FAQ

What is E4ward?

E4ward is a mail forwarding service. You create aliases — addresses like shopping@yourname.e4ward.com — and mail sent to them is forwarded to your existing inbox. You never need to change your real email address.

See Introduction to E4ward for a full overview.

What is an alias?

An alias is an email address you give out instead of your real address. For example:

amzn@myacct.e4ward.com x7rkf3jdj@myacct.e4ward.com newsletter@myacct.e4ward.com

You can use a meaningful name or a randomly generated one. E4ward forwards mail from the alias to your inbox.

What is a forward?

A forward is a pair: an alias and an inbox address. When mail arrives at the alias, it's forwarded to the inbox. You can create a separate forward for each contact or service you sign up for.

What is my real email address (REA)?

Your REA is the existing inbox where you receive your email — Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, or any other. E4ward forwards mail to it. Your REA is never revealed to senders.

Will it work with my email client or provider?

Yes. E4ward works with any email client, any provider, and any operating system. It's server-based — there's nothing to download or install.

Do I need a separate email account for each alias?

No. You use your existing inbox for everything. All forwarded mail arrives in one place (or multiple inboxes if you want to separate things by category).

What if my real address is already getting spam?

E4ward can only stop spam that goes through E4ward. If spammers already have your real address, E4ward can't help with that — the spam bypasses E4ward entirely.

The best approach is to create a new mailbox address, confirm it in E4ward, and use it as your forwarding destination going forward. It's a one-time change, and after that you'll be able to keep that address spam-free.

Can I use my own domain name?

Yes. If you own a domain like example.com, you can point its MX records at E4ward and use addresses like anything@example.com as aliases.

See Custom domains for setup instructions.

What is a catchall forward?

A catchall (also called *any) is a special forward that catches mail sent to any alias on your domain that doesn't have its own forward. You can set it to forward to an inbox or to bounce.

See Catchall forwarding for details.

What does *bounce mean?

*bounce is a special value you can set instead of an inbox address. It tells E4ward to reject mail to that alias with a "user unknown" error (SMTP 550). To the sender, it looks like the address doesn't exist.

You might use this to disable an alias that's receiving spam without fully deleting it, so you can re-enable it later or track what's being sent to it.

Can I have multiple inbox addresses?

Yes. You can add multiple inbox addresses and route different aliases to different ones. For example, route newsletter aliases to one address and shopping aliases to another.

The number of inbox addresses you can have depends on your plan. See Plans and pricing.

How do I reply from my alias?

Just reply normally to any mail that was forwarded through one of your aliases. E4ward routes your reply back through its servers and replaces your real address with the alias.

To send a new email (not a reply) from an alias, go to the Forwards page and click the send link on the forward you want to use.

See Replying from an alias for more details.

How do I know where spam came from?

Because each alias is unique to whoever you gave it to, if you get spam on an alias, you know that alias was the source. You can then disable or delete that alias.

Can I use random alias names?

Yes. On the Forwards page, click the @ button to generate a random alias. Random aliases are harder for spammers to guess. You can add a label to remind yourself what each one is for.

Does E4ward ever generate spam itself (collateral damage)?

No. Unlike challenge/response systems, E4ward never sends confirmation emails to third parties. We don't require your contacts to jump through any hoops.

Is there anything to download or install?

No. E4ward is entirely server-based. Use it from any browser.