Auto-forward Google Workspace Aliases to Help Scout

If you are using aliases (alternate email addresses) at Google Workspace to handle your group email addresses, you can split the email sent to each alias into different inboxes at Help Scout using filters at Gmail. 

This article will help you decide if you need to use filters, and will walk you through getting things set up if so. 

Google's help article on aliases is a great resource for learning more about what they are and how they work, if you're not already familiar with their feature: Google Workspace Admin Help: Give a user an additional "email alias" address. 

When to Use Filters

You'll need to use filters to automatically forward email from Google Workspace accounts — even the main user address — if you want to split any of the email addresses out to separate Help Scout inboxes. 

For example, if you want to:

• Forward each email address to its own Help Scout inbox
• Forward any one of the aliases to a different Help Scout inbox than any other email address in the account
• Only forward one (or more) of the aliases to Help Scout, but not the main user address
• Only forward the main email address to Help Scout, but not the aliases

If you actually do want all email that comes to a Gmail inbox — email sent to all of the aliases that belong to that Google account and to the main address — to forward to a single inbox in Help Scout, you don't need to use filters. Head over to Auto-forward From Google Workspace to Help Scout for the steps to set up general forwarding in Gmail instead.

Use Filters to Auto-forward Email

You'll need to create a filter for each address that you want to forward to Help Scout, including the primary user address. 

1

First things first: Make sure you have followed the first steps in Connect Your Custom Address and you have your Help Scout Inbox Address ready. 

2

Log in to Gmail as the main user account for that inbox and make sure that general forwarding setting at Gmail under Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP is set to Disable forwarding. 

3

Add the Help Scout inbox address to the forwarding addresses for your Gmail account. Enter the Help Scout inbox address, and click Next, then Proceed on the Confirm forwarding address modal that will pop up. Gmail will alert you that a confirmation code has been sent to your Help Scout inbox address. Click OK on that alert to close the modal.    

4

Head back to Help Scout and into the inbox to find the confirmation email from Gmail. Click on the link in that email to confirm the request or grab the confirmation code and enter it in the settings at Gmail.

5

Switch back to Gmail. Click Show search options at the end of the search field at the top of the screen.

6

Type in a plus sign ( +) immediately followed by the address you want to forward in the To field then click Create filter. 

7

Select Forward it to: and choose the Help Scout inbox address you want to forward to then click Create filter.  

8

You're all set! Gmail filters are at Settings > Filters and Blocked Addresses in Gmail if you ever need to edit or delete this filter in the future.

Send as a Google Alias Using OAuth

You can set up Outgoing Email Settings in Help Scout set to send via Google for any of the alias addresses as well. In Help Scout, you'll follow the directions as outlined in our article Use Google OAuth to Send From Help Scout, using your primary user address to sign in to Google (not the alias address). 

An important note about authenticating in Help Scout as the primary Google account:

You'll need to add your primary Google address as a Help Scout alias to the inbox in order to authenticate as that primary address if you are not using that primary Google address in your Help Scout account. For example, if you are only forwarding an alias like sales@yourdomain.com to Help Scout, but not the primary user's email of josie.gato@yourdomain.com. 

You will see the error Your Google Account email address must match an Inbox or alias in your company in order to send messages with Google if you try to authenticate with an address that is not in use in your Help Scout account already. Just click over to the Edit Inbox link in the left side navigation and add the address you are authenticating with as an Alias on that page. Then head back to Outgoing Settings and you'll be able to use that primary account to authenticate now. 

Head over to Gmail for your primary account after you've connected Help Scout. You'll need to take a few more steps there so that Google will allow Help Scout to send as the alias. 

1

Go to Settings > Accounts in Gmail. Click Add another email address in the Send mail as: section of that page. 

2

Type in the Name you'd like to show as the from name on emails sent, and the alias Email address you want to be able to send from. Make sure to leave Treat as an alias checked and click Next Step >>. 

Note: The from name here will override what you have set in Help Scout when you're using Google to send! 

3

And that's it on the Google side of things! There isn't actually a next step, despite the name of that button. You'll see your alias address listed as one of the addresses you can use to send from Gmail.

Help Scout will connect to Google and authenticate as your main user, but will send as the custom email address, or the alias address, you've connected to your inbox.