How to prevent email loops when forwarding is enabled

This article provides information about setting up forwarding action in rules as well as addressing what to do if you have forwarding set to an address that is already forwarding emails to you.

You can set automatic forwarding of the emails that reach you to another email address. In WebClient Options, select Mail tab -> Forwarder and enter the email address of another recipient. Forwarding can be very handy if you:

• plan a vacation, and you need someone to track your mailbox

• want to share email with all the colleagues

• need to monitor emails sent to former employee's mailbox

• want an archive or backup of your emails, etc.

However, like any tool, email forwarding has its limitations. There is a risk that forwarded emails will bounce infinitely. For instance, consider a situation where two colleagues plan vacations consecutively. The first enables forwarding to the second's mailbox on Monday, and the second does the same on Friday. When the first returns to the office the following Monday, he may find his inbox flooded with duplicated emails from the weekend. This is because when two users set up forwarding to each other's accounts, the forwarded emails are stuck in a loop, causing potential confusion and overload. 

There are two ways to avoid this: sharing and creating a rule.

Sharing

The best way is not to use forwarding in this situation at all. If you plan a vacation, share your Inbox folder or the whole account with your colleague. You can grant permission to browse folders and modify, create or delete the content (folders). You can also grant permission to change or add new permissions or share the folder with other accounts.

Creating a rule

If you want to use forwarding anyway, you can create a rule for the folder to forward only emails without Fw: in the email Subject.

1. Go to WebClient Options -> Mail -> Rules -> click Add to add a rule.
2. In the Rule window, click Add and select All messages.
3. Click Add again and set the condition to exclude from forwarding emails with Fw in the Subject.
4. Go to Actions and enable Forward to.
5. Enter the email address where you want to forward your emails.
6. Click OK to save the rule.