Chances are, you know the importance of forwarding if you‘ve had to send a receipt to an accountant, hand a work thread off to a coworker, or simply send a message out of your phone and onto your computer. Gmail makes it easy as soon as you figure out where the buttons actually are and there‘s more control here than most people think.
I’ve been happily forwarding stuff with Gmail for a lot of years, both for my admin and for working out workflow-on-actual-client-accounts and the most important thing I’ve come to realize is that there’s a lot more to forwarding than the simple “Forward” link everyone uses. Filters, automatic rules, attachment-like forwarding they solve all different problems, and the following will take you through each of them.
Table of Contents
What Does Email Forwarding Mean in Gmail?
Forwarding simply refers totaking a message previously received and sending a copy of the message, which may or may not be altered, to a different destination. Simply put, forwarding is another copy of the email leaving your inbox and going to someone else‘s or one of your other accounts.
Gmail gives you three ways to do this:
- Manual forwarding you open a message and forward it yourself forward a message individually.
- Automatic forwarding Gmail will automatically pass on any new messages that show up in your inbox.
- Filter-based forwarding – Gmail only moves those messages that it recognizes as meeting certain criteria such as one from a specific sender or a subject line.
They all have different application. Manual forwarding is used if you just want to pass along an occasional message. Automatic forwarding is really for those times that you‘re checking a second mailbox, and want everything going to one place. Filters are for more narrow, frequent tasks like when you want every message from a particular account to go directly to your Accounting inbox.
How to Forward an Email in Gmail on Desktop
Most people want to know about this version, so I‘ll begin with this.
- Open Gmail in your browser and select the message you‘d like to forward.
- Observe the upper right corner of a message and clicking on the three dots menu just left to the Reply and Reply All options.
- Select Forward.
- Enter recipient‘s address, add a brief message if you desire and then click ‘Send’
That‘s all there is to it. (Gmail also, by default, keeps the original body of the message below your note, so the recipient sees the whole thread and not just your summary.)
A minor point I picked up upon testing – if the message has more than one reply in the thread, Gmail forwards the whole visible thread unless you clear it of prior messages first. Useful to test before sending, if any of those hairsheets in the earlier replies are not suitable.
How to Forward an Email in Gmail on Android
The mobile app shortcuts a couple of steps but functions exactly the same behind the scenes.
- Open the Gmail application and select the message.
- Click on the three-dot menu icon in the upper-right corner.
- Tap Forward.
- Fill in the recipient and the s end arrow.
On Android, the forward button is occasionally hidden inside a function menu of varying height, depending on the version of Gmail you have for your android phone, in which case you should tap the reply arrow icons down near the bottom of the message – look for a tiny arrow dropdown.
How to Forward an Email in Gmail on iPhone
Same logic, iOS layout.
- Open the message using the Gmail application.
- Press those three dots on the top
- Tap Forward.
- Add the email of the receiver and send it.
If you are using the Apple Mail application rather than the Gmail application to access a Gmail account, the forward sign is the right arrow, usually at the bottom of the screen. Same function, different look.
How to Forward Multiple Emails in Gmail
If you need to send a bunch of messages, 1:00 every message will eventually get on your nerves. There‘s an easier way to do it.
- Select the checkbox next to the messages you want to forward in the inbox.
- Click the more (three dots) menu at the top of the inbox.
- Select Forward as attachment.
- Gmail will then collect the click-selected messages and attach each one into a .eml file to a new email.
- Add the receiver and send.
It‘s not exactly the same as forward individually but instead each one ends up with attachments to double click. This is very useful for archiving or handing over a collection of related email messages, but isn‘t perfect for someone who might want to quickly browse through.
How to Forward an Email as an Attachment in Gmail
This is worth mentioning on its own because it plays radically different from a normal forward, and people tend to confuse the two.
When you respond as attachment, the original mail (headers, formatting etc.) is attached to the new message as a file instead of being inserted into the body of the reply. This comes into play in a few scenarios:
- You would like to keep every part of the email as it was sent, right down to the headers, in case they are needed to troubleshoot or prove sending.
- You are sending something something sensitive and would prefer the recipient to have a difficult time copying and pasting it outside of the message body.
- You‘re delivering it to an administrator that requires the raw file. For example, an IT department putting together a report investigating a phishing email.
For a single email, right click on an email in your inbox (without opening it), then choose Forward as attachment from the drop down menu. It is the same for a single message.
How to Automatically Forward Emails in Gmail
Automatic forwarding I set it up, and the system will send a copy of each new message it receives at other address from that point on without anything else from me. Great if you‘re going to have two different mailboxes or you want a second, backup copy.
Before you dive in: automatic forwarding forwards everything from the source account, except those Gmail filters that notify Gmail to mark a message as spam. To be selective about which messages you forward, find the relevant instructions to the end of this page to do so with filters which is the safer, more elegant way to do it.
How to Set Up Automatic Email Forwarding in Gmail
- Open Gmail on your desktop (this option does not appear in the app)
- Click the gear icon, then See all settings.
- Select the tab Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
- Click Add a forwarding address.
- Enter to in the destinataire mail. Cliquer sur Next puis Proceed (suivant) puis OK.
- Gmail will then send a verification to that address open it and click the confirmation link (or copy the code back into Gmail).
- In the Gmail settings, click Forward a copy of incoming mail to and specify the address.
- NS decides what should be done to the original. We‘ll keep it in your inbox, whatever it‘s already read, export it to your archive folder or delete it altogether.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and hit Save Changes.
In my experience, which spans a handful of accounts, it‘s that leaving the original in your inbox is just about always the better choice. Say there‘s a problem with the forwarding an error in the destination address, a missed message, whatever you still have the original sitting where you can find it, rather than trying to reassemble it from the trails.
How to Stop Automatic Email Forwarding in Gmail
Turning it off takes about ten seconds:
- Open Settings → See all Settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
- Click on Disable forwarding.
- Klick‘n Save Changes.
If you‘re doing this out of concern that someone with access to your account set up forwarding without your knowledge, don‘t just check the Forwarding tab – also check the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab. Since it takes less work to set up a filter than to change the main forwarding options, an intruder who gains access to an account may set up the forwarding as part of a filter. If you find a rule that says something like “Forward it, Skip the Inbox, and then Delete it,” get rid of the rule and change your password!
How to Forward Only Specific Emails in Gmail
This is the one I‘d suggest for most people rather than automatic forwarding across the board, since it‘s much more specific.
- In the search bar of Gmail, click on the search-options icon (represented by the sliders icon).
- Decide on your criteria – sender, subject line, keywords, attachment type. For example:
from:billing@vendor.comandhas:attachment. - Click Create filter.
- Check Forward it to and choose the address that you have verified as the forward-to.
- Click Create a new filter again to be sure.
An example: if all your invoices from a particular vendor are to be sent to your book-keeper, simply filter by that address to the sender, plus ‘invoice’ in the subject line, and everything remaining in your inbox is left unaffected.
How to Forward Emails to Multiple Recipients
You can‘t directly set up multiple recipients for one auto-forwarding rule in Gmail: for each auto-forwarded recipient you‘ll have to create a separate filter. For instance, to auto-forward a message to three people, you‘ll need to generate three filters with different verified to addresses, but with the same filter criteria.
However for a one time manual forward it‘s a little bit easier when you click Forward enter the email addresses in the To field separated by commas just like you would for a normal new email.
How to Forward an Email Without Showing the Original Recipient
If you want to send a copy along without the list of recipients being visible to the nre who is receiving a forwarded message, edit the message body before you send. When you choose Forward, you‘ll often see the recipients’ names in the quoted message. Cut and paste the first line in the editor box before you send.
There isn‘t an inherent “hide recipients” switch for a manual fwd, so you have to do it by eyeballing the message body. It‘s a minor step that‘s easy to overlook, and I‘ve had it happen more than once with fast-forwarding.
How to Edit an Email Before Forwarding It
Click Forward, then click into the quoted message body. Gmail allows you to make edits or delete text right there before pressing send remove extraneous, redundant responses, prune sensitive attachments, or eliminate a signature field altogether.
This is more important than it seems. Forwarded threads usually include quoted replies, phone numbers, sometimes even tracking pixels or sensitive attachments a few levels down. Spending a few seconds to scroll before hitting ‘Send’ can filter a lot out.
Why Can’t I Forward Emails in Gmail?
A few common culprits:
- You‘re browsing the Gmail mobile app and want something that only works from the desktop (like the automatic forwarding setup)
- With your Chrome account your Google Workspace administrator has defaulted to turning on forwarding organization-wide.
- The destination address has not been validated.
- You are in a collection ring, but there is a routing policy established by your organization and cannot be overridden.
- Gmail. The setting has moved to another tab (something to do with the layout).
If it‘s a personal Gmail account and you aren‘t seeing the forwarding option at all, try opening Gmail in your browser rather than as an app some of the forwarding controls aren‘t implemented in the mobile version.
Gmail Email Forwarding Not Working: How to Fix It
If forwarding isn‘t behaving as expected, work through this list:
- Makesure the destination mailbox isnot full. A full inbox will cause forwarded mail to bounce silently.
- Makesure the forwarding address is verified. Addresses other than the verified address are not delivered to.
- Doublecheck your filters for any conflicts. Having several filters applying to the same message can produce unintended results.
- Findoutwhether the message isbeingmarked as spam. Gmail does not automatically forward spam.
- Test out the rule with a safe message first. Don‘t depend on forwarding for anything vital (invoices, alerts) until you send a test message through it and see that it ends up where you want it to.
In some cases, forwarding may even impact delivery at the destination mailbox. As the message now appears to originate from the new server instead of the existing source, certain destination mailboxes may mark the message as spam. If you experience delivery irregularities, check the way the originating domain uses SPF and DKIM, as they would account for it again, more for domain owners than the average Gmail user, but something to be aware of if you administer forwarding for a small business.
Another common grievance encountered on the issue of browser andmail settings are mysterious connection errors which appear without any provocation. While you are viewing settings if Gmail (or any other website) throws a certificate warning, our This Site Can‘t Provide a Secure Connection Fix guide explains the typical reasons and how to resolve.
Frequently Asked Questions About Gmail Email Forwarding
And does Gmail automatically forward thespam?
No. gmail by default blocks any processing of spam onto its servers, both for manual and automatic forwarding.
Can I only forward certain sender‘s emails?
Yes. Set up a filter with that sender‘s address, then select Forward it to as the action.
Can Gmail beauto-forwarded to anumber of addresses?
Yes, but Gmail asks for a new filter for every address one set of rules for each forwarding address and then each verified separately.
Is the original email deleted when you forward?
If you prefer. Gmail gives you the chance to retain or archive the original, but if you‘re uncertain, retaining a copy is probably the better option.
Is the sender ableto tell that I have sent on their e-mail?
Can usually not be forwarded automatically, however the message still get forwarded as the original message content, header, and attachments will also get sent so worth a quick review first.
How come Gmail sent me a verification email toforward?
Verification Prevents another person from simply placing a forwarding order for an address you do not control. Always Donot approve any verification requests without the person making the request.
Is it possible to forward an entire previouschat, rather than a single message?
Yes – open up the thread and forward, or select multiple messages and forward as attachment. First see the thread as some older replies can contain personal details that might not be appropriate.
Security assessment for auto forwarding on iwa7 is it safe to use for your work e-mail?
The policy of your organization will define it. Many Google Workspace administrators just limit or watch for off domain forwarding because it is a typical method used by compromised accounts to exfiltrate data.
Final Thoughts on Forwarding Emails in Gmail
Having played with all permutations of this: manual, automatic, filtered and at attachment level, my conclusion is fairly straightforward: the manual forwarded mail filter is enough for almost everyone and the filters will cover the remaining ground. Auto-forwarding your whole inbox only really makes sense if you are trying to synchronize multiple accounts and in that case I think it‘s worth keeping a copy in your original account to justify the inbox clutter.
Skip blanket forwarding completely if you are running a business inbox or anything remotely sensitive, and creating a narrow filter instead. This is a five minute job that will save you a ton of cleaning up later.
If you‘d like to dig deeper on Google‘s current forwarding rules and limits, Google‘s support articles on automatic forwarding and forwarding best practices are well maintained as Gmail‘s interface evolves.
Read:
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Passionate content writer with 4 years of experience specializing in entertainment, gadgets, gaming, and technology. I thrive on crafting engaging narratives that captivate audiences and drive results. With a keen eye for trends and a knack for storytelling, I bring fresh perspectives to every project. From reviews and features to SEO-optimized articles, I deliver high-quality content that resonates with diverse audiences.
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