How To: Automatically Forward Emails to Multiple Recipients in Gmail

I recently found the need to have one of Techerator’s email accounts automatically forward emails to multiple recipients for notifications.  Gmail has built-in email forwarding (to a single email address), but there is a very simple trick to forward to multiple addresses.

  1. In Gmail, click the ‘Create a filter’ link at the top, near the search box.
    gmailforwarding
  2. You can now create a filter to only forward select messages, or if you want to forward all messages you can enter the current account’s email address in the ‘To:’ field (in this example, it would be tips@techerator.com).  Click ‘Next Step’.
    gmailforwarding_createfilter
  3. In the next screen, check the Forward it to: box and enter one of the desired email addresses in the box.  Don’t worry, we’ll add the other addresses in the next step.  Click Create Filter.
    gmailforwarding_email1
  4. Repeat this process for any additional email addresses you want to forward messages to.  Be sure to keep your filter settings the same to avoid any incongruities.

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51 responses to “How To: Automatically Forward Emails to Multiple Recipients in Gmail”

  1. helen Avatar
    helen

    But isn't there a limit of 20? Can't you forward to a group? Helen

    1. Evan Wondrasek Avatar
      Evan Wondrasek

      You are correct, while you can create unlimited filters, it turns out that only 20 of them can be forwarded to other email addresses (via http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answ… )

      It appears that you can only forward to a single email address when creating a filter, so it does not look like it is possible to send to a group or multiple addresses in the single field.

  2. helen Avatar
    helen

    But isn't there a limit of 20? Can't you forward to a group? Helen

    1. Evan Wondrasek Avatar
      Evan Wondrasek

      You are correct, while you can create unlimited filters, it turns out that only 20 of them can be forwarded to other email addresses (via http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answ… )

      It appears that you can only forward to a single email address when creating a filter, so it does not look like it is possible to send to a group or multiple addresses in the single field.

  3. TopCat Avatar
    TopCat

    there´s a workaround that kind of works by using google groups

  4. TopCat Avatar
    TopCat

    there´s a workaround that kind of works by using google groups

  5. John Avatar
    John

    This will only forward messages sent directly to you. This will not forward mailing lists, or BCC messages.

    To forward all messages, put * as the To: field.

  6. John Avatar
    John

    This will only forward messages sent directly to you. This will not forward mailing lists, or BCC messages.

    To forward all messages, put * as the To: field.

  7. tkf Avatar
    tkf

    I have tried to put "*" and the email account's email address in the To: field but I am not getting anything forwarded. Any ideas on how to fix?

    1. Matt Carter Avatar
      Matt Carter

      Put “deliveredto:youraddress@gmail.com” into the “Has the words:” field when you create a filter. That should always match any message you receive, whether your address was on the To: line, the Bcc: line, or the Cc: line.
      An alternative: Some people say that putting “@” in the “From:” field when you create a filter also matches any message, but I haven’t tried that.

  8. tkf Avatar
    tkf

    I have tried to put "*" and the email account's email address in the To: field but I am not getting anything forwarded. Any ideas on how to fix?

  9. Dennis Avatar
    Dennis

    See the process the same if you want to forward a gmail to an e-mail account outside of gmail??
    thanks.Dennis

    1. evanw Avatar
      evanw

      Yes the process is the same when forwarding to any address, not just Gmail.

  10. Dennis Avatar
    Dennis

    See the process the same if you want to forward a gmail to an e-mail account outside of gmail??
    thanks.Dennis

    1. evanw Avatar
      evanw

      Yes the process is the same when forwarding to any address, not just Gmail.

  11. Candy Avatar
    Candy

    See also this:

    http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answ…

    http://services.google.com/tutorial/gmail_labels/

  12. Candy Avatar
    Candy

    See also this:

    http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answ…

    http://services.google.com/tutorial/gmail_labels/

  13. Google Voice Workaround for after hours SMS

    […] in forwarding email, you may want to set this forwarding rule up on a Gmail address – just set up two filters to forward your messages… one to forward to your phone, and one to forward to your regular email […]

  14. George Avatar
    George

    is there a way i can forward to more than 20 email addresses, i need

  15. George Avatar
    George

    is there a way i can forward to more than 20 email addresses, i need

  16. tom Avatar
    tom

    Thanks Evan, great tip!! 🙂

  17. tom Avatar
    tom

    Thanks Evan, great tip!! 🙂

  18. Fox Avatar
    Fox

    Is there a way to “hide recipients” so that others will not be able to see email addresses? I don't like forwarding to multiple recipients when those addresses are available for others to use. Is there a setting or way to hide them?

  19. Fox Avatar
    Fox

    Is there a way to “hide recipients” so that others will not be able to see email addresses? I don't like forwarding to multiple recipients when those addresses are available for others to use. Is there a setting or way to hide them?

  20. Hacxx Avatar
    Hacxx

    Almost perfect but with the new policy isn’t good enough for me

  21. Woolfejeff Avatar
    Woolfejeff

    Can this be done for more than 30 addresses??

    1. Evan Wondrasek Avatar
      Evan Wondrasek

      Unfortunately, no. Google does specify that you can combine filters to forward more emails to the same address: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6579&topic=1540

  22. Marylynnster Avatar
    Marylynnster

    I’ve been having an issue with this and am looking for a solution. I’ve used the filter in the from field as “@” as well as the to field being the current account. For some reason it only forwards to the first two addresses but not the other 3. Any reason why it would do this? All filters are the same except for forwarding addresses

  23. Christina Garces Avatar
    Christina Garces

    its not working for me! i have no idea why!

    1. Matt Carter Avatar
      Matt Carter

      It wasn’t working for me, either. Then, I read a google article that explained that if you’re sending a message from a gmail account and your filter forwards to another gmail account, gmail will make the message bypass your inbox and go straight to your “All Mail” folder (where you probably won’t see it). So, send your test message from a non-gmail account. Hope that helps.

      1. Evan Wondrasek Avatar
        Evan Wondrasek

        Great find, Matt. Thanks for posting.

  24. Lurene Avatar
    Lurene

    Thanks, Evan – great work around. I appreciate the post! – Lurene

  25. Vista8800 Avatar
    Vista8800

    Thanks for your tips !

  26. Vladkrr Avatar
    Vladkrr

    It does not work anymore, not for me. I mean forwarding thru filters. 

  27. Nino Telak Avatar
    Nino Telak

    How do I forward an e-mail to a group, without a recipients knowing that it was sent to others. In other words, how to eliminate multiple names on top that show who else received the same mail?   

  28. Trying to forward Avatar
    Trying to forward

    I have tried this with Google groups using six forwarding addresses.  It seems that only one address is used as a filter forward and that is the last email address selected to forward of the six.  Any suggestions?

    Thanks

  29. Taramalone11 Avatar
    Taramalone11

    I don´t even know how to forward a mail message to one person, never mind multiple people. How??

  30. Guesthehd Avatar
    Guesthehd

    Easier to use the ‘Doesn’t have:’ field, input some impossible text (e.g Doesn’t have:AppleAppleApple) and set it to forward when the mail doesn’t have that text.

  31. Lucia Otoyo Avatar
    Lucia Otoyo

    Thanks Evan, just what I needed 🙂

  32. giuliastro Avatar
    giuliastro

    If you try to forward emails to more than one gmail account this doesn’t work. It only works for the first gmail address. I don’t know if this is something google wants to limit or if it is a bug.

  33. Nitesh Chaudhary Avatar
    Nitesh Chaudhary

    Such an amazing way to do this. Thanks for sharing.

  34. whatever Avatar
    whatever

    This doesn’t work.

  35. Doreen Becker Avatar
    Doreen Becker

    Thank you very much for your post! I didn’t find this simple solution by myself 😐

  36. Namus Avatar
    Namus

    simply use comma between two address: exampl@com,example2@com

  37. Praveen Avatar
    Praveen

    Thanks,

    It works.

  38. Santiago Martinez R Avatar
    Santiago Martinez R

    Thanks a lot, it saved me.

  39. Kent Avatar
    Kent

    This works but each email has to authenticate by putting the code in the email into the gmail settings for the account

  40. Clive Sam Avatar
    Clive Sam

    forwarding using filters work for one gmail id but what should i do if i want to forward all incoming mails automatically to more than one gmail address? for eg. i tried to forward to two gmail ids but only the first one got the forward. The second one didnt. Can someone please show a workaround or something?

  41. Christopher Beardsley Avatar
    Christopher Beardsley

    Nice workaround solution. tested against heterogeneous emails (gmail, outloook.com, mail.com, yahoo.com) and all worked.

    Reading the post previous to mine, I may need to test against multiple gmail accounts… weird issue.

  42. Vaida vd Vlekkert Avatar
    Vaida vd Vlekkert

    wow cool! cheers it works for me!

  43. David Kley Avatar
    David Kley

    Great guide, really helped me out! Thanks! One thing I would recommend is to add social sharing buttons to this post, making it easier to share.

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