---
title: How do I forward email to another address?
description: Set up a cPanel email forwarder so mail sent to one of your addresses is delivered to another mailbox, with or without keeping a local copy.
date: 2026-10-01
updated: 2026-10-01
tags: [email, forwarders]
url: "https://drivenhost.com/kb/kb-set-up-email-forwarder"
author: DrivenHost
---

A forwarder tells the mail server to pass messages sent to one of your addresses on to a different address. It is the usual way to handle a role address like info@ or sales@ without asking someone to check a second mailbox. Log in to cPanel for your hosting account before you start.

## Forward one address to another

1. In cPanel, find the Email section and open Forwarders.
2. Click Add Forwarder.
3. In the "Address to Forward" field, type the part before the @ sign (for example, info).
4. Choose the domain from the drop-down list beside it.
5. Under Destination, leave "Forward to Email Address" selected and type the full address where the mail should go.
6. Click Add Forwarder.

The rule now appears in the list on the Forwarders page. Send a test message to the forwarded address from an outside account and confirm it arrives at the destination.

The forwarded address does not have to exist as a mailbox. If info@yourdomain.com has no mailbox of its own, the forwarder on its own is enough.

## Keep a copy on the server as well

If the address also exists as a real mailbox under Email Accounts, mail is delivered to that mailbox and also forwarded on. So you have two options:

- To forward only, with nothing stored on the server, create the forwarder and no mailbox.
- To keep a copy, create the mailbox in Email Accounts first, then add the forwarder for the same address.

Keeping copies uses disk space, so check the mailbox occasionally if nobody is logging in to clear it.

## Forward every address on a domain

A domain forwarder sends mail for all addresses at one domain to the matching addresses at another. Mail to anything@firstdomain.com goes to anything@seconddomain.com.

1. On the Forwarders page, go to the Domain Forwarders section.
2. Click Add Domain Forwarder.
3. Pick the source domain from the list.
4. Type the destination domain.
5. Click Add Domain Forwarder.

The destination domain must be able to accept mail for those addresses. If an address does not exist there, the message bounces.

## Change or remove a forwarder

Forwarders are not editable. To change one, delete it and add a replacement. On the Forwarders page, find the rule in the list, click Delete, then confirm. Deleting a forwarder does not touch the mailbox or the messages already delivered.

## If it didn't work

- **The mail never arrived anywhere.** Check the domain's MX records. If mail for the domain is handled somewhere other than this server, cPanel forwarders never see the message. Email Deliverability and Zone Editor in cPanel both show the current records.
- **It arrives but lands in spam at the far end.** A forwarded message reaches the destination from your server rather than from the original sender, which some receivers treat with suspicion. Make sure SPF and DKIM are set up for your domain, and check the destination's spam folder.
- **Messages bounce back to the sender.** The destination address is usually the cause: confirm it still exists and has space, and watch for a typo or trailing space in what you typed.

If it still isn't working, contact us at /support with the forwarded address, the destination address, and roughly when a test message went missing.