University Computer Help Desk

How to send from an email alias in Outlook 2007

You can configure Outlook to use an email alias as the reply-to address when sending email.

Before You Begin

If you have an email alias, you can configure Outlook 2007 to use that email address as the reply-to address when sending email.

Example of When to Send From an Email Alias

Reggie Redbird's department has the email alias, illinoisathletes@ilstu.edu. Reggie receives email sent to illinoisathletes@ilstu.edu in his regular rrredbi@ilstu.edu account. When he replies to those emails, he wants the messages to come from illinoisathletes@ilstu.edu instead of from his personal email account. Outlook can be configured to do this for Reggie.

Configure Outlook 2007 with an Email Alias Account

To configure Outlook 2007 so you can send email from an email alias, do the following:

  1. Launch Outlook 2007.
  2. Click Tools > Account Settings...
  3. Click New...
  4. Select Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP, or HTTP and click Next.
  5. Select Manually configure server settings or additional server types and click Next.
  6. Select Internet E-mail and click Next.
  7. Complete the Internet E-mail Settings page as follows:
    • Your Name: Type a name for the email alias. This name will appear when you send email using the alias.
    • E-mail Address: Type the email address for the email alias.
    • Account Type: Choose IMAP.
    • Incoming mail server: Type mail.ilstu.edu
    • Outgoing mail server (SMTP): Type smtp.ilstu.edu
    • User Name: Type the first part of the email address before the @ symbol.
    • Password: Leave this box blank, and remove the check mark next to Remember password.
  8. Click Next and then click Finish.
  9. Outlook will immediately ask you for the password for the new account. Click Cancel when you are asked to enter a password.
  10. Within Outlook, click Tools > Options....
  11. Click the Mail Setup tab.
  12. Click Send/Receive....
  13. Select the group named All Accounts and click Edit....
  14. Select the new email alias account from the list on the left.
  15. Then remove the check mark from the box labeled, Include the selected account in this group.
  16. Click OK. Then click Close. Then click OK.

Outlook 2007 is now configured with an alias address you can use to send email, but you need to create a rule to copy sent messages to your regular account's Sent Items folder.

Create Rule for Sent Items

You should create a rule that will copy email sent From: your alias address to the Sent Items folder on your regular account. If you don't do this, your sent email won't all be stored in the same folder. If you use a different folder to store sent email (for example, "Sent"), you can choose that folder when creating this rule.

To create a rule to copy sent messages to your regular account's Sent Items folder, do the following:

  1. Within Outlook 2007, click Go > Mail to ensure you are in the email portion of Outlook.
  2. Click Tools > Rules and Alerts....
    • If you don't see Rules and Alerts in the Tools menu, select the Inbox for your regular address and try again.
  3. Select Inbox [<alias address>] from the drop-down menu labeled Apply changes to this folder:.
    • For example, if your alias address is illinoisathletes@ilstu.edu, select Inbox [illinoisathletes@ilstu.edu] from the menu.
  4. Click New Rule....
  5. Select Check messages after sending.
  6. Click Next.
  7. Put a check mark next to the option, through the specified account.
  8. In the box at the bottom of the window, click specified.
  9. Select your alias address from the drop-down menu labeled Account:. Then click OK.
    • For example, if your alias address is illinoisathletes@ilstu.edu, select that from the Account: menu.
  10. Click Next.
  11. Put a check mark next to the option, move a copy to the specified folder.
  12. In the box at the bottom of the window, click specified.
  13. Click the plus (+) sign next to your regular email address (i.e. yourULID@ilstu.edu). Then browse to the Sent Items folder for that account, select it, and click OK.
    • If you use a different folder to store sent mail, select that folder instead.
  14. Click Next.
  15. The next screen asks if there are any exceptions, but there are none. Click Next.
  16. Enter Copy Sent Email for <alias address> to Sent Items on <regular address> in the box labeled Step 1: Specify a name for this rule.
    • For example, Reggie Redbird would name his rule, Copy Sent Email for illinoisathletes@ilstu.edu to Sent Items on rrredbi@ilstu.edu.
  17. Click Finish.
  18. You will see the message, This rule is a client-only rule, and will process only when Outlook is running. Click OK.
  19. Click Apply. Then click OK.

You have created a rule that will copy email sent From: your alias address to the Sent Items folder on your regular account. This will help ensure all of your sent email is stored in the same Sent Items folder.

Send a Test Email and Specify Sent Items

The first time you send an email with your email alias, Outlook will ask where you want to store a copy of the sent message. You've already created a rule to copy sent emails into your Sent Items folder on your regular account, but Outlook will still ask you what you want to do the first time. It's also a good idea to send a test email to verify that everything is working the way you expect it to.

To send a test email using the alias address and specify your Sent Items folder, do the following:

  1. Click New to compose a new email message.
  2. Click the Account drop-down menu located beneath the Send button.
  3. Select the alias address from the list of accounts.
  4. Compose a test message and send it.
    • Send the test email to yourself or to a coworker to confirm it is working as expected.
  5. When you click Send, you will get a message that says, You have not chosen a folder to save copies of your sent messages for this e-mail account. If you do not choose a folder, copies of your sent items are only saved locally in the default Outlook Sent Items folder.
  6. Click Use Default Folder.

Send Email using an Email Alias Account

To send email using the alias address, do the following:

  1. Click New to compose a new email message.
  2. Click the Account drop-down menu located beneath the Send button.
  3. Select the alias address from the list of accounts.
  4. Compose your message like normal and send it. The email will be sent from the address you selected.

 

Article Information

  • Article ID: 1318
  • Last Review: Mar 12, 2009
  • Type: Instructions

Print this articleEmail this articleShare this article on Facebook

Article Feedback