---
title: Forward a Shared Inbox from Any Email Provider
description: Point a shared inbox at a Twenty email channel, whatever mail provider you use.
---

Twenty receives shared inbox mail by having your provider send a copy of every incoming message to a private address that Twenty generates for you. Once that is in place, the inbox appears in your workspace.

Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace each have their own guide:

- [Microsoft 365](/user-guide/calendar-emails/how-tos/forward-a-shared-inbox-from-microsoft-365)
- [Google Workspace](/user-guide/calendar-emails/how-tos/forward-a-shared-inbox-from-google-workspace)

This page covers every other provider.

## Part 1: Create the channel in Twenty

1. Go to **Settings → Communication**.
2. Click **Add email channel**.

<img
  src="/images/user-guide/emails/inbound-channels/03-twenty-add-email-channel.png"
  style={{ width: '100%' }}
/>

3. In **Source Email Address**, type the shared address you want to receive mail at, for example `contact@yourcompany.com`.
4. In **Display Name**, type the name recipients see.
5. Click **Save**.

<img
  src="/images/user-guide/emails/inbound-channels/04-twenty-new-channel-form.png"
  style={{ width: '100%' }}
/>

6. Twenty now shows a **Forwarding address**. It ends in `@inbound.twenty.com`. Click **Copy**.

<img
  src="/images/user-guide/emails/inbound-channels/05-twenty-forwarding-address.png"
  style={{ width: '100%' }}
/>

<Note>
  Each channel gets its own forwarding address. Never point two mailboxes at the
  same one, or their mail will land in the same place.
</Note>

## Part 2: Choose the right kind of forwarding

Most providers offer more than one way to pass mail on, and only one of them works here.

Twenty reads the `From` header of each message it receives to determine who wrote it. That is how a message is linked to the right person and company.

- **Automatic forwarding on the mail server** leaves the original sender in place. Your customer remains the sender, the message is linked to their record, and replies go back to them. Some providers call this **Redirect**, others call it **Forwarding**. This is the option to use.
- **Forwarding as an attachment**, or any rule that composes a new message, replaces the sender with your own address. Every conversation then appears to come from you, and no message is matched to a contact.

Use the automatic forwarding setting in your mail account or on your mail server. Do not use a rule that resends the message as a new email.

<Warning>
  Also avoid rules that strip attachments or convert messages to plain text.
  Twenty stores each message exactly as it arrives.
</Warning>

Where the option exists, choose the one that **keeps a copy** in the original mailbox, so your team can continue to use the inbox as before.

## Part 3: Find your provider

Follow your provider's instructions, using the forwarding address you copied in Part 1 as the destination.

| Provider               | Their guide                                                                                                                                                  |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Amazon SES             | [Forward incoming email to an external destination](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/messaging-and-targeting/forward-incoming-email-to-an-external-destination/) |
| Amazon WorkMail        | [Email rules](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/workmail/latest/userguide/email-rules.html)                                                                        |
| Bluehost               | [Create account and domain forwarders](https://www.bluehost.com/help/article/create-account-and-domain-forwarders)                                           |
| cPanel                 | [Forwarders](https://docs.cpanel.net/cpanel/email/forwarders/)                                                                                               |
| DreamHost              | [Add a forward-only email address](https://help.dreamhost.com/hc/en-us/articles/215724207-Add-a-forward-only-email-address)                                  |
| Exchange (self-hosted) | [Configure email forwarding for a mailbox](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/recipients/user-mailboxes/email-forwarding)                            |
| GoDaddy                | [Forward incoming email to another address](https://www.godaddy.com/help/forward-incoming-email-to-another-email-address-32282)                              |
| iCloud Mail            | [Forward email on iCloud.com](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102376)                                                                                        |
| Namecheap              | [Set up free email forwarding](https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/308/2214/how-to-set-up-free-email-forwarding)                    |
| OVHcloud               | [Email redirection](https://help.ovhcloud.com/csm/en-emails-redirection)                                                                                     |
| Rackspace              | [Set up Rackspace email forwarding](https://docs.rackspace.com/docs/set-up-rackspace-email-forwarding)                                                       |
| Zoho Mail              | [Email forwarding](https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/email-forwarding.html)                                                                                     |

If your provider is not listed, you can still connect it. In almost every mail product the setting appears under a name such as **Forwarding**, **Redirect**, **Forwarders**, **Aliases**, **Rules** or **Filters**, in either the mailbox settings or the domain settings.

## Part 4: Test it

Send an email from an outside address (a personal Gmail works) to `contact@yourcompany.com`. It should appear in Twenty within a minute or two.

## Troubleshooting

<Accordion title="Nothing arrives">
  Compare the forwarding address character for character with the one in Twenty.
  A single wrong character means the mail goes nowhere and is silently dropped.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Mail arrives, but every message shows your own address as the sender">
  The rule is rebuilding the message rather than passing it along, so your
  address ends up in the `From` header. Switch to your provider's plain
  forwarding or redirect setting, and turn off any option that forwards as an
  attachment.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="The sender receives a bounce about forwarding not being allowed">
  Your provider blocks automatic forwarding to outside domains. Look for a
  security or anti-spam setting that allows external forwarding, and enable it
  for this mailbox only.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Mail no longer appears in the original inbox">
  The rule moves messages on rather than copying them. Change it to keep a copy,
  or add a second rule that delivers to the inbox.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="The channel receives mail but cannot send">
  Receiving and sending are separate. Sending requires your domain to be
  verified under the channel's **Sending domain** section, which means adding
  the DNS records Twenty lists there.
</Accordion>