Email Forwarding Issue

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  owent91 · Member · Jun 1, 2025 at 3:32 pm

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  One of the email forwards I have set up for the treasurer of our group is acting strangely.

  An email sent to this forward address will reach her personal email address (Gmail) and she will be able to reply. However when I or anyone else try to reply to that reply, it brings up the following message:

  ‘Address not found Your message wasn’t delivered to (email visible only to moderators and staff) because the address couldn’t be found or is unable to receive email.’

  The verification email came through and our Dashboard has confirmed that the forward address is synched up correctly. The treasurer has checked she has the forward address correct on her Gmail settings. What else could be causing this problem? How can we fix it?

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  dikshaasingh · Staff · Jun 1, 2025 at 7:33 pm

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  Hi there,

  I understand that you’re experiencing this frustrating email forwarding issue with your treasurer’s address. This type of problem where emails can be received but replies bounce back is definitely concerning for group communication.

  Let me ask a few quick clarifying questions to help troubleshoot this:

  • When the treasurer replies from Gmail, is she replying using the “Send mail as” feature with your domain address, or is she replying from her personal Gmail address?
  • Are you seeing this bounce message when replying to emails that came through the forward, or when sending new emails directly to the forward address?
  • Has this issue been happening since the forward was first set up, or did it start working and then break?

  This issue typically occurs when there’s a mismatch between how Gmail is configured to send emails “as” your domain address and how WordPress.com‘s email forwarding system handles those replies. The forwarding works one way (incoming emails reach Gmail), but when Gmail tries to send emails appearing to come from your domain, the receiving email servers can’t verify the authenticity. Troubleshooting Steps

  Check Gmail’s “Send mail as” Configuration: The treasurer needs to verify her Gmail settings for sending emails as your domain address. In Gmail, she should go to Settings > Accounts and Import > Send mail as. If she’s using the “Send mail as” feature, Gmail requires specific SMTP server information that WordPress.com email forwarding doesn’t provide in the same way as full email hosting.

  Verify DNS and Name Server Settings: Ensure your domain’s name servers are pointing to WordPress.com and that there are no conflicting DNS records:

  • Go to your Domains page (Upgrades → Domains) and select your domain
  • Check that “Use WordPress.com name servers” is switched on
  • Remove any old MX records from previous email providers

  Test Email Flow: Try sending a test email from a different account (not Gmail) to the forward address to see if the issue is specific to Gmail’s reply mechanism

  For more complex email needs like reliable two-way communication, you might want to explore Professional Email hosting which provides full email accounts rather than just forwarding.

  Thanks