Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to Set Up Automatic Email Forwarding in Microsoft 365 for Brisbane Small Businesses. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

How to Set Up Automatic Email Forwarding in Microsoft 365 for Brisbane Small Businesses

Automatic email forwarding allows messages sent to a Microsoft 365 mailbox to be automatically redirected to another email address. This is useful for Brisbane small businesses when staff are on leave, working remotely, or when you need to ensure enquiries reach a shared mailbox or colleague. This guide explains how to set up forwarding in Microsoft 365 and what to check if messages are not arriving as expected.

Step 1: Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin centre

Open your web browser and go to admin.microsoft.com. Sign in with an account that has global administrator or Exchange administrator permissions for your organisation.

Step 2: Locate the user

In the left navigation menu, select Users, then choose Active users. Use the search bar to find the mailbox you want to configure, then click on the user's name to open their properties pane.

Step 3: Configure email forwarding

1. In the user properties pane, select the Mail tab.
2. Find the Email forwarding section and select Manage email forwarding.
3. Tick the box labelled Forward all email sent to this mailbox.
4. Enter the destination email address in the Forwarding address field.
5. Decide whether to keep a copy of forwarded emails. We recommend selecting Keep a copy of forwarded emails so a record remains in the original mailbox.
6. Select Save changes.

Changes to email forwarding typically take effect within 15 minutes, though it can occasionally take up to an hour to propagate across Microsoft 365 servers.

Troubleshooting

Forwarded emails are not arriving

• Check that the forwarding address is entered correctly with no typos.
• Ask the recipient to check their Junk Email or spam folder.
• Verify that forwarding is still enabled in the Mail tab of the user's profile.
• If you are forwarding to an external address, confirm that external forwarding is allowed in your organisation's Exchange settings.

Forwarding option is missing or greyed out

• Ensure you are signed in with an administrator account, not a standard user account.
• Check that the user has an active Microsoft 365 licence assigned.
• Some organisations restrict forwarding via transport rules or security policies. Contact your IT administrator if the option is unavailable.

Be cautious when forwarding to external email addresses. Sensitive business information may leave your organisation's secure environment, so only forward to trusted addresses and review your organisation's data handling policies first.

If you continue to experience issues with email forwarding, you can Open a Ticket with our Brisbane support team. For related mailbox issues, see our guide on Email not sending or receiving.

Still Having Issues?