Waymaker
Email

Email Forwarding

Learn about Email Forwarding in WaymakerOS.

ForwardingAliasesDomains
Last updated: January 23, 2026

Email forwarding lets you create email addresses on your domain that automatically forward to other email addresses. These addresses don't require a mailbox on your domain.

What Is Email Forwarding?

An email forwarding address like postmaster@yourdomain.com automatically forwards all received emails to one or more destination addresses. The destination can be any email address, including addresses outside your organization.

Key characteristics:

  • No mailbox storage on your domain
  • Emails forwarded instantly to destinations
  • Support 1-6 destination addresses per alias
  • Common for administrative addresses

Common Use Cases

Administrative Addresses

Many email standards and services require specific addresses to exist:

AddressPurpose
postmaster@domain.comEmail delivery issues and server communication
abuse@domain.comSpam and abuse reports
webmaster@domain.comWebsite-related inquiries
hostmaster@domain.comDNS and hosting issues
security@domain.comSecurity vulnerability reports

Business Addresses Without Dedicated Mailboxes

Create addresses for functions that don't need full mailboxes:

  • info@company.com → Forward to sales team
  • careers@company.com → Forward to HR inbox
  • press@company.com → Forward to marketing lead
  • billing@company.com → Forward to finance team

SSL Certificate Validation

Some SSL certificate providers require admin@domain.com or postmaster@domain.com to exist for domain validation. Create a forwarding alias to receive validation emails.

Creating Email Forwarding

Prerequisites

  • Domain must be verified (DNS records configured)
  • Domain must be provisioned (email service active)

Steps

  1. Navigate to WaymakerOne > Email > Domains

  2. Click on your verified domain to expand its settings

  3. Find the Email Forwarding section (appears after DNS Setup for verified domains)

  4. Click Add Forwarding

  5. Enter the forwarding details:

    • Forwarding Address: Enter just the local part (e.g., postmaster). The domain is added automatically.
    • Forward To: Enter one or more destination email addresses (up to 6)

  6. Click Add Forwarding

Example

Creating postmaster@acmecorp.com that forwards to your personal email:

  • Forwarding Address: postmaster
  • Forward To: stuart@gmail.com

Result: All emails to postmaster@acmecorp.com are forwarded to stuart@gmail.com.

Managing Email Forwarding

Viewing Forwarding Addresses

  1. Go to WaymakerOne > Email > Domains
  2. Click on your domain
  3. Expand the Email Forwarding section
  4. View all forwarding addresses with their destinations

Editing a Forwarding Address

You can update the destination addresses:

  1. Click the Edit (pencil) icon next to the address
  2. Modify the destination addresses
  3. Add or remove destinations (1-6 allowed)
  4. Click Update Forwarding

Note: You cannot change the forwarding address itself. Delete and recreate if needed.

Deleting a Forwarding Address

  1. Click the Delete (trash) icon next to the address
  2. Confirm the deletion

Warning: Emails sent to deleted forwarding addresses will bounce. Ensure you've updated any services using that address before deleting.

Multiple Destinations

Each alias can forward to up to 6 different email addresses. All destinations receive a copy of every email.

Example: support@company.com forwarding to:

  • alice@company.com (Support Lead)
  • bob@company.com (Support Engineer)
  • tickets@helpdesk.com (External ticketing system)

All three addresses receive every email sent to support@company.com.

Email Forwarding vs Email Aliases

These serve different purposes:

FeatureEmail ForwardingEmail Aliases
PurposeForward to external addressesReceive at multiple domains in one mailbox
StorageNo mailbox, just forwardingDelivered to existing mailbox
LocationWaymakerOne > DomainsWaymakerOne > User Mailboxes
Use CaseAdmin addresses, redirectsDomain migrations, rebranding

Email Forwarding Example: postmaster@newco.com → admin@gmail.com

Email Alias Example: john@newco.com mailbox also receives email at john@oldco.com

See Email Aliases for domain migration and rebranding scenarios.

Troubleshooting

Forwarding Not Appearing

  • Ensure domain is verified (all DNS records configured)
  • Ensure domain is provisioned (email service active)
  • Refresh the page after domain verification

Emails Not Forwarding

  1. Check the destination email isn't marking forwarded mail as spam
  2. Verify the destination address is correct (no typos)
  3. Check if the destination server is rejecting mail (SPF/DKIM issues)

"Address Already Exists" Error

The forwarding address conflicts with:

  • An existing mailbox on the domain
  • Another forwarding address
  • An email alias

Choose a different local part or remove the conflicting address.

Best Practices

  1. Always create postmaster@ - Required by RFC 5321 for email delivery
  2. Create abuse@ - Required by RFC 2142 for spam reporting
  3. Limit destinations - Too many can cause delivery issues
  4. Use descriptive addresses - Make the purpose clear from the name
  5. Document your forwarding - Keep a record of what each address does