beside it, put one address per line under Who receives it, and click Save membership. Removing a line is how somebody stops receiving it.

Good to know: Tick Only these people may write to it for a team list. Without it, anyone on the internet can write to the whole group at once.

Delete beside a forwarder stops it passing mail on. Mail already delivered is not touched.

Aliases: more addresses for one mailbox

An alias delivers into a mailbox itself: same inbox, same password, same storage. Use it when one person reads mail for several names.

1. On the Mailboxes tab, click Manage beside the mailbox.
2. Under Other addresses that arrive here, type the extra names, separated by commas, for example sales, info.
3. Click Save addresses.

Under Who else may send as, you can also name other mailboxes on the domain that may send with this address in the From line. It gives them no access to this mailbox's mail.

Catch-all: mail for addresses that do not exist

By default, mail to an address that has no mailbox, alias or forwarder is refused.

1. Open the Forwarders tab and find the Unknown addresses card.
2. Tick Deliver mail sent to addresses that do not exist.
3. In Deliver it to, type a mailbox name on this domain, or a full address elsewhere.
4. Click Save.

Real addresses always win, so nothing you have already set up changes.

Good to know: Leaving the catch-all off is the safer choice. A catch-all accepts every misspelling and every guessed address, so it fills one inbox with junk and tells spammers that any address at your domain works.

Auto-replies

1. On the Mailboxes tab, open the menu beside the mailbox's Manage button and choose Auto-reply.
2. Tick Reply automatically to mail arriving here.
3. Write a Subject and the Reply.
4. Click Save auto-reply.

The Auto-reply column in the mailbox list shows on while it is active. Each sender gets at most one reply a day, and mail the spam filter marks as spam is never answered. Untick the box and save again when you are back.

Related

• Create a mailbox and set up your mail apps
• Spam filtering and mail rules
• Make sure your email arrives