Configuring preferences and options in Outlook.com
If Microsoft 365 or Outlook is already configured, the remaining Microsoft-side checks are these:
- Verify the outbound spam policy allows external forwarding.
- In Microsoft 365, automatic external forwarding can be blocked by the outbound spam filter policy.
- If it is set to Off - Forwarding is disabled, forwarding to an external service will fail and generate a nondelivery report.
- Avoid Automatic - System-controlled because its behavior can differ by organization. Use On - Forwarding is enabled or Off - Forwarding is disabled explicitly.
- Confirm whether mailbox forwarding is enabled in addition to an Inbox rule.
- If mailbox forwarding is enabled on the mailbox, Inbox rules that redirect messages will not work by design.
- In Exchange Online PowerShell, check:
Get-Mailbox <user ID> | FL ForwardingAddress,ForwardingSmtpAddress,DeliverToMailboxAndForward - If a forwarding address is set and
DeliverToMailboxAndForwardisTrue, disable mailbox forwarding if the goal is to use an Inbox redirect rule:Set-Mailbox <user ID> -DeliverToMailboxAndForward $False
- Check whether the target domain is treated as a remote domain with automatic forwarding disabled.
- In Exchange Online PowerShell, check:
Get-RemoteDomain | Where {$_.AutoForwardEnabled -eq $False} - If the destination domain matches one of those domains, Inbox rules that redirect messages will not work by design.
- In Exchange Online PowerShell, check:
- If forwarding is configured from the mailbox settings instead of a rule, verify the mailbox still has a license.
- In Microsoft 365 admin center: Users > Active users > select user > Mail > Manage email forwarding.
- If the option is missing, a license must be assigned to the user account.
- Do not remove the user license or delete the account, or forwarding stops.
- If this is Outlook.com rather than Microsoft 365 business mail, recheck the mailbox for hidden forwarding or rules.
- In Outlook.com, review Settings > Mail > Forwarding and Settings > Mail > Rules.
- Also check whether mail is being diverted by Junk Email settings or blocked sender entries.
- Run a controlled test and inspect the result.
- Send a test message from another account to the affected mailbox.
- If a bounce or nondelivery report is returned, that points to external forwarding being blocked.
- If no bounce is returned, check whether a rule is moving mail elsewhere instead of forwarding it.
Important behavior to account for:
- Disabling automatic forwarding in the outbound spam policy disables both user Inbox rules and admin mailbox forwarding to external addresses.
- Internal forwarding between users is not affected by that setting.
- If a rule forwards or redirects to multiple individual recipients, Exchange Online has a limit of 10 recipients.