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Over time, email accounts accumulate forwarders and autoresponders that are forgotten or no longer required. These configurations can create security risks, trigger spam filters, or cause delivery loops. Regularly auditing and cleaning up these settings is essential for maintaining reliable email delivery.
This guide shows you how to locating email forwarders and autoresponders in cPanel on Hosted.com®.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Locating Email Forwarders in cPanel
1. Login to your Hosted.com® client area using your registered email address and password.
2. From the dashboard, locate the hosting service associated with the domain in which email forwarding is configured, then click Manage.
3.Select Login to cPanel to access your hosting control panel.
4. In the cPanel interface, scroll to the Email section and click Forwarders.
5. Review both account-level and domain-level forwarders carefully, checking that messages are being redirected only to intended recipients and that no outdated or unnecessary forwarders remain active.
Locating Autoresponders
1. In cPanel, navigate to Email → Autoresponders to see all automatic response settings currently configured for your email accounts.
2. Review the list of active autoresponders to confirm that each one is still required and correctly configured, paying special attention to any that may continue sending messages after staff or role changes.
3. Disable or delete any autoresponders that are no longer necessary, as leaving them active can cause infinite loops, unnecessary server load, or automatic responses being sent to spam messages.
Common Risks of Unmanaged Forwarders & Autoresponders
- Automatic replies may be sent in response to spam or phishing messages; this may confirm that an email address is active and increase future spam attempts.
- Misconfigured forwarders and autoresponders can create infinite response loops between mail servers, resulting in unnecessary server load and potential service disruption.
- Uncontrolled automated messaging can lead to increased spam complaints from recipients, which negatively impacts your domain’s sending reputation.
- Over time, poor forwarder and autoresponder management can reduce sender reputation, making it more difficult for legitimate emails from your domain to reach recipient inboxes.
Additional Information
- Autoresponders should be disabled immediately after they have served their purpose, as leaving them active for extended periods can result in automatic replies being sent to unwanted or malicious emails.
- Email forwarders are frequently left active after staff changes or role transitions, which can cause messages to be delivered to unintended recipients and create potential security concerns.
- Outdated forwarding rules may unintentionally expose sensitive or confidential information by redirecting messages to personal or unsecured email accounts.
- Some spam filtering systems penalize domains that generate excessive automated replies, as this behavior is commonly associated with spam or misconfigured mail servers.
- Performing regular audits of forwarders and autoresponders helps reduce security risks, improves email reliability, and ensures that all active configurations are required.
- Email forwarders do not respect mailbox storage quotas; this can make it difficult to track message volumes and manage email usage effectively.
- Using centralized mailboxes accessed via IMAP is generally safer and more manageable than relying on multiple forwarding rules spread across different addresses.
Login to Hosted.com® Account
1. Go to the Hosted.com® website Account Login page.
2. Enter your Email and Password and click the Sign In button.
3. You will see the Hosted.com® Dashboard, displaying the Manage Account menu on the left and your Account Information, Account Overview and Open Support Tickets on the right.
Login to cPanel from your Hosted.com® Dashboard
4. Click on Manage Services to view the sub-dropdown menu and select the hosting package for the domain you want to work with – in our example we are using WordPress Hosting.
5. Click the Manage button to the right of the domain name you want to access.
6. The display will now show Product Information, Quick Manage, Resource Usage and Site Statistics for that domain name.
7. Under Product Information, scroll down to Control Panel, which will display cPanel to the right, and click on the Login button.
8. The cPanel Dashboard will now be displa
