Replying from an alias is a setup in which a reply to a forwarded message is sent from the alias address rather than the real address. This page covers enabling Can Reply on a verified destination, checking the alias permission mode, replying from the inbox in the normal way, and confirming that the sent reply shows the alias.
A destination inbox added to the account and verified. Verification is covered in Verifying a destination. An alias forwarding to that destination is also needed. A greyed out Can Reply toggle means the destination is not yet verified.
Can Reply setup#
Without Can Reply, a reply to a forwarded email is sent from the real address rather than the alias. Enabling Can Reply on a destination changes that behaviour. With Can Reply on, AliasFleet re-sends the reply so the recipient sees the alias address as the sender, and the real address does not appear in the reply.
How do I enable Can Reply on a destination?#
Open Destinations, locate the destination, and switch Can Reply on. The destination must be verified first. A greyed out toggle means verification is still incomplete, so finish verification and then return to this step.
How do I know the destination is ready for replies?#
The Can Reply toggle is available instead of greyed out, and the destination shows as verified. If either condition is absent, replies from that destination continue to be sent from the real address.
Reply process#
With Can Reply enabled, the normal reply habit needs no change. Replying to the forwarded message is sufficient. A new compose does not route through the alias, because reply routing depends on the original forwarded message.
- Open the forwarded email in the destination inbox.
- Reply to that email from the inbox, in the usual way.
- Send the reply without altering the sender address or starting a new message.
For sending a fresh message from an alias rather than replying, see Send from aliases. The two routes are separate: this page covers replies to forwarded mail only.
Reply routing#
Which alias does the reply come from?#
The reply comes from the alias the original email was forwarded through. AliasFleet records this in the email headers, so the correct alias is used for the reply with no manual selection at reply time.
How does the recipient see the reply?#
The recipient sees the alias as the sender of the reply. The real address does not appear as the sender. The alias therefore remains the address the other party deals with, while the destination inbox stays private.
Permission mode#
Permission mode decides which destinations can reply through a given alias. The setting sits on the alias rather than the destination, so both settings need checking when a reply is blocked.
How does Strict mode affect replies?#
In Strict mode, only the destination the alias is directly assigned to can reply through that alias. Other destinations on the account cannot use that alias for replies, even when Can Reply is enabled on them.
How does Open mode affect replies?#
In Open mode, any destination with Can Reply enabled can reply through the alias. The full detail is in Alias permission mode.
Reply verification#
How do I confirm a reply went out from the alias?#
Check the reply as received by the original sender. The from address on that received reply should be the alias, not the real address. If the received reply shows the real address, Can Reply was not enabled on the destination used for the reply, or the permission mode blocked that destination. Work through the checks in the troubleshooting section below before retrying.
Troubleshooting#
Why does a reply still show the real address?#
A reply shows the real address when Can Reply is off for the destination used for the reply, when the alias permission mode blocks that destination, or when the message was a new compose instead of a reply to the forwarded email. Check all three points in order: Can Reply on, permission mode allowing the destination, and reply made to the forwarded email.
What if replies are not working at all?#
The checks above cover the setup side of this page. For reply failures beyond setup, including messages that do not arrive or errors during sending, see Replies not working, which covers reply failure detail in full.
For background on how aliases keep the real address out of correspondence, see Give Every Site Its Own Email Alias and They All Land in Your Inbox.