Microsoft 365 - Set/Manage a Forward on a NetID or Service Account

When set, emails sent to the forwarded account will be redirected to the destination account. Regardless of the desktop client you are using, it is recommended that you configure this setting via Wisc Account Administration Site or Outlook on the web.

IMPORTANT: Forwarding your account is not recommended by the Microsoft 365 team. If you are experiencing mail delivery issues, remove the forward and verify if the message is delivered to your Microsoft 365 account.

Important:

  • If you are unable to manage your forwarding setting using the instructions listed below, it may be due to a security policy placed on your account that prevents you from managing your forward setting on your account. If this is the case, you will need to work with your local IT staff and HIPAA Security Coordinator to address this issue - Microsoft 365 staff cannot override this policy/setting.
  • We do not allow forwarding from service accounts to other uw-madison NetID or service accounts. For service accounts, if it is for individual use, please delete it and add it as an alternate address on the netid@wisc.edu account. Otherwise, link the netid@wisc.edu account to the service account - this will grant them the ability to manage all the emails within the service account. If you are looking to forward between two service accounts, delete the service account that is no longer being used, wait 60 minutes, then add that address as an alternate address on the destination service account.
  • If the message being forwarded was originally sent from the forwarded address, the message will not be accepted by the destination system. Example: bbadger@wisc.edu forwards to bbadger@gmail.com. Mail sent from bbadger@gmail.com to bbadger@wisc.edu will be dropped by gmail since this will be seen as a mail loop.
  • Forwarding messages frequently breaks the normal email authentication mechanisms that are required for DMARC compliance. Forwarded messages may be rejected by the final destination system (e.g. Google/gmail.com) due to DMARC failures. The only solution is to stop forwarding.
  • Messages that receive a high spam rating or that are classified as bulk mail will not be forwarded to external recipients. This is necessary to preserve our sending reputation with other email providers such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft consumer accounts.
  • All forwarded mail requires TLS support for delivery. If the email provider of the forward address does not support TLS, Microsoft will be unable to forward mail to that account.
  • If you set a forward on an account using the instructions below, the messages will be forwarded to the destination account and not stored within the original account. If you want to keep a copy of the message within the account and also forward them, please use Outlook on the web to set this - use these instructions.

Wisc Account Administration Site

View/Manage

  1. Log into Wisc Account Administration site. If you have administrative access to other accounts or domains, select the account you want to manage.
  2. Click on the "Office 365" tab in the left-hand column. It will be expanded.
  3. Click on Forwarding option. The following screen will be displayed:

    forwarding screen

  4. Make the desired changes and click Set Forwarding button. Note: If you want to remove an existing forward, click Remove Forward button.

Important: It may take up to 60 minutes for the change to be processed/completed. To rest this setting, wait 60 minutes between removing/adding to ensure changes propagate in Microsoft 365. Confirm after two hours.

Outlook on the web

Set a forward

Note for administrators: Some administrative functions in Office 365 require administrators to access a user's account via Outlook on the web, which requires the user to grant the administrator full mailbox permissions. Once the administrator has full mailbox permissions, they can follow these instructions to access the user's account.

  1. Log into Outlook on the web with the account credentials of the account you want to manage:
    NetID account
    Use the NetID login credentials
    Service Account
    Use the Service account login credentials
  2. Click Settings settings icon.
  3. Then go to Mail > Forwarding

    set email forwarding

  4. Click Enable Forwarding.
  5. Enter the email address you want to forward to.

    Important: This field only accepts one email address. If you want to forward to more than one account, you can use the email address of a Microsoft Group, or use the email address of another existing distribution list.

    Note: If you want to keep a copy of messages in your Outlook on the web mailbox, place a check mark within the Keep a copy of forwarded messages in Outlook on the web check box.

  6. Click Save.

Remove a forward

Note for administrators: Some administrative functions in Office 365 require administrators to access a user's account via Outlook on the web, which requires the user to grant the administrator full mailbox permissions. Once the administrator has full mailbox permissions, they can follow these instructions to access the user's account.

  1. Log into Outlook on the web with the account credentials you are attempting to set the forward for.

    Important: If you are attempting to configure the forwarding setting for a Service Account, you must log into Outlook on the web using the service account credentials.

  2. Click Settings settings icon.
  3. Then go to Mail > Forwarding.
  4. Click Enable Forwarding to remove the check mark.
  5. Click Save.

Change forwarding settings

Note for administrators: Some administrative functions in Office 365 require administrators to access a user's account via Outlook on the web, which requires the user to grant the administrator full mailbox permissions. Once the administrator has full mailbox permissions, they can follow these instructions to access the user's account.

After you've set up email forwarding, you may want to change the address your email should be forwarded to. You may also want to change the setting for keeping a copy of your email in your Outlook on the web mailbox.

  1. Log into Outlook on the web with the account credentials you are attempting to set the forward for.

    Important: If you are attempting to configure the forwarding setting for a Service Account, you must log into Outlook on the web using the service account credentials.

  2. Click Settings settings icon.
  3. Then go to Mail > Forwarding.
  4. In the forwarding section, modify any of the desired settings and click Save.

See Also


Keywords:
microsoft office365 o365 m365 microsoft 365 settings options connected accounts change remove email mail forward address outlook web app netid service account forwarding setup add owa
Doc ID:
36539
Owned by:
O365 S. in Microsoft 365
Created:
2014-01-15
Updated:
2025-02-07
Sites:
DoIT Help Desk, Microsoft 365, Wisc Account Admin