How to Automatically Forward Emails in Gmail

Whether you are transitioning to a new primary email address, consolidating multiple accounts into a single inbox, or setting up a shared support address for your team, constantly switching between different Gmail accounts is highly inefficient. Fortunately, Google allows you to automate this process entirely.

Gmail offers two distinct ways to forward your messages: you can forward absolutely every email that arrives, or you can use filters to only forward specific emails (such as receipts or messages from a specific sender). This guide will show you how to securely set up both methods.

Method 1: How to Forward All Incoming Emails

If you want every single email sent to your old address to instantly appear in your new inbox, follow these steps. Note: You must perform this setup on a desktop or laptop computer; the Gmail mobile app does not support creating forwarding rules.

Step 1: Add a Forwarding Address

Before Gmail will allow you to forward anything, you must prove that you actually own the destination email address. This prevents users from maliciously forwarding their spam to random strangers.

1. Open your web browser and log in to the Gmail account you want to forward FROM (your old address).
2. Click the Gear icon (Settings) in the top-right corner of the screen.
3. Click the See all settings button at the top of the Quick Settings menu.
4. Navigate to the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab at the top of the settings page.
5. In the “Forwarding” section, click the Add a forwarding address button.
6. Type in the destination email address (the one you want to forward TO) and click Next, then Proceed, and finally OK.

Step 2: Verify the Destination Address

1. Open a new tab and log in to the destination email account.
2. You should see a new email from the Gmail Team with the subject “Gmail Forwarding Confirmation.” Open it.
3. Click the long verification link inside the email to confirm the request.

Step 3: Enable Forwarding

1. Go back to the settings page of your original (old) Gmail account and refresh the page.
2. Navigate back to the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
3. Select the radio button next to Forward a copy of incoming mail to, and ensure your new address is selected in the dropdown menu.
4. Choose what happens to the original email. The default is keep Gmail’s copy in the Inbox, which is the safest option. You can also choose to mark it as read, archive it, or delete it entirely.
5. Scroll to the very bottom of the page and click Save Changes.

Method 2: How to Forward Specific Emails Using Filters

If you only want to forward certain messages—like invoices to your accounting department or specific newsletters to a reading app—you should use Gmail’s powerful filtering system instead of the global forwarding rule.

1. First, ensure you have added and verified the destination address using Steps 1 and 2 from the method above.
2. Once verified, click the Show search options icon (it looks like three horizontal lines with sliders) located on the far right side of the main Gmail search bar at the top of your inbox.
3. Enter your filtering criteria. For example, you can type an email address into the From field, or type specific keywords into the Includes the words field.
4. Click the Create filter button at the bottom of the search panel.
5. A new menu of actions will appear. Check the box next to Forward it to: and select your verified destination address from the dropdown menu.
6. Click Create filter.

From now on, only emails matching those exact criteria will be forwarded. The rest of your inbox will remain unaffected.

How to Stop Email Forwarding

If you ever need to cancel the automatic forwarding, the process is incredibly simple.

1. Navigate back to Settings > See all settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
2. In the “Forwarding” section, select the Disable forwarding radio button.
3. Scroll to the bottom and click Save Changes.

You can also use the first dropdown menu in that section to completely remove the destination email address from your account if it is no longer needed.