Apps Documentation & Support
Designate a catch-all address only when you really need it. Spammers often try to guess email addresses in your domain; when they guess incorrectly, the spam is delivered to the catch-all address. The volume of incoming messages may well exceed the Gmail receiving limits, resulting in the account becoming locked or in legitimate messages being deferred, delayed, or bounced.
To create a catch-all address for delivering messages addressed to non-existent recipients:
- Sign in to the Google Admin console.
- Do one of the following:
- In the classic Admin console, click Settings > Gmail.
- In the new Admin console, click Google Apps > Gmail > Users.
Where is it? Which Admin console do I have?
- (Free edition) In the Catch-all address section, select the Forward the mail to: radio button. (Other editions) In the Email routing section, select the Route to catch-all address: radio button.
- Enter the user name to which mail addressed to unknown users will be forwarded. The user name must be a valid account in your domain. Do not include the domain name; Google Apps automatically adds @your-domain to the address.
- Click Save changes.
To bounce messages addressed to non-existent recipients:
- Sign in to the Google Admin console.
- Do one of the following:
- In the classic Admin console, click Settings > Gmail.
- In the new Admin console, click Google Apps > Gmail > Users.
Where is it? Which Admin console do I have?
- (Free edition) In the Catch-all address section, select the Discard radio button. (Other editions) In the Email routing section, select the Discard radio button.
- Click Save changes.
