This guide shows you how to create email forwarders through your hosting control panel. You can forward emails from any address on your domain to one or more external or internal addresses, with or without keeping a local copy.
Prerequisites
- An active HOSTDOG hosting plan
- A domain name pointed to HOSTDOG nameservers (
ns1.hostdog.grandns2.hostdog.gr) - Access to your hosting control panel
sales@yourdomain.com to a personal Gmail address.
How email forwarding works
When someone sends an email to a forwarded address, the server automatically redirects the message to the destination address you specify. The sender does not see the forwarding — they only see the original address they sent to.
There are two common use cases:
- Simple forwarding — redirect all mail from one address to another (e.g.,
info@yourdomain.comforwards toyou@gmail.com) - Forwarding with local copy — forward the email and also keep a copy in the local mailbox, so you can access it via webmail or an email client
Create an email forwarder
Follow these steps to set up forwarding through your hosting control panel.
Navigate to the HOSTDOG homepage and click the Log in button in the top right corner. Once in the Client Area, go to Services, select your hosting plan, and click Log in to Control Panel.
In your control panel, find the Email section and click Forwarders.
Click the Add Forwarder button.
Fill in the following fields:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Address to forward | Enter the username part (e.g., info) and select the domain from the dropdown |
| Destination | Select Forward to email address and enter the target address (e.g., you@gmail.com) |
Click Add Forwarder to save.
Send a test email to the forwarded address and check that it arrives at the destination. Forwarding is instant — if the email does not arrive within a few minutes, check the destination's spam folder.
Keep a local copy of forwarded emails
By default, a forwarder only redirects the email — it does not keep a copy on the server. If you want to also store a copy in a local mailbox:
- Create an email account for the forwarded address (e.g.,
info@yourdomain.com) - Set up the forwarder as described above
When both a mailbox and a forwarder exist for the same address, incoming emails are delivered to the local mailbox and forwarded to the destination.
Forward all email for a domain
You can also create a catch-all forwarder that redirects all emails sent to any address on your domain (including addresses that do not have mailboxes) to a single destination.
In the Forwarders section, look for the Domain Forwarders option. Select your domain and enter the destination address. Use this with caution — it will forward spam and other unwanted mail as well.
Delete a forwarder
To remove an existing forwarder, go to Forwarders in your control panel, find the forwarder in the list, and click the Delete button next to it. The change takes effect immediately.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Create one forwarder for each destination address. For example, to forward info@yourdomain.com to both your Gmail and a colleague's address, add two separate forwarders for the same source address.
No. The sender only sees the original address they sent the email to. The forwarding happens on the server side and is invisible to the sender.
Yes, in some cases. When you forward email to a third-party service like Gmail, the receiving server sees the email coming from your server rather than the original sender. Proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configuration helps reduce this. If forwarded emails consistently land in spam at the destination, consider using IMAP to check the local mailbox directly instead of relying on forwarding.