This article guides you through setting up email forwarding into Engage, so emails sent to your clinic's existing inbox also arrive as conversations in the Email tab of the Engage inbox. A guided wizard gives you a dedicated Pabau forwarding address, walks you through adding it in your email provider, and even watches for the provider's verification email so you never have to leave the window.
NOTE: Email in Engage is free — there is no credit charge or subscription for receiving or sending email. If you would prefer to connect a staff mailbox directly and reply from your own address, we suggest reading our How to Connect Gmail or Microsoft 365 (Outlook) to Engage article.
Step 1: Open the Email Forwarding Wizard
In Engage, click Channels in the navigation rail to open the Channel Catalog, then select the Email tab. On the Email card, click Forward an inbox. The Set up email forwarding wizard opens with four steps: Provider, Address, Forwarding and Test.
Step 2: Choose Your Email Provider
On the first step, Which email provider do you use?, pick Google / Gmail, Microsoft 365 or Other provider. The wizard tailors its instructions to your choice, and Steps 4–6 below include a detailed walkthrough for both Gmail and Microsoft 365 (Outlook). If you use another provider, the same pattern applies: add the Pabau address as a forwarding destination, verify it, then turn forwarding on.
Step 3: Copy Your Pabau Forwarding Address
The wizard shows your clinic's unique Pabau forwarding address (it ends in @pabaumail.com). Click Copy. Then fill in Your existing support inbox with the address your clients already email — Pabau stores this so your team knows which mailbox forwards here. Click Continue.
NOTE: The Pabau forwarding address is generated for your account and cannot be changed.
Step 4: Add the Address in Your Email Provider
The wizard now shows instructions tailored to your provider. Follow the matching section below, then return to the wizard and click I've added it - watch for verification.
If you use Gmail / Google Workspace:
- Click Open Google forwarding settings ↗ in the wizard — or, in Gmail, click the gear icon in the top right and choose See all settings. Open the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab and click Add a forwarding address.
- Paste your Pabau forwarding address into the box and click Next.
- A confirmation window opens — click Proceed. Google now sends its verification email to your Pabau inbox, which the wizard picks up in the next step.
If you use Microsoft 365 / Outlook:
- Open Outlook on the web, click the gear icon in the top right to open Settings, then go to Mail → Forwarding (in some Outlook versions the section is named Email → Forwarding).
- Turn on the Enable forwarding toggle.
- In Forward my email to, paste your Pabau forwarding address.
- Tick Keep a copy of forwarded messages — without it, forwarded emails are not kept in your Outlook inbox.
- Click Save.
NOTE: On Microsoft 365 business accounts, your administrator may have blocked forwarding to external addresses. If forwarded emails never arrive in Pabau, ask your IT administrator to allow forwarding to your Pabau address.
Step 5: Confirm the Verification Email
When you add the address, your provider sends a verification email to your Pabau inbox. The wizard watches for it automatically — keep the window open. For Gmail, the wizard displays the confirmation code with a Copy code button and a Confirm forwarding with Google ↗ link; click the link to approve the request, then back in the wizard click Confirm forwarding ↗ to continue.
Alternatively, click Copy code and paste the code into the Verify box that now appears on Gmail's Forwarding and POP/IMAP settings page, then click Verify. Either way, refresh Google's forwarding settings page afterwards so the Pabau address shows as verified.
For Microsoft 365 and other providers, the wizard tells you when the verification email has arrived — open it from the Email tab, click the confirmation link inside, then click Continue in the wizard.
TIP: If the wizard keeps watching for longer than expected, click Check again and make sure you entered the forwarding address in your provider exactly as shown.
Step 6: Turn On Forwarding in Your Provider
Verifying the address does not start forwarding by itself in Gmail — one final step in Google's settings is needed. (Microsoft 365 users can skip this: the Enable forwarding toggle you switched on in Step 4 already turned forwarding on — just double-check it is still on and the address is correct.)
If you use Gmail / Google Workspace:
- Reopen Settings → See all settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
- Select Forward a copy of incoming mail to and pick the Pabau address from the dropdown — it now shows as verified. In the dropdown next to it, keep keep Gmail's copy in the Inbox so the original emails also stay in Gmail.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save Changes — this is what actually turns forwarding on.
Back in the wizard, click Done - forwarding is on.
NOTE: Nothing is saved until you click Done - forwarding is on — closing the wizard partway through leaves no half-finished setup behind.
Step 7: Send a Test Email
On the final step, click Send test email. Pabau sends a test message through your new forwarding address, and the wizard confirms with Forwarding is set up. Click Open Email inbox to watch it arrive in the Email tab as an inbound conversation — it can take a few minutes to appear, and the same applies to forwarded emails from your clients.
Changing or Removing Forwarding
Once forwarding is configured, the Email card's button changes to Manage forwarding. From there you can copy your Pabau forwarding address, see the inbox recorded under Forwarding from, click Edit forwarding to change the setup, or click Remove to clear it.
IMPORTANT: Removing forwarding in Pabau only clears the record on the Pabau side. Mail keeps arriving until you also delete the forwarding rule in your provider (Gmail → Settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP, or Outlook → Settings → Mail → Forwarding). Emails already received stay in your inbox.
NOTE: The saved source inbox is recorded against the staff member who set it up, so a colleague opening Manage forwarding may see "No source inbox recorded." even though forwarding is active.
We suggest reading our Email in Engage: Sending, Forwarding and Mailboxes Explained article for an overview of how email works in Engage.
For more guides, refer to related articles below, select additional guides, or use the search bar at the top of the page. These guides will help you get the most out of your Pabau account.
Additionally, to help you fully utilize and understand your Pabau account, we recommend exploring additional guides and resources offered at the Pabau Academy.