How to set up a catch-all email address in Plesk

What is a catch-all?

Imagine a post office that gets a letter for a person who does not live there. A catch-all is a rule that sends such letters to one chosen mailbox instead of throwing them away.

For example, someone mistypes sals@yourdomain.com instead of sales@yourdomain.com. With a catch-all, you still get that message.

Warning: a catch-all can attract a lot of spam, because spammers guess random names. Turn on a spam filter if you use it.

Before you start

Create the mailbox that will receive the extra mail. It can be an existing one, like info@yourdomain.com. You can also use an address on another domain.

Steps

1. Log in to Plesk.
2. Click Mail in the left menu. Or open Websites & Domains and click your domain, then Mail.
3. Click the Mail Settings tab.
4. Click the name of your domain.
5. Find the choice named Mail to nonexistent users. It may be worded as "If the recipient does not exist".
6. Select Forward to address.
7. Type the email address that should get the mail.
8. Click OK.

Now send a test email to a made-up address on your domain. For example, testing123@yourdomain.com. It should land in the chosen mailbox.

The other choices

• Bounce with message: the sender gets an error. Your mailbox stays clean. This is the usual setting.
• Reject: the server refuses the mail before it is accepted.

Turn the catch-all off

1. Go back to Mail Settings for your domain.
2. Select Bounce with message or Reject.
3. Click OK.

Need help? Open a support ticket.

Quick recap

• A catch-all collects mail sent to addresses that do not exist.
• Set it in Mail Settings with Forward to address.
• Test it with a made-up address.
• It can bring spam, so use a spam filter or turn it off.