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Automatically forward messages to another e-mail account

Applies to: Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

 
Applies to
Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003

By using a rule (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.) that you create, Outlook can examine each message that you receive for certain characteristics and then automatically forward or redirect any message that matches the characteristics to another e-mail account (e-mail account: The server name, user name, password, and e-mail address used by Outlook to connect to an e-mail service. You create the e-mail account in Outlook by using information provided by your administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).). This account can represent a person or distribution list (DL).

The differences — and similarities — between automatically forwarding and redirecting an incoming message are as follows:

  • Message forwarding    When a rule automatically forwards a message you receive, it leaves a copy of the message in your Inbox or in the folder to which the message was originally delivered. The rule then adds the designation "FW:" to the beginning of the Subject line, changes the message formatting, and then forwards the message to the account specified by the rule. The recipient represented by the account also sees that the message came from you.
  • Message redirection    When a rule automatically redirects a message you receive, it also leaves a copy in your Inbox or in the folder to which the message was originally delivered. The rule then sends the message, unchanged, to the account specified by the rule. To the recipient, the message appears as though it came directly from the original sender. There is no indication that the message was delivered by way of your account.

There are many reasons why redirection might be preferable to forwarding or vice versa. Suppose that Pia, a sales representative for Contoso Pharmaceuticals, is transferring several accounts to Jonas, a colleague who manages accounts in an adjacent sales district. Instead of informing each client affected by the transfer, Pia creates a rule that redirects all messages from those clients to Jonas. Without the slightest miscommunication, Jonas smoothly picks up where Pia left off and continues to develop the business relationships with her former clients.

ShowManually forward a message to another e-mail account

Use this method to forward a message to one or more people or to a distribution list.

  1. Select the message that you want to forward.
  2. If you want to forward two or more messages, select the first message, hold down CTRL, and then select each additional message.

Multiple messages are forwarded as attachments in a new message.

  1. Click Forward.
  2. Enter recipient names in the To, Cc, and Bcc boxes (To, Cc, and Bcc boxes: A message is sent to the recipients in the To box. Recipients in the Cc (carbon copy) and Bcc (blind carbon copy) boxes also get the message; however, the names of the recipients in the Bcc box aren't visible to other recipients.).

How do I show the Bcc box?

 Tip   To select recipient names from an address list, click the To, Cc, or Bcc button.

  1. If you are forwarding multiple messages, type a subject in the Subject box of the message that includes the attached messages.
  2. Click Send.

ShowAutomatically forward incoming messages to another e-mail account

Use this method to keep a copy of each message that is forwarded by the rule.

 Note   The following steps explain how to create and apply a rule (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.) to your Inbox or one of your private folders. To create a rule for a public folder, you must do so from the folder's Properties dialog box.

  1. In Mail, in the Navigation Pane (Navigation Pane: The column on the left side of the Outlook window that includes panes such as Shortcuts or Mail and the shortcuts or folders within each pane. Click a folder to show the items in the folder.), on the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
  2. If you have more than one e-mail account (e-mail account: The server name, user name, password, and e-mail address used by Outlook to connect to an e-mail service. You create the e-mail account in Outlook by using information provided by your administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).) in your Outlook e-mail profile (Outlook e-mail profile: A profile is what Outlook uses to remember the e-mail accounts and the settings that tell Outlook where your e-mail is stored.), in the Apply changes to this folder list, click the Inbox to which you want the rule to apply.
  3. Click New Rule.
  4. Click Start from a blank rule.
  5. Under Step 1: Select when messages should be checked, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.
  6. Under Step 1: Select condition(s), select the check box next to each condition that you want the incoming message to match.
  7. Under Step 2: Edit the rule description, click the underlined value that corresponds to the condition, and then select or type the necessary information.

ShowExample: Forward every message you receive from Katarina Larsson

  1. Under Step 1: Select condition(s), select the from people or distribution list check box.
  2. Under Step 2: Edit the rule description, click people or distribution list.
  3. In one of the address lists, double-click Katarina's name, and then click OK.
  1. Click Next.
  2. Under Step 1: Select action(s), select the forward it to people or distribution list check box.
  3. Under Step 2: Edit the rule description, click people or distribution list.
  4. In one of the address lists, double-click the name or distribution list to which you want to forward the messages, and then click OK.
  5. Click Next twice.
  6. Under Step 1: Specify a name for this rule, type a name.

To run this rule on the messages that are already in your folders, select the Run this rule now on messages already in "folder" check box.

To apply this rule to all your e-mail accounts and Inboxes, select the Create this rule on all accounts check box.

  1. Click Finish.

ShowAutomatically redirect incoming messages to another e-mail account

Use this method if you don't want recipients of the redirected messages to know that they were delivered by way of your Inbox.

 Note   The following steps explain how to create and apply a rule (rule: One or more automatic actions taken on e-mail messages and meeting requests that meet certain conditions, along with any exceptions to those conditions. Rules are also referred to as filters.) to your Inbox or one of your private folders. To create a rule for a public folder, you must do so from the folder's Properties dialog box.

  1. In Mail, in the Navigation Pane (Navigation Pane: The column on the left side of the Outlook window that includes panes such as Shortcuts or Mail and the shortcuts or folders within each pane. Click a folder to show the items in the folder.), on the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.
  2. If you have more than one e-mail account (e-mail account: The server name, user name, password, and e-mail address used by Outlook to connect to an e-mail service. You create the e-mail account in Outlook by using information provided by your administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).) in your Outlook e-mail profile (Outlook e-mail profile: A profile is what Outlook uses to remember the e-mail accounts and the settings that tell Outlook where your e-mail is stored.), in the Apply changes to this folder list, click the Inbox to which you want the rule to apply.
  3. Click New Rule.
  4. Click Start from a blank rule, and then click Next.
  5. Under Step 1: Select when messages should be checked, click Check messages when they arrive, and then click Next.
  6. Under Step 1: Select condition(s), select the check box next to each condition that you want the incoming message to match.
  7. Under Step 2: Edit the rule description, click the underlined value that corresponds to the condition, and then select or type the necessary information.

ShowExample: Redirect each incoming message whose subject contains the words "Contoso Pharmaceuticals"

  1. Under Step 1: Select condition(s), select the with specific words in the subject check box.
  2. Under Step 2: Edit the rule description, click specific words.
  3. In the Search Text dialog box, type Contoso Pharmaceuticals in the Specify words box, click Add, and then click OK.
  1. Click Next.
  2. Under Step 1: Select action(s), select the redirect it to people or distribution list check box.
  3. Under Step 2: Edit the rule description, click people or distribution list.
  4. In one of the address lists, double-click the name or distribution list to which you want to redirect the messages, and then click OK.
  5. Click Next twice.
  6. Under Step 1: Specify a name for this rule, type a name.

To run this rule on the messages that are already in your folders, select the Run this rule now on messages already in "folder" check box.

To apply this rule to all your e-mail accounts and Inboxes, select the Create this rule on all accounts check box.

  1. Click Finish.

Don't automatically forward or redirect messages you receive to an e-mail address that is outside your organization. After the messages leave the protection of your corporate network, they can be diverted or intercepted by unintended recipients. In fact, many organizations regard the automatic forwarding of messages to an external address a violation of their policy on network and computer use.

ShowHow do I know if an e-mail address is outside my organization?

An e-mail address that originates outside your organization contains the "@" symbol, as in the address "pat@contoso.com."

 Notes 

You can forward or redirect any message that you receive — unless the sender used Information Rights Management (IRM) to prevent recipients from sharing the contents of the message with other people. Only the original sender can remove the restricted permission on a message.

You can create e-mail messages with restricted permission using Information Rights Management only in Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 and Microsoft Office Outlook 2003.

 
 

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