Help Center

Forwarding an Email as an Attachment

In some cases, you may need to forward an email as an email attachment. In contrast to regular forwarding, the headers of the original email are preserved, which can be necessary for troubleshooting issues such as blacklisting and bounced emails.

Please Note

Emails that you forward to IONOS Customer Service for phishing/spam checks in EML or MSG format must be compressed before sending.

If you are unsure about how to compress files, please see the instructions below:

Compressing Files in Windows

Compressing Files on Mac

Email Programs: Converting Emails to Attachments

Thunderbird

  • Open or select/highlight the email to be forwarded.
  • From the menu, select Message > Forward as > Attachment. A new email is created.
  • Enter the new recipient and change the subject if necessary before you send the email.

Outlook 365 and 2013/2016/2019

  • Open the email to be forwarded.
  • From the ribbon, choose Reply > More > Forward as Attachment. A new email is created.
  • Enter the new recipient and change the subject if necessary before sending the email.

Apple Mail in macOS

  • Open the email that you want to forward as an attachment.
  • Select Email > Forward as > Attachment from the menu bar. A new email is created.
  • Enter the new recipient and change the subject if necessary before sending the email.

Webmail Services: Converting Emails to Attachments

IONOS Webmail

  • Log in to Webmail.
  • Click the Edit Settings button on the right side of the menu bar. The icon is represented by a gear to the left of your initials or profile photo.
  • Select Email > Compose > Forward email as > Attachment.

Please Note: This setting remains valid until it is changed again.

Gmail

  • Sign in to Gmail.
  • Right-click on the email that you want to forward and choose Forward as Attachment in the context menu. A new email is created.
  • Enter the new recipient and change the subject if necessary before sending the email.

Outlook Web App

  • Sign in to Outlook Web App.
  • Click on New Email. A new window opens.
  • From the Email overview in Outlook Web App, drag the email you want to send into the editing window of the new email. The email will automatically be inserted as an attachment.

Saving Email Locally and Compressing (ZIP File)

With some email programs and webmail services, emails cannot be forwarded as attachments at all - or only with some effort. In this case you can save the email locally and send the resulting file as an attachment.

Optionally, you can still pack the saved email in a ZIP file:

Windows

  • Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder where you saved the email.
  • Right-click on the file. A context menu opens.
  • Select Send To > Compressed (zipped) folder. A typically smaller version of the source file is created with the .zip extension.

macOS

  • Open the Finder and navigate to the file.
  • Select the file and click on the gear symbol in the menu bar.
  • Click on "Compress file name" to compress the file. The "File name" corresponds to the name you gave the email when you saved it.

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