Catch-all email not supported with Microsoft 365
Catch-all email are used to deliver mail when the address wasn't spelled correctly or the recipient doesn't exist. This can result in unwanted mail, including spam, being delivered as well. To prevent the risk of phishing attacks and other security threats, Microsoft 365 doesn't allow catch-all email.
If you used catch-all with Workspace Email, they’ll no longer work after your move to Microsoft 365. However, Microsoft 365 includes several features you can use instead after you've transitioned from Workspace Email. Choose which feature works best for you.
If you know the email addresses going to your current catch-all, use any of the following:
- Alias: Create an address that sends all mail to another inbox of your choosing. For example, if your address is jane@coolexample.com, and you set up the alias sales@coolexample.com, all mail sent to either jane@ or sales@ will automatically go to jane@coolexample.com. Here's how to create an alias.
- Distribution group: Communicate with a group of people, such as a department or team working on a project. Instead of having to include each individual recipient, you can send mail to the distribution group and every member will get it. Here's how to create a distribution group.
- Shared mailbox: Allow a group of people to read and send messages from a common email address. For example, you could set up the shared mailbox questions@coolexample.com so employees who have access could receive and respond to its messages. Here's how to create a shared mailbox.
If you don't know the email addresses going to your current catch-all, follow these steps:
- Sign in to the Exchange admin center. Use your Microsoft 365 email address and password (your GoDaddy username and password won't work here).
- Go to recipients, and then select shared.
- Select
New. - In the new window, enter the following:
- Display name: The name of your shared mailbox. This is what recipients will see when they get mail from this address.
- Email address: The name of the email address before the @, like contact for general inquiries or sales for your sales team. Select your domain from the list after the @.
- Under Users, select Add.
- Enter your preferred users to give them permission to this shared mailbox, and select OK.
- Select Save. It can take about 15 minutes for the shared mailbox to be available for all users.
- Select groups at the top of the page.
- Next to New Microsoft 365 group, select the down arrow, and then select Dynamic distribution list. A new window will open.
- For Display name and Alias, enter allusers.
- Under Owner, select Browse, choose a user, and select OK. The user can now manage this group.
- Under Members (you might need to scroll down to see this), select All recipient types.
- Select Save. You'll see confirmation once it's successfully saved.
- Go to mail flow, and then select accepted domains.
- Select the domain you used to create the shared mailbox.
- In the new window, select Internal Relay and Save.
- Select rules at the top of the page.
- Select New > Create a new rule. A new window will open.
- For Name, enter a name for this rule.
- Select More options.
- Choose the following:
- Apply this rule if: Select The sender > is external/internal > Outside the organization > OK.
- Do the following: Select Redirect the message to > these recipients > your shared mailbox > OK.
- Except if: Select add exception > The recipient > is a member of this group > allusers (your dynamic distribution list from step 10) > OK.
- Select Save. Now all mail from outside of your organization will be delivered to this mailbox if the recipient isn't a member of your allusers distribution list. You can come back anytime and change these settings.
Related step
- To get the most secure and reliable email, update your account to Exchange for all devices.
More info
- See what webmail will look like with Microsoft 365.
- Learn more about moving from Workspace Email to Microsoft 365.
