How to Automatically Forward Email in Outlook

You often need to forward emails to another account based on specific criteria automatically. It could be based on a subject, keywords, or from a particular sender. In this post, we will share how you can set up rules to automatically forward email in Microsoft Outlook.

Automatically Forward Email in Microsoft Outlook

Since forwarding could be based on multiple criteria, we must create Rules. It is a feature in Outlook that allows you to perform an action based on specific criteria. Our criteria here is to forward emails. You can use rules for almost anything, including deleted emails, moving them into a folder and so on.

1. Go to File > Rules and Alerts > click on Manage Rules and Alerts
2. In the pop-up window, select the Email Rules tab and click on New Rule.
3. It will open the Rules Wizard which will have two steps: 
   • Step 1: Select from a Blank Rule, and select Apply the rule on messages I receive
   • Step 2: Select the rule that says Apply this rule after the message arrives and hit Next.
4. In the next screen, you will need to select conditions. Based on these, incoming email messages will be forwarded. 
   • Do not select any condition if you want to forward all your messages. It is useful if you are planning to change your email ID and slowly tell everyone about it.
   • If you are only forwarding individual emails, then choose based on keywords, email ID, a specific word, a specific group, etc.
   • Make sure to choose to Apply this rule after the message arrives. Then hit Next and confirm.
5. Next, you will have to decide where to forward the email. You can check the box which says Forward it to people or public group.
6. Click on the link for people or public group. It will open the contact book from where you can select a contact or group email id, or you can type it.
7. The next screen will allow you to add an exception. If you want certain emails to remain in the inbox, you can add them here.
8. Lastly, you need to add a name to the rule so you can recognize it. Also, you need to tick the box that says Turn on this rule. Click Finish, and you are done.

You can also choose to Run the rule right away to apply to your inbox. If you have multiple accounts in Outlook, then you can choose to apply the rule for every account.

I hope the steps were clear, and you could set up email forwarding in Outlook. It also works with Office 365.

Related read: How to setup Vacation Reply in Outlook.