How to set up email forwarding and catch-all aliases in cPanel

Email forwarders route mail from one address to another without needing a separate mailbox. This is how you set up info@, sales@, support@ without creating individual accounts. Works on any Hostiger Web Hosting plan with cPanel.

1. Simple forwarding — one address to another

1. cPanel → Email → Forwarders
2. Click Add Forwarder
3. Address to Forward: info (just the part before @)
4. Domain: your domain from the dropdown
5. Destination: Forward to Email Address → [email protected]
6. Click Add Forwarder

All mail sent to [email protected] now lands in your Gmail. No storage used on cPanel.

2. Catch-all — forward all mail to unknown addresses

Useful when you want [email protected] to reach you:

1. cPanel → Email → Default Address
2. Select your domain
3. Choose Forward to Email Address → [email protected]

Warning: catch-all attracts spam. Bots try random addresses (abuse@, admin@). Only enable if you have strong spam filtering. Consider Discard with error to sender instead.

3. Distribution list — one address to many

Use Mailing Lists in cPanel (or Forwarders pointing to a comma-separated destination via a plugin). Cleanest way:

1. cPanel → Email → Mailing Lists (Mailman)
2. Create list named team
3. Add member email addresses
4. Mail to [email protected] reaches everyone

For simple lists without Mailman overhead, create multiple forwarders with the same source address and different destinations.

4. Department aliases without new mailboxes

[email protected]    → forwards to    [email protected]
[email protected]  → forwards to    [email protected]
[email protected]  → forwards to    [email protected]

Set each up as a separate forwarder. This scales to 100+ aliases per domain without cost.

5. Send FROM the forwarded address (Gmail example)

By default, replies from Gmail show your Gmail address. To reply as [email protected]:

1. Gmail → Settings → Accounts and Import
2. Send mail as → Add another email address
3. Enter [email protected]
4. SMTP server: mail.yourdomain.com, port 465 (SSL), username = full email, password = the mailbox password
5. Verify with the code Gmail sends

Note: this requires a REAL mailbox (not just a forwarder) because Gmail needs credentials to send. If you only have a forwarder, use your Gmail account for outgoing and set the "From" header to your custom address (some receivers may flag as spoof).

Troubleshooting

• Gmail rejects forwarded mail with "SPF fail": Gmail sees the forwarding server, not the original sender. Solution: add include:yourdomain.com to Gmail's inbound whitelist, or set up ARC signing (advanced).
• Forwarded mail lands in spam: ensure your domain has proper SPF/DKIM/DMARC (see our email setup guide).
• Forwarder doesn't work at all: check Track Delivery in cPanel. Often the MX record isn't pointing to the cPanel server.

For business email at scale with pre-configured deliverability, Hostiger Email Hosting ($9.99/mo) handles forwarders, aliases, and Gmail/Outlook connectivity out of the box.