Replying As Your Forwarded Email Address in Gmail

The Problem

By default, when you reply to a forwarded email in Gmail, your reply comes FROM your Gmail address — not your custom domain address. This can be confusing for recipients.

The Solution: SMTP Credentials

To reply from your custom email address, Gmail needs permission to send emails through AWS SES on your behalf. This requires SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) credentials.

Step 1: Request SMTP Credentials

Step 2: Add Email Address to Gmail

1. Open Gmail
2. Click the gear icon → See all settings
3. Go to the Accounts and Import tab
4. Find Send mail as
5. Click Add another email address

Step 3: Enter Your Email Information

A popup window will appear:

1. Name: Enter your name or company name (e.g., "Support Team" or "John at MyCompany")
2. Email address: Enter your forwarding address (e.g., contact@yourcompany.com)
3. UNCHECK "Treat as an alias" — This is important!
4. Click Next Step

Step 4: Enter SMTP Settings

Now Gmail will ask for SMTP server details:

1. SMTP Server: email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com
2. Port: 587
3. Username: Paste the username from Step 1
4. Password: Paste the password from Step 1
5. Secured connection using TLS: Make sure this is checked ✓
6. Click Add Account

Step 5: Verify Your Email Address

1. Gmail will send a verification email to contact@yourcompany.com
2. Since you have forwarding set up, it will arrive in your Gmail inbox
3. Open the verification email
4. Click the verification link
5. Done! ✅

Step 6: Using Your Custom Address

When composing or replying to emails:

1. Look for the From field at the top of the compose window
2. Click the dropdown arrow
3. Select contact@yourcompany.com
4. Send your email

Recipients will see it came from your professional address!

Troubleshooting

Error: "Email address is not verified"

This usually means there's a region mismatch. The SMTP credentials must be from the same AWS region as your email forwarding setup.

Solution: Contact Formtabulo.us support and request new SMTP credentials for the us-east-1 region.

Error: "Authentication failed"

Double-check your username and password:

• Make sure there are no extra spaces when copying/pasting
• Verify you're using the correct credentials for your domain
• Confirm the port is set to 587 (not 465 or 25)

Gmail Doesn't Ask for SMTP Settings

This happens if you leave "Treat as an alias" checked. To fix:

1. Delete the email address you just added
2. Start over from Step 2
3. Make sure to UNCHECK "Treat as an alias"

Verification Email Doesn't Arrive

Check that:

• Your forwarding rule is Active (not Paused)
• The forwarding destination is correct
• Check your Gmail spam folder

Testing Your Setup

Send yourself a test email to verify everything works:

1. Send an email from a different account to contact@yourcompany.com
2. Check that it arrives in your Gmail inbox ✓
3. Click Reply
4. Change the "From" field to contact@yourcompany.com
5. Send the reply
6. Check the other account — reply should show it came from contact@yourcompany.com ✓

Other Email Providers

These instructions are for Gmail, but the same SMTP credentials work with:

• Outlook.com / Hotmail — Settings → View all Outlook settings → Email → Sync email → Connected accounts
• Apple Mail (iPhone/Mac) — Settings → Mail → Accounts → Add Account → Other → Add Mail Account
• Thunderbird — Account Settings → Account Actions → Add Mail Account

The SMTP settings are the same for all email clients — just use the credentials provided by Formtabulo.us.