How to Enable External Email Forwarding in Microsoft 365 for BoldDesk

When setting up email forwarding to BoldDesk, it is crucial to verify with your M365 administrator whether external email forwarding is enabled in your Microsoft 365 (M365) environment. If external forwarding is not enabled, M365’s default outbound spam protection will block the request, and you’ll receive an email with the following error:

To resolve this issue, follow the steps below to enable external forwarding for individual mailboxes.

Enable the functionality of External Forwarding for Individual Mailboxes

1. Log in to the M365 Defender as an administrator and navigate to the Anti-spam policies page.
   
   

2. Click on Create policy and select Outbound.
   

   

3. Assign a Name and Description to your new outbound spam filter policy, then click Next.
   

   

4. Search for and select the user account that will forward emails to BoldDesk. The selected account will appear under the Users field. Click Next.

   

5. Enable Automatic Forwarding

• Scroll to the Forwarding rules section.

• Under Automatic forwarding rules, select On – Forwarding is enabled from the dropdown menu.

• Click Next.

  

6. Review and Create Policy

• Review the settings on the final screen.

• Click Create to generate the new outbound policy for the designated user(s).

  

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Why do I need to enable external email forwarding in Microsoft 365 for BoldDesk?
External email forwarding must be enabled to allow emails from your Microsoft 365 mailbox to be forwarded to BoldDesk. If this setting is disabled, Microsoft 365’s default outbound spam protection will block the forwarding request.

2. What happens if external forwarding is not enabled?
If external forwarding is disabled, you will receive a bounce-back email with the following error message:

550 5.7.520 Access denied. Your organization does not allow external forwarding. Please contact your administrator for further assistance. AS(7550)

3. Who can enable external forwarding in Microsoft 365?
Only users with administrator privileges in Microsoft 365 can enable external forwarding. If you do not have admin access, contact your M365 administrator.

4. How do I enable external forwarding for a specific mailbox?
To enable external forwarding:

1. Log in to Microsoft 365 Defender as an administrator.
2. Navigate to the Anti-Spam Policies page.
3. Create a new Outbound spam filter policy.
4. Assign a name and description, then select the user account that will forward emails to BoldDesk.
5. Under Forwarding rules, set Automatic forwarding rules to On – Forwarding is enabled.
6. Review and create the policy.

5. Why don’t I see the Anti-Spam policy options in Microsoft 365 Defender?
If you cannot see the options:

• Ensure you are logged in with an admin account.
• Verify that you have sufficient permissions to create or edit policies.
• Note that the interface may differ based on your organization’s configuration.

6. Does enabling external forwarding affect all users?
No. The steps above enable external forwarding for specific mailboxes. You can configure policies for individual users without affecting the entire organization.

7. What should I do if forwarding still doesn’t work after enabling the policy?

• Confirm that the policy is applied to the correct user account.
• Check if there are other security or compliance policies blocking forwarding.
• Contact your M365 administrator for further troubleshooting.