10-11-2026, 12:16 PM
An email forward sends mail for one address to another destination. Catch-all sends mail addressed to otherwise nonexistent users in a domain to a chosen mailbox.
Tested lab: [email protected] forwarded to [email protected] with catch-all disabled. A separate message to [email protected] reached the same mailbox after catch-all was enabled. These were local delivery tests; forwarding to external providers needs an additional test.
1. Create the receiving mailbox first
Create and enable the destination, for example [email protected], and verify that it receives ordinary messages. A forwarding alias does not create a separate mailbox, password or storage allowance. Do not point an alias back to itself or build a circular forwarding chain.
2. Add a forwarding address
1. Open Mail Server → Other Settings.
2. Select Mail forward.
3. Click Add Forward.
4. Keep Status enabled.
5. In Forwarded users, enter the full source address: [email protected].
6. In Domain, enter example.com.
7. In Receiving user, enter [email protected]. For multiple destinations, the dialog instructs you to put each on a new line.
8. Click Confirm and wait for Mail forwarding added successfully.
Inspect the saved Address and Goto columns. The source must be the complete address. In our version, entering only support saved an incomplete Address value, so we disabled that test entry and created [email protected] instead. A success notice alone does not validate the intended address.
3. Test forwarding independently
If catch-all is enabled, temporarily turn it off before the alias test. Otherwise it can conceal an incorrect alias by delivering any unknown address anyway. Send a message with a unique subject to the full alias, then refresh the receiving mailbox's Inbox.
Our isolated test reached [email protected]. Postfix logs recorded [email protected] as the original recipient and the admin mailbox as the delivered recipient.
4. Enable catch-all for the domain
Open Mail Server → Mail Domain. Click the domain row's Catch All switch. In the Catch email dialog, enter an existing destination in Forward email and click Confirm. You can also set the Catch All destination through the domain's Edit dialog.
Check that the switch becomes enabled. In Mail forward, the resulting domain-wide entry appeared as @adminslab.com pointing to [email protected] in our lab. This is different from a specific support@ alias.
5. Test an unused address
Choose an address that is not a mailbox or alias, such as [email protected]. Send a unique test message and verify it appears at the catch-all destination. Our test did. Existing mailboxes continue to have their own delivery rules; catch-all is intended for otherwise unknown addresses.
Manage and troubleshoot
Catch-all accepts typo addresses and can also collect unwanted mail, so use it when that behavior is useful and watch quota usage. Disable it with the domain switch when no longer needed. For a failed forward, check Status, the full source address, destination existence, loops and server logs. External forwarding may introduce SPF/DMARC complications; test that destination separately before relying on it.
Screenshot: catch-all destination
![[Image: mail-catchall-branded-20261011.png]](https://adminsforum.com/uploads/tutorials/mail-catchall-branded-20261011.png)
Prerequisite: Create a user mailbox
Tested lab: [email protected] forwarded to [email protected] with catch-all disabled. A separate message to [email protected] reached the same mailbox after catch-all was enabled. These were local delivery tests; forwarding to external providers needs an additional test.
1. Create the receiving mailbox first
Create and enable the destination, for example [email protected], and verify that it receives ordinary messages. A forwarding alias does not create a separate mailbox, password or storage allowance. Do not point an alias back to itself or build a circular forwarding chain.
2. Add a forwarding address
1. Open Mail Server → Other Settings.
2. Select Mail forward.
3. Click Add Forward.
4. Keep Status enabled.
5. In Forwarded users, enter the full source address: [email protected].
6. In Domain, enter example.com.
7. In Receiving user, enter [email protected]. For multiple destinations, the dialog instructs you to put each on a new line.
8. Click Confirm and wait for Mail forwarding added successfully.
Inspect the saved Address and Goto columns. The source must be the complete address. In our version, entering only support saved an incomplete Address value, so we disabled that test entry and created [email protected] instead. A success notice alone does not validate the intended address.
3. Test forwarding independently
If catch-all is enabled, temporarily turn it off before the alias test. Otherwise it can conceal an incorrect alias by delivering any unknown address anyway. Send a message with a unique subject to the full alias, then refresh the receiving mailbox's Inbox.
Our isolated test reached [email protected]. Postfix logs recorded [email protected] as the original recipient and the admin mailbox as the delivered recipient.
4. Enable catch-all for the domain
Open Mail Server → Mail Domain. Click the domain row's Catch All switch. In the Catch email dialog, enter an existing destination in Forward email and click Confirm. You can also set the Catch All destination through the domain's Edit dialog.
Check that the switch becomes enabled. In Mail forward, the resulting domain-wide entry appeared as @adminslab.com pointing to [email protected] in our lab. This is different from a specific support@ alias.
5. Test an unused address
Choose an address that is not a mailbox or alias, such as [email protected]. Send a unique test message and verify it appears at the catch-all destination. Our test did. Existing mailboxes continue to have their own delivery rules; catch-all is intended for otherwise unknown addresses.
Manage and troubleshoot
Catch-all accepts typo addresses and can also collect unwanted mail, so use it when that behavior is useful and watch quota usage. Disable it with the domain switch when no longer needed. For a failed forward, check Status, the full source address, destination existence, loops and server logs. External forwarding may introduce SPF/DMARC complications; test that destination separately before relying on it.
Screenshot: catch-all destination
Prerequisite: Create a user mailbox