Why Office 365 Email Forwarding not Working and How to Fix

You can learn why Office 365 email forwarding not working issue occurs and how to fix it in this article! Browse to the end for a fast way to avoid data loss.

By @Miya Last Updated August 10, 2023

User Case: Microsoft 365 Email Forwarding not Working

“Hey guys, I'm having trouble with email forwarding on my Office 365 account. I'm using a MacBook Pro, and I've set up forwarding rules in Outlook, but they don't seem to be working. Anyone else having this issue or have any tips on how to fix it? Thanks in advance!”

If you are like this user and find your Office 365 email forwarding not working, don't worry. This article will tell you the reason why this happens and the solution. Let's take a look at some of the problems you may be experiencing such as Office 365 not forwarding emails and reasons below.

Why Office 365 Email Forwarding not Working?

Are you experiencing issues with Microsoft 365 no longer forwarding your emails to other places? Or are you having difficulties connecting your Microsoft 365 email to your account? If you encounter any of the following errors, it may be necessary to enable external email forwarding from your Microsoft 365 admin.

  • Your message wasn't delivered because the recipient's email provider rejected it.
  • Remote Server returned '550 5.7.520 Access denied, Your organization does not allow external forwarding. Please contact your administrator for further assistance. AS(7555)' 

As of September 2020, Microsoft has automatically disabled External Forwarding by default as a security measure. To ensure that your emails are forwarded to the correct destination, you will need to disable this feature, otherwise your Office 365 forwarding rule not working.

How to Enable External Email Forwarding for Microsoft 365

Here are some instructions on how to enable external email forwarding for Microsoft 365 to solve your Office 365 email forwarding not working.

✍ In Microsoft Office 365 Admin

Step 1. Ensure that you have admin access to your Microsoft account and sign in to your Security & Compliance portal for Microsoft 365. If you're already logged in to your Microsoft admin account, you can proceed directly to your Anti-spam policies.

Step 2. Navigate to the Anti-spam outbound policy (Default) and then select the Edit protection settings option.

Step 3. Within the Forwarding rules section, select the Automatic forwarding rules dropdown menu, and then choose the option On - Forwarding is enabled.

Step 4. Save your changes, and you're good to go! Your Microsoft 365 emails are now set up for forwarding.

 In GoDaddy Microsoft 365

Step 1. Log in to your Email & Office Dashboard as an admin of your GoDaddy workspace. Then, navigate to the Microsoft 365 Admin tab and select Email Forwarding.

Step 2. Locate the Email Forwarding Overview section, and then click on the Forwarding Status button located on the right-hand side.

Step 3. Switch the Forwarding Status to On, and then click Close.

I hope the above methods can help you solve the Office 365 forwarding not working problem. Next, let's take a look at how to back up your important data in advance to prevent data loss!

Additional Resources: Backup Office 365 Using Professional Email Backup Software

It is worth noting that external emails can still fail to be forwarded for various reasons. So in order to avoid your operation error or other manual or system errors causing data loss, another viable and straightforward option is to consider using professional and trustworthy email backup software like AOMEI Backupper Professional to backup Office 365 emails.

This software is compatible with all versions of Windows operating systems, including Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP/Vista. If you are a server user, it is recommended to upgrade to AOMEI Backupper Server to ensure compatibility.

▶ This software provides the convenience of automatically backing up your Office 365 via its Scheduled Backup utilities. ▶ It allows you to save your email backups to various destinations, including external hard drives, USB drives, networks or NAS devices, and cloud drives. ▶ It supports full backup, incremental backup and differential backup methods, with the latter two being particularly useful in saving backup time and disk space, thereby enhancing backup efficiency. ▶ It is worth noting that this software supports various email providers, including Gmail, Outlook Mail, Yahoo! Mail, iCloud, Zoho Mail, HushMail, GMMX Mail, Hotmail, among others, to cater to your specific needs.

We've prepared a complete email backup tutorial for you. Before you get started, please download AOMEI Backupper from the link provided below.

Download Free TrialWin11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download

Step 1. Open the software and select the Backup option. From there, choose Email Backup to proceed.

Step 2. Click on Add Email Data to continue and enter your shared mailbox account and password in the provided fields, and then click OK to confirm.

Step 3. Select or manually enter the destination path where you want to store the backup image file.

Step 4. Click on the Start Backup button to initiate the backup process.

Conclusion

Given the high level of competitiveness in today's business industry, email forwarding has become increasingly important. To remain competitive, businesses must develop creative strategies. One such strategy is to provide exceptional customer service. In the event that your Office 365 email forwarding not working, this approach can prove to be effective in resolving the issue.

Moreover, if your emails are damaged or corrupted, you can use AOMEI Backupper to restore them from backup. This powerful tool can also be used to backup contacts on Gmail. Don't hesitate to give it a try!