# Email address is going away... how do I foward? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address-is-going-away-how-do-i-foward/453107 "2008-06-16T15:25:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address-is-going-away-how-do-i-foward/453107/1 "2008-06-16T15:25:46Z")
I’m sure this has been addressed before but there were a lot of searches too cull through and I thought perhaps there was some newfangled ways out there. Anyway, my email address of the last 10 years or so is going bye bye in August, and I’m wondering what I need to do to forward any mail sent there to my new address. And do I have to go to every site using it one by one and change the account there? ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address-is-going-away-how-do-i-foward/453107/2 "2008-06-16T15:41:35Z")
You really haven’t given us enough information to answer this. What do you mean going away? Are you switching email providers, is the service going out of business, are you switching jobs? If your account is being removed, unless there is someone at the server where you currently receive your email to set up forwarding, you’re out of luck. If this is a situation of switching jobs, you might be able to do it, otherwise probably not. ISPs in general don’t want to get involved in setting up forwarding addresses. If your account is not being deleted, you’ve only decided to stop using it, then depending on the ISP, you might be able to set up forwarding. If this is a web-based email like gmail, then you can set up forwarding through the web interface, but the availability of forwarding varies from provider to provider. And yes, you will need to change all your website registrations. For the future, you might want to find an email address that you can depend on long term, so you won’t have to worry about doing this again. I use my gmail address for this, and my email client connects to gmail using IMAP (you can use POP3 if you prefer). I do not use my ISP’s email provision much, except for mailing list subscriptions that won’t accept free email providers. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Ryle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Mark\_Ryle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Ryle)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address-is-going-away-how-do-i-foward/453107/3 "2008-06-16T15:49:34Z")
[QUOTE=Running with Scissors] I do not use my ISP’s email provision much, except for mailing list subscriptions that won’t accept free email providers. [/QUOTE] What is the reason they won’t? ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address-is-going-away-how-do-i-foward/453107/4 "2008-06-16T15:53:06Z")
Presumably to cut down on spam, although I’ve never really investigated. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address-is-going-away-how-do-i-foward/453107/5 "2008-06-16T15:55:14Z")
[QUOTE=cainxinth] And do I have to go to every site using it one by one and change the account there? [/QUOTE] Pretty much. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address-is-going-away-how-do-i-foward/453107/6 "2008-06-16T16:14:50Z")
[QUOTE=Running with Scissors] You really haven’t given us enough information to answer this. What do you mean going away? Are you switching email providers, is the service going out of business, are you switching jobs? [/QUOTE] I currently have four accounts. I use gmail for all my personal correspondence. I have and old school account and a work account. And I have a Comcast account that I made over ten years ago when I was in middle school. My parents are canceling their Comcast and switching to Verizon Fios in August. I use that account for all my website registrations. So I guess there is no universal or easy way to let the internet know [x@x.com](mailto:x@x.com) is dead and to send any mail to [y@y.com](mailto:y@y.com)? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address-is-going-away-how-do-i-foward/453107/7 "2008-06-16T16:24:25Z")
[QUOTE=cainxinth] I currently have four accounts. I use gmail for all my personal correspondence. I have and old school account and a work account. And I have a Comcast account that I made over ten years ago when I was in middle school. My parents are canceling their Comcast and switching to Verizon Fios in August. I use that account for all my website registrations. So I guess there is no universal or easy way to let the internet know [x@x.com](mailto:x@x.com) is dead and to send any mail to [y@y.com](mailto:y@y.com)? [/QUOTE] You leave a forwarding address at [x@x.com](mailto:x@x.com). Details will be specific to the provider. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address-is-going-away-how-do-i-foward/453107/8 "2008-06-16T16:35:28Z")
[QUOTE=Terminus Est] You leave a forwarding address at [x@x.com](mailto:x@x.com). Details will be specific to the provider. [/QUOTE] And if you are terminating service with [x.com](http://x.com) they have no incentive to allow you to do this. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address-is-going-away-how-do-i-foward/453107/9 "2008-06-16T16:40:18Z")
[QUOTE=cainxinth] So I guess there is no universal or easy way to let the internet know [x@x.com](mailto:x@x.com) is dead and to send any mail to [y@y.com](mailto:y@y.com)? [/QUOTE] No, because there is no central clearinghouse for email, no Internet Post Office. You can’t let “the Internet” know because the Internet doesn’t care. As mentioned, your only chance is if Comcast will agree to forward mail, and they have no motivation to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/email-address-is-going-away-how-do-i-foward/453107/10 "2008-06-16T17:01:52Z")
To prevent this problem, buy yourself a domain name like **[cainxinth.org](http://cainxinth.org)**. Host it with someone who will forward your email. Then use that to register on websites. For example, for the SDMB, you might register as sdmb (at) [cainxinth.org](http://cainxinth.org). When you change your ISP, all you have to do is change the forwarding on the domain.