Enable external forwarding in Microsoft 365

If you're having trouble forwarding emails to Commslayer, it's often because Microsoft 365 blocks external forwarding by default. When this happens, you'll likely receive an error message in your inbox that looks like this:

550 5.7.520 Access denied, Your organization does not allow external forwarding. Please contact your administrator for further assistance. AS(7550)

This message can be misleading—it might sound like Commslayer rejected the email. In reality, Microsoft 365 blocked the email from even leaving your account because external forwarding isn't enabled. To fix this, you'll need to adjust your Microsoft 365 settings by following these steps.

Step 1: Sign in to Microsoft 365 admin center

1. Go to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center and sign in with your admin credentials.

2. Navigate to the Microsoft Defender Portal.

Step 2: Access the outbound spam filter policy

1. In the Microsoft Defender Portal, go to Email & collaboration > Policies & rules.

2. Select Threat policies, then click on Anti-spam outbound policy (Default).

3. Under Protection settings, find the section labeled Automatic forwarding rules.

4. Click Edit protection settings.

5. In the Forwarding rules section, change the dropdown to On - Forwarding is enabled.

6. In the Restriction placed on users who reach the message limit section, set the option to No action, alert only to avoid unnecessary disruptions if limits are reached.

5. Click Save to confirm the changes.

Step 3: Redirect emails instead of forwarding

For Commslayer to function properly, emails need to be redirected rather than simply forwarded. Forwarded emails appear to come from the original sender, which can interfere with proper delivery. Redirected emails maintain the original sender's information, ensuring seamless integration with Commslayer.

How to set up email redirection

1. Sign in to your Outlook on the Web account.

2. Go to Settings > Mail > Rules.

3. Create a new rule with the following settings:

   • Condition: Apply to all messages (or set a specific condition as needed).

   • Action: Select Redirect to and enter the Commslayer email address.

4. Check the option to Stop processing more rules to ensure this rule applies correctly.

5. Save the rule.

Step 4: Test email redirection

1. Send a test email to the account with redirection enabled.

2. Confirm that the email successfully redirects to your Commslayer account while retaining the original sender's details.

Troubleshooting

If you still encounter issues:

• Double-check that the Outbound spam filter policy was updated and saved.

• Ensure that your organization's security policies allow external forwarding and redirection.

• Verify that the redirection rule in Outlook was set up correctly with no conflicting rules.

• Confirm that the redirection address is correct and active.

For further assistance, contact your IT administrator or Microsoft 365 support.