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Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail

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  Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Jo-Anne <Jo-Anne@nowhere.com> - 2026-08-07 13:25 -0500
    Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "David E. Ross" <nobody@nowhere.invalid> - 2026-08-07 11:37 -0700
      Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail MikeS <MikeS@fred.com> - 2026-08-07 21:10 +0100
        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "David E. Ross" <nobody@nowhere.invalid> - 2026-08-07 13:26 -0700
        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Jo-Anne <Jo-Anne@nowhere.com> - 2026-08-07 16:14 -0500
          Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Thomas Barghahn <Th.Barghahn@t-online.de> - 2026-08-08 00:49 +0200
            Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Jo-Anne <Jo-Anne@nowhere.com> - 2026-08-07 18:55 -0500
              Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Thomas Barghahn <Th.Barghahn@t-online.de> - 2026-08-08 02:53 +0200
                Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Jo-Anne <Jo-Anne@nowhere.com> - 2026-08-08 12:26 -0500
      Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Gmail User <gmail@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-07 21:48 +0100
        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2026-08-08 16:07 +0000
    Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Gmail User <gmail@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-07 22:14 +0100
      Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Jo-Anne <Jo-Anne@nowhere.com> - 2026-08-07 16:38 -0500
    Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Stan Brown <someone@example.com> - 2026-08-07 17:07 -0700
      Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Jo-Anne <Jo-Anne@nowhere.com> - 2026-08-08 12:34 -0500
        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail MikeS <MikeS@fred.com> - 2026-08-08 21:11 +0100
          Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> - 2026-08-09 13:08 +0100
            Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-09 13:35 +0100
              Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> - 2026-08-09 15:34 +0100
                Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-09 15:45 +0100
    Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> - 2026-08-08 19:59 +0100
      Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Mike Easter <MikeE@ster.invalid> - 2026-08-08 13:23 -0700
        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Mike Easter <MikeE@ster.invalid> - 2026-08-10 08:15 -0700
          Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-10 17:24 +0100
      Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Jo-Anne <Jo-Anne@nowhere.com> - 2026-08-08 17:02 -0500
        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail dillinger <dillinger@not.invalid> - 2026-08-09 12:25 +0200
        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Dnews <dnews@triffid.co.uk> - 2026-08-09 12:14 +0100
          Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> - 2026-08-09 13:33 +0100
    Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Marco Moock <mm@dorfdsl.de> - 2026-08-10 08:34 +0200
      Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-10 07:54 +0100
        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail MikeS <MikeS@fred.com> - 2026-08-10 09:28 +0100
          Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-10 09:38 +0100
            Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Marco Moock <mm@dorfdsl.de> - 2026-08-11 14:34 +0200
              Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-08-11 14:51 +0100
                Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Marco Moock <mm@dorfdsl.de> - 2026-08-12 15:05 +0200
              Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2026-08-11 14:19 +0000
                Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail MikeS <MikeS@fred.com> - 2026-08-12 13:55 +0100
                  Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2026-08-12 15:59 +0000
                Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Marco Moock <mm@dorfdsl.de> - 2026-08-12 15:08 +0200
                  Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2026-08-13 20:27 +0000
                    Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Marco Moock <mm@dorfdsl.de> - 2026-08-14 06:59 +0200
                      Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2026-08-14 13:45 +0000
                    Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Mike Easter <MikeE@ster.invalid> - 2026-08-14 15:04 -0700
                      Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail dillinger <dillinger@not.invalid> - 2026-08-15 00:32 +0200
                        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Mike Easter <MikeE@ster.invalid> - 2026-08-14 15:40 -0700
                          Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2026-08-15 00:38 +0000
                        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Gmail User <gmail@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-15 00:07 +0100
                          Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Gordon <Gordon@leaf.net.nz> - 2026-08-15 09:06 +0000
                      Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Gmail User <gmail@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-14 23:35 +0100
                        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Mike Easter <MikeE@ster.invalid> - 2026-08-14 16:32 -0700
                        Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Nobody <jock@soccer.com> - 2026-08-14 17:14 -0700
                          Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Mike Easter <MikeE@ster.invalid> - 2026-08-14 17:31 -0700
                            Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Nobody <jock@soccer.com> - 2026-08-14 17:38 -0700
                              Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Mike Easter <MikeE@ster.invalid> - 2026-08-14 17:47 -0700
                                Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Nobody <jock@soccer.com> - 2026-08-14 18:30 -0700
                                  Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Mike Easter <MikeE@ster.invalid> - 2026-08-14 19:39 -0700
          Re: Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail Gmail User <gmail@invalid.invalid> - 2026-08-10 20:53 +0100

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#21715 — Providers that allow a 3rd party address in outgoing mail

Recently my ISP stopped providing email service. It had allowed me to send email from a 3rd party 
address. My 3rd party address is a forwarding address from a university. The university doesn't 
provide any service other than forwarding, so I can't set up an account for it in Thunderbird.

I now pay for Proton Mail so I can use it in Thunderbird, and I've been having the university 
address forwarded to my Proton address. However, with Proton I can't send email from the university 
address. Nor does this company offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address.

I'd prefer not to get my own domain and would be grateful for the names of reliable email providers 
that either allow one to send from a 3rd party address or offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address (or 
both, of course).

-- 
Thank you,
Jo-Anne

[toc] | [next] | [standalone]

#21716

On 8/7/2026 11:25 AM, Jo-Anne wrote:
> Recently my ISP stopped providing email service. It had allowed me to send email from a 3rd party 
> address. My 3rd party address is a forwarding address from a university. The university doesn't 
> provide any service other than forwarding, so I can't set up an account for it in Thunderbird.
> 
> I now pay for Proton Mail so I can use it in Thunderbird, and I've been having the university 
> address forwarded to my Proton address. However, with Proton I can't send email from the university 
> address. Nor does this company offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address.
> 
> I'd prefer not to get my own domain and would be grateful for the names of reliable email providers 
> that either allow one to send from a 3rd party address or offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address (or 
> both, of course).
> 

From my <http://www.rossde.com/internet/surf.html>:

One special peeve of mine is reading in newsgroups complaints about
Gmail (Google), Hotmail (Microsoft), and Yahoo mail (Apollo Global and
Verizon). My advice is:

    Get your own personalized domain for creating your own personalized
E-mail address.
    Subscribe to a real ISP that allows you to use your personalized
E-mail address.

Note that, if you have your own domain, you can switch ISPs without
needing to change your E-mail address. That means, you never again have
to notify others that you have switched.

Also note that a very important source of income for Google, Microsoft,
and Yahoo is through advertising, either directly to their subscribers
or selling information about their subscribers to outside advertisers.
Legitimate ISPs, however, generate most of their income through
subscriber fees. Yes, it costs money to subscribe to an ISP; but they
are not spamming you or selling you to spammers. (My E-mail and this Web
site are hosted by the ISP Sunset.net (part of Great Basin Internet),
which never spams me.)

-- 

David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com>

NO, not everyone has a smart phone.  My wife and I have
"dumb cell phones" and a land-line.  Neither of us can
handle QR codes, reply to text messages, or have any
kind of phone-based Internet connections.  We have no APS
on any phone.  We can send and receive photos only
through our desktop PCs.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#21719

On 07/08/2026 19:37, David E. Ross wrote:
> On 8/7/2026 11:25 AM, Jo-Anne wrote:
>> Recently my ISP stopped providing email service. It had allowed me to send email from a 3rd party
>> address. My 3rd party address is a forwarding address from a university. The university doesn't
>> provide any service other than forwarding, so I can't set up an account for it in Thunderbird.
>>
>> I now pay for Proton Mail so I can use it in Thunderbird, and I've been having the university
>> address forwarded to my Proton address. However, with Proton I can't send email from the university
>> address. Nor does this company offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address.
>>
>> I'd prefer not to get my own domain and would be grateful for the names of reliable email providers
>> that either allow one to send from a 3rd party address or offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address (or
>> both, of course).
>>
> 
>  From my <http://www.rossde.com/internet/surf.html>:
> 
> One special peeve of mine is reading in newsgroups complaints about
> Gmail (Google), Hotmail (Microsoft), and Yahoo mail (Apollo Global and
> Verizon). My advice is:
> 
>      Get your own personalized domain for creating your own personalized
> E-mail address.
>      Subscribe to a real ISP that allows you to use your personalized
> E-mail address.
> 
> Note that, if you have your own domain, you can switch ISPs without
> needing to change your E-mail address. That means, you never again have
> to notify others that you have switched.
> 
> Also note that a very important source of income for Google, Microsoft,
> and Yahoo is through advertising, either directly to their subscribers
> or selling information about their subscribers to outside advertisers.
> Legitimate ISPs, however, generate most of their income through
> subscriber fees. Yes, it costs money to subscribe to an ISP; but they
> are not spamming you or selling you to spammers. (My E-mail and this Web
> site are hosted by the ISP Sunset.net (part of Great Basin Internet),
> which never spams me.)
> 
The OP said "However, with Proton I can't send email from the university 
address" and "The university doesn't provide any service other than 
forwarding, so I can't set up an account for it in Thunderbird".

That suggests the OP wants to send emails from a university address even 
though they no longer have a university account. I doubt any 
organisation approves that and hence reputable email providers should 
not allow it to be done regardless of whether you pay for their service.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#21720

On 8/7/2026 1:10 PM, MikeS wrote:
> On 07/08/2026 19:37, David E. Ross wrote:
>> On 8/7/2026 11:25 AM, Jo-Anne wrote:
>>> Recently my ISP stopped providing email service. It had allowed me to send email from a 3rd party
>>> address. My 3rd party address is a forwarding address from a university. The university doesn't
>>> provide any service other than forwarding, so I can't set up an account for it in Thunderbird.
>>>
>>> I now pay for Proton Mail so I can use it in Thunderbird, and I've been having the university
>>> address forwarded to my Proton address. However, with Proton I can't send email from the university
>>> address. Nor does this company offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address.
>>>
>>> I'd prefer not to get my own domain and would be grateful for the names of reliable email providers
>>> that either allow one to send from a 3rd party address or offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address (or
>>> both, of course).
>>>
>>
>>  From my <http://www.rossde.com/internet/surf.html>:
>>
>> One special peeve of mine is reading in newsgroups complaints about
>> Gmail (Google), Hotmail (Microsoft), and Yahoo mail (Apollo Global and
>> Verizon). My advice is:
>>
>>      Get your own personalized domain for creating your own personalized
>> E-mail address.
>>      Subscribe to a real ISP that allows you to use your personalized
>> E-mail address.
>>
>> Note that, if you have your own domain, you can switch ISPs without
>> needing to change your E-mail address. That means, you never again have
>> to notify others that you have switched.
>>
>> Also note that a very important source of income for Google, Microsoft,
>> and Yahoo is through advertising, either directly to their subscribers
>> or selling information about their subscribers to outside advertisers.
>> Legitimate ISPs, however, generate most of their income through
>> subscriber fees. Yes, it costs money to subscribe to an ISP; but they
>> are not spamming you or selling you to spammers. (My E-mail and this Web
>> site are hosted by the ISP Sunset.net (part of Great Basin Internet),
>> which never spams me.)
>>
> The OP said "However, with Proton I can't send email from the university 
> address" and "The university doesn't provide any service other than 
> forwarding, so I can't set up an account for it in Thunderbird".
> 
> That suggests the OP wants to send emails from a university address even 
> though they no longer have a university account. I doubt any 
> organisation approves that and hence reputable email providers should 
> not allow it to be done regardless of whether you pay for their service.

However, there are indeed providers that allow their users to send me
E-mail messages with the From address being my address, including my
domain that was first registered 24 years ago.  My E-mail host rejected
four such in the past 30 days.  If I did not check my account log, I
would not have know about this abuse.

-- 

David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com>

NO, not everyone has a smart phone.  My wife and I have
"dumb cell phones" and a land-line.  Neither of us can
handle QR codes, reply to text messages, or have any
kind of phone-based Internet connections.  We have no APS
on any phone.  We can send and receive photos only
through our desktop PCs.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#21722

> The OP said "However, with Proton I can't send email from the university address" and "The 
> university doesn't provide any service other than forwarding, so I can't set up an account for it in 
> Thunderbird".
> 
> That suggests the OP wants to send emails from a university address even though they no longer have 
> a university account. I doubt any organisation approves that and hence reputable email providers 
> should not allow it to be done regardless of whether you pay for their service.
> 
> 
I am the OP, and I'm sorry I wasn't clear. The university offers a forwarding address for alumni. 
You can forward emails from that address to whatever regular email address you prefer, which means, 
for example, that when your ISP changes, you can keep your university email address because the 
university will forward the emails with that address to whatever real address you choose. But that's 
all the university does. It does not provide POP or IMAP incoming email service, and it does not 
provide SMTP outgoing service.

Proton and most other email services (as far as I can tell) do not allow outgoing mail to use a 3rd 
party address. This means I can receive email in Proton from someone who emails me at my university 
address; but when I respond, my response will come from my Proton email address, not from the 
address the person emailed me at--which is confusing.

-- 
Jo-Anne

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#21725

*Jo-Anne* meinte:
>
> I am the OP, and I'm sorry I wasn't clear. The university offers a 
> forwarding address for alumni. You can forward emails from that address 
> to whatever regular email address you prefer, which means, for example, 
> that when your ISP changes, you can keep your university email address 
> because the university will forward the emails with that address to 
> whatever real address you choose. But that's all the university does. It 
> does not provide POP or IMAP incoming email service, and it does not 
> provide SMTP outgoing service.
> 
> Proton and most other email services (as far as I can tell) do not allow 
> outgoing mail to use a 3rd party address. This means I can receive email 
> in Proton from someone who emails me at my university address; but when 
> I respond, my response will come from my Proton email address, not from 
> the address the person emailed me at--which is confusing.

Thanks for the clarification — that helps a lot.

I think there may be a small misunderstanding about how email replies
work when you’re using a forwarding address.

Even if your university doesn’t provide IMAP/POP or SMTP service, you
can still make sure that replies to your messages go back to your
university address. You don’t need to “send from” that address in the
technical sense.

What you’re looking for is the *Reply‑To field* in your mail client.

You can send outgoing mail through Proton as usual, but set the Reply‑To
address to your university forwarding address. Then:

• people will receive your message normally
• when they hit “Reply”, their response will go to your university
   address
• the university forwards it to your real mailbox

This way, conversations stay consistent, and you don’t need SMTP access
from the university at all.

It’s a simple setting, but it solves exactly the situation you described.

[1] Reply-To field:
<https://barghahn-online.de/Pictures/tb_reply-to_adress.png>

HTH! :-)

Thomas
-- 
== S E N D E Z E I T ===============
+  DATUM  : Samstag, 08. August 2026
+  UHRZEIT: 00:49:16 UHR (MESZ)
== +++ Friedensfest +++ ============

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#21726

On 8/7/2026 5:49 PM, Thomas Barghahn wrote:
> *Jo-Anne* meinte:
>>
>> I am the OP, and I'm sorry I wasn't clear. The university offers a forwarding address for alumni. 
>> You can forward emails from that address to whatever regular email address you prefer, which 
>> means, for example, that when your ISP changes, you can keep your university email address because 
>> the university will forward the emails with that address to whatever real address you choose. But 
>> that's all the university does. It does not provide POP or IMAP incoming email service, and it 
>> does not provide SMTP outgoing service.
>>
>> Proton and most other email services (as far as I can tell) do not allow outgoing mail to use a 
>> 3rd party address. This means I can receive email in Proton from someone who emails me at my 
>> university address; but when I respond, my response will come from my Proton email address, not 
>> from the address the person emailed me at--which is confusing.
> 
> Thanks for the clarification — that helps a lot.
> 
> I think there may be a small misunderstanding about how email replies
> work when you’re using a forwarding address.
> 
> Even if your university doesn’t provide IMAP/POP or SMTP service, you
> can still make sure that replies to your messages go back to your
> university address. You don’t need to “send from” that address in the
> technical sense.
> 
> What you’re looking for is the *Reply‑To field* in your mail client.
> 
> You can send outgoing mail through Proton as usual, but set the Reply‑To
> address to your university forwarding address. Then:
> 
> • people will receive your message normally
> • when they hit “Reply”, their response will go to your university
>    address
> • the university forwards it to your real mailbox
> 
> This way, conversations stay consistent, and you don’t need SMTP access
> from the university at all.
> 
> It’s a simple setting, but it solves exactly the situation you described.
> 
> [1] Reply-To field:
> <https://barghahn-online.de/Pictures/tb_reply-to_adress.png>
> 
> HTH! :-)
> 
> Thomas

Thank you, Thomas. I tried that, but it doesn't work with Proton Mail. The Reply-To line simply 
disappears on sending. I contacted Proton Mail and received the following response:

"Currently, Proton Mail does not support using a custom Reply-To address that is not associated with 
your Proton account when sending emails through Proton Mail Bridge. Even if you set a Reply-To 
address in Thunderbird, Proton Mail will remove it from outgoing messages if it is not one of your 
verified addresses or aliases."

Gmail currently accepts a Reply-To address, so I could switch my university forwarding address to my 
gmail account. However, Reply-To is limited. I experimented with it earlier today and found that it 
works for the first email in a conversation. However, once the other party replies to my university 
address and I try to reply to that party, Reply-To has disappeared.
-- 
Jo-Anne

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#21728

*Jo-Anne* meinte:
> On 8/7/2026 5:49 PM, Thomas Barghahn wrote:
>>
>> Thanks for the clarification — that helps a lot.
>>
>> [...] 
>> 
> Thank you, Thomas. I tried that, but it doesn't work with Proton Mail. 
> The Reply-To line simply disappears on sending. I contacted Proton Mail 
> and received the following response:
> 
> "Currently, Proton Mail does not support using a custom Reply-To address 
> that is not associated with your Proton account when sending emails 
> through Proton Mail Bridge. Even if you set a Reply-To address in 
> Thunderbird, Proton Mail will remove it from outgoing messages if it is 
> not one of your verified addresses or aliases."
> 
> Gmail currently accepts a Reply-To address, so I could switch my 
> university forwarding address to my gmail account. However, Reply-To is 
> limited. I experimented with it earlier today and found that it works 
> for the first email in a conversation. However, once the other party 
> replies to my university address and I try to reply to that party, 
> Reply-To has disappeared.

Thanks again for checking and for sharing Proton’s explanation — that 
makes the situation very clear.

In this case, the limitation isn’t in Thunderbird, but in Proton Mail 
itself. Proton removes any Reply‑To address that isn’t one of your 
verified Proton identities, so Thunderbird can’t override that behavior.

Forwarding‑only university addresses are normally handled through 
Reply‑To, but Proton’s policy prevents exactly that use case.

Gmail allows more flexibility, but only for the first message in a 
conversation. After the first reply, Gmail rewrites the conversation 
flow and the Reply‑To header disappears.

If you want your university forwarding address to work consistently 
across an entire conversation, you may need an email provider that does 
not remove custom Reply‑To headers.

Outlook.com is one of the few large, free, internationally available 
providers that generally keeps Reply‑To intact and does not rewrite 
message headers in ongoing conversations. I can’t speak for every detail 
of their “send as” policies, but for Reply‑To specifically, Outlook 
tends to behave much more predictably than Proton or Gmail.

Your forwarding setup is perfectly valid — it’s just that some providers 
make it easier than others.

Thomas
-- 
== S E N D E Z E I T ===============
+  DATUM  : Samstag, 08. August 2026
+  UHRZEIT: 02:53:40 UHR (MESZ)
== +++ Friedensfest +++ ============

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#21730

On 8/7/2026 7:53 PM, Thomas Barghahn wrote:
> *Jo-Anne* meinte:
>> On 8/7/2026 5:49 PM, Thomas Barghahn wrote:
>>>
>>> Thanks for the clarification — that helps a lot.
>>>
>>> [...]
>> Thank you, Thomas. I tried that, but it doesn't work with Proton Mail. The Reply-To line simply 
>> disappears on sending. I contacted Proton Mail and received the following response:
>>
>> "Currently, Proton Mail does not support using a custom Reply-To address that is not associated 
>> with your Proton account when sending emails through Proton Mail Bridge. Even if you set a 
>> Reply-To address in Thunderbird, Proton Mail will remove it from outgoing messages if it is not 
>> one of your verified addresses or aliases."
>>
>> Gmail currently accepts a Reply-To address, so I could switch my university forwarding address to 
>> my gmail account. However, Reply-To is limited. I experimented with it earlier today and found 
>> that it works for the first email in a conversation. However, once the other party replies to my 
>> university address and I try to reply to that party, Reply-To has disappeared.
> 
> Thanks again for checking and for sharing Proton’s explanation — that makes the situation very clear.
> 
> In this case, the limitation isn’t in Thunderbird, but in Proton Mail itself. Proton removes any 
> Reply‑To address that isn’t one of your verified Proton identities, so Thunderbird can’t override 
> that behavior.
> 
> Forwarding‑only university addresses are normally handled through Reply‑To, but Proton’s policy 
> prevents exactly that use case.
> 
> Gmail allows more flexibility, but only for the first message in a conversation. After the first 
> reply, Gmail rewrites the conversation flow and the Reply‑To header disappears.
> 
> If you want your university forwarding address to work consistently across an entire conversation, 
> you may need an email provider that does not remove custom Reply‑To headers.
> 
> Outlook.com is one of the few large, free, internationally available providers that generally keeps 
> Reply‑To intact and does not rewrite message headers in ongoing conversations. I can’t speak for 
> every detail of their “send as” policies, but for Reply‑To specifically, Outlook tends to behave 
> much more predictably than Proton or Gmail.
> 
> Your forwarding setup is perfectly valid — it’s just that some providers make it easier than others.
> 
> Thomas

Thank you again, Thomas! I'll look into Outlook.

-- 
Jo-Anne

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]

#21721

On 07/08/2026 19:37, David E. Ross wrote:
> Also note that a very important source of income for Google, Microsoft,
> and Yahoo is through advertising, either directly to their subscribers
> or selling information about their subscribers to outside advertisers.



While I agree with the advertising aspect, selling information is not 
part of their business model. In fact, it would be foolish of them to do 
so when they spend billions acquiring new businesses, only to write them 
off by closing them down a few years later. All they would get for the 
information is a few cents.

Who told you that Google, Microsoft and Yahoo sell information? 

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#21729

Gmail User <gmail@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>On 07/08/2026 19:37, David E. Ross wrote:

>>Also note that a very important source of income for Google, Microsoft,
>>and Yahoo is through advertising, either directly to their subscribers
>>or selling information about their subscribers to outside advertisers.

>While I agree with the advertising aspect, selling information is not 
>part of their business model. In fact, it would be foolish of them to do 
>so when they spend billions acquiring new businesses, only to write them 
>off by closing them down a few years later. All they would get for the 
>information is a few cents.

>Who told you that Google, Microsoft and Yahoo sell information? 

Will everyoone please recognize that our constantly-morphing troll is
indeed trolling? Please stop following up.

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#21723

On 07/08/2026 19:25, Jo-Anne wrote:
> I'd prefer not to get my own domain and would be grateful for the 
> names of reliable email providers that either allow one to send from a 
> 3rd party address or offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address (or both, of 
> course). 
You could try using a free SMTP providers to send emails from your 
college email address, but setting it up can be quite complicated. I use 
Brevo, MailGun, MailTrap and MailJet.

You can still use ProtonMail to receive and store emails. However, to 
send replies, you will need to use Thunderbird, as this allows you to 
insert SMTP servers manually.

One thing you have to understand is that some of your email may end up 
in spam folder of recipient because it will fail the security checks 
(SPF, DKIM, DMARC) which all the large corporations are enforcing.

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#21724

On 8/7/2026 4:14 PM, Gmail User wrote:
> On 07/08/2026 19:25, Jo-Anne wrote:
>> I'd prefer not to get my own domain and would be grateful for the
>> names of reliable email providers that either allow one to send from a
>> 3rd party address or offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address (or both, of
>> course).
> You could try using a free SMTP providers to send emails from your
> college email address, but setting it up can be quite complicated. I use
> Brevo, MailGun, MailTrap and MailJet.
> 
> You can still use ProtonMail to receive and store emails. However, to
> send replies, you will need to use Thunderbird, as this allows you to
> insert SMTP servers manually.
> 
> One thing you have to understand is that some of your email may end up
> in spam folder of recipient because it will fail the security checks
> (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) which all the large corporations are enforcing.
> 
> 
> 
> 
Thank you!
-- 
Jo-Anne

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#21727

On Fri, 7 Aug 2026 13:25:47 -0500, Jo-Anne wrote:
> Recently my ISP stopped providing email service. It had allowed me to send email from a 3rd party 
> address. My 3rd party address is a forwarding address from a university. The university doesn't 
> provide any service other than forwarding, so I can't set up an account for it in Thunderbird.
> 
> I now pay for Proton Mail so I can use it in Thunderbird, and I've been having the university 
> address forwarded to my Proton address. However, with Proton I can't send email from the university 
> address. Nor does this company offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address.
> 
> I'd prefer not to get my own domain and would be grateful for the names of reliable email providers 
> that either allow one to send from a 3rd party address or offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address (or 
> both, of course).


TLDR version: fastmail.fm can do both.

I've been a fastmail.fm customer for most of this century. Its spam 
and phishing protection is excellent, and downtime has been extremely 
rare. My questions to their help desk are answered promptly and 
helpfully. The cost is reasonable: a year ago I paid US$65.52 for a 
3-year renewal. And if you want to use plus-sign addressing, or other 
aliasing, there's no extra charge.

How it works:
I have a domain, BrownMath.com, and its mailserver forwards a copy of 
incoming mails to my main email provider, the server at fastmail.fm.

In Thunderbird (which I've since replaced with Betterbird), I set up 
both outgoing mailservers and IMAP for both incoming mailservers. One 
of my list of identities is my BrownMath email address. The default 
outgoing mailserver is fastmail.fm (corresponds to your Proton), but 
the outgoing mailserver at BrownMath is associated with my BrownMath 
identity (corresponds to your university address).

When I start a new message in Thunderbird or Betterbird, I can 
specify an identity other than the default by clicking the dropdown 
on the From: line.

You should check with your university's IT department to make certain  
that they will allow you to send email "from" your university address 
via a third-party email provider. I believe there is some sort of 
validation when the "from" address doesn't match the domain of the 
mailserver. I've had BrownMath so long that I can't remember whether 
I bumped up against that and had to have my web host flip some switch 
to allow it. 

In any case, fastmail has no problem with using whatever reply-to 
address you specify in Thunderbird's or Betterbird's Reply-to line. 
(It does need to be an email address, though; the SMTP server 
rejected /dev/null as a reply-to.)

-- 
Trolls wouldn't be trolling if nobody would take the flamebait.

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#21731

On 8/7/2026 7:07 PM, Stan Brown wrote:
> On Fri, 7 Aug 2026 13:25:47 -0500, Jo-Anne wrote:
>> Recently my ISP stopped providing email service. It had allowed me to send email from a 3rd party
>> address. My 3rd party address is a forwarding address from a university. The university doesn't
>> provide any service other than forwarding, so I can't set up an account for it in Thunderbird.
>>
>> I now pay for Proton Mail so I can use it in Thunderbird, and I've been having the university
>> address forwarded to my Proton address. However, with Proton I can't send email from the university
>> address. Nor does this company offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address.
>>
>> I'd prefer not to get my own domain and would be grateful for the names of reliable email providers
>> that either allow one to send from a 3rd party address or offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address (or
>> both, of course).
> 
> 
> TLDR version: fastmail.fm can do both.
> 
> I've been a fastmail.fm customer for most of this century. Its spam
> and phishing protection is excellent, and downtime has been extremely
> rare. My questions to their help desk are answered promptly and
> helpfully. The cost is reasonable: a year ago I paid US$65.52 for a
> 3-year renewal. And if you want to use plus-sign addressing, or other
> aliasing, there's no extra charge.
> 
> How it works:
> I have a domain, BrownMath.com, and its mailserver forwards a copy of
> incoming mails to my main email provider, the server at fastmail.fm.
> 
> In Thunderbird (which I've since replaced with Betterbird), I set up
> both outgoing mailservers and IMAP for both incoming mailservers. One
> of my list of identities is my BrownMath email address. The default
> outgoing mailserver is fastmail.fm (corresponds to your Proton), but
> the outgoing mailserver at BrownMath is associated with my BrownMath
> identity (corresponds to your university address).
> 
> When I start a new message in Thunderbird or Betterbird, I can
> specify an identity other than the default by clicking the dropdown
> on the From: line.
> 
> You should check with your university's IT department to make certain
> that they will allow you to send email "from" your university address
> via a third-party email provider. I believe there is some sort of
> validation when the "from" address doesn't match the domain of the
> mailserver. I've had BrownMath so long that I can't remember whether
> I bumped up against that and had to have my web host flip some switch
> to allow it.
> 
> In any case, fastmail has no problem with using whatever reply-to
> address you specify in Thunderbird's or Betterbird's Reply-to line.
> (It does need to be an email address, though; the SMTP server
> rejected /dev/null as a reply-to.)
> 

Thank you, Stan! I'll look into fastmail. I'd been using my university email address to send email 
for years through my ISP's email service, so the university doesn't have any objection. The issue of 
not being able to send email from that address occurred when my ISP stopped offering email service. 
(Actually, it had stopped a few years ago, but I was grandfathered in until my ISP was bought by 
T-Mobile...)

-- 
Jo-Anne

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#21733

On 08/08/2026 18:34, Jo-Anne wrote:
> On 8/7/2026 7:07 PM, Stan Brown wrote:
>> On Fri, 7 Aug 2026 13:25:47 -0500, Jo-Anne wrote:
>>> Recently my ISP stopped providing email service. It had allowed me to 
>>> send email from a 3rd party
>>> address. My 3rd party address is a forwarding address from a 
>>> university. The university doesn't
>>> provide any service other than forwarding, so I can't set up an 
>>> account for it in Thunderbird.
>>>
>>> I now pay for Proton Mail so I can use it in Thunderbird, and I've 
>>> been having the university
>>> address forwarded to my Proton address. However, with Proton I can't 
>>> send email from the university
>>> address. Nor does this company offer 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address.
>>>
>>> I'd prefer not to get my own domain and would be grateful for the 
>>> names of reliable email providers
>>> that either allow one to send from a 3rd party address or offer 
>>> 'Reply-To' a 3rd party address (or
>>> both, of course).
>>
>>
>> TLDR version: fastmail.fm can do both.
>>
>> I've been a fastmail.fm customer for most of this century. Its spam
>> and phishing protection is excellent, and downtime has been extremely
>> rare. My questions to their help desk are answered promptly and
>> helpfully. The cost is reasonable: a year ago I paid US$65.52 for a
>> 3-year renewal. And if you want to use plus-sign addressing, or other
>> aliasing, there's no extra charge.
>>
>> How it works:
>> I have a domain, BrownMath.com, and its mailserver forwards a copy of
>> incoming mails to my main email provider, the server at fastmail.fm.
>>
>> In Thunderbird (which I've since replaced with Betterbird), I set up
>> both outgoing mailservers and IMAP for both incoming mailservers. One
>> of my list of identities is my BrownMath email address. The default
>> outgoing mailserver is fastmail.fm (corresponds to your Proton), but
>> the outgoing mailserver at BrownMath is associated with my BrownMath
>> identity (corresponds to your university address).
>>
>> When I start a new message in Thunderbird or Betterbird, I can
>> specify an identity other than the default by clicking the dropdown
>> on the From: line.
>>
>> You should check with your university's IT department to make certain
>> that they will allow you to send email "from" your university address
>> via a third-party email provider. I believe there is some sort of
>> validation when the "from" address doesn't match the domain of the
>> mailserver. I've had BrownMath so long that I can't remember whether
>> I bumped up against that and had to have my web host flip some switch
>> to allow it.
>>
>> In any case, fastmail has no problem with using whatever reply-to
>> address you specify in Thunderbird's or Betterbird's Reply-to line.
>> (It does need to be an email address, though; the SMTP server
>> rejected /dev/null as a reply-to.)
>>
> 
> Thank you, Stan! I'll look into fastmail. I'd been using my university 
> email address to send email for years through my ISP's email service, so 
> the university doesn't have any objection. The issue of not being able 
> to send email from that address occurred when my ISP stopped offering 
> email service. (Actually, it had stopped a few years ago, but I was 
> grandfathered in until my ISP was bought by T-Mobile...)
> 

Regardless of what your ISP allowed for years, it is not normal to send 
emails using a domain (i.e. email address) owned by another 
company/organisation. If your university wanted to permit alumni to 
continue sending university emails they would allow them ongoing access 
to their email servers.

The forwarding service you use is completely normal. It is intended so 
that alumni receive the email and can inform the sender of their new 
location and email address.

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#21738

On 2026/8/8 21:11:37, MikeS wrote:
[]
> Regardless of what your ISP allowed for years, it is not normal to send 
> emails using a domain (i.e. email address) owned by another 

Agreed (my I"S"P has been allowing it too, but not "supporting" it; I
expect it to break an day now).

> company/organisation. If your university wanted to permit alumni to 
> continue sending university emails they would allow them ongoing access 
> to their email servers.

they allow incoming, not outgoing.>
> The forwarding service you use is completely normal. It is intended so 
> that alumni receive the email and can inform the sender of their new 
> location and email address.

No. That sort of forwarding would only continue for a short time - maybe
a few weeks or months, maybe a year or two, until the alumna has
informed all her contacts. Some UK universities allow it forever - I do
not know why; at a guess, they want their alumni to be proud of having
attended that university, and it forms a small but I suspect significant
form of "advertising" for the institution.

(Nevertheless, I _would_ agree with those recommending the setting-up of
your own domain - it really isn't hard, or expensive in the global
scheme of things; you never know when the university may change its
policy. I know you sais you'd rather not, and if you tell us why, we can
maybe help find another solution - but just switching to another
provider that _does_ allow such sending is only postponing the problem
until _that_ provided stops allowing it.)
-- 
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Just because you're old it doesn't mean you go beige.
Quite the reverse. - Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, RT 2015/7/11-17

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#21740

J. P. Gilliver wrote:

>> ls using a domain (i.e. email address) owned by another
> Agreed (my I"S"P has been allowing it too, but not "supporting" it; I
> expect it to break an day now).

Assuming you authenticate to your provider's SMTP server, they're not 
going to be fussed about what domain names are in you emails.

It's up to you (not them) to publish that SMTP server as being expected 
(aka allowed) to send emails from your domain, within your SPF record, 
which I seem to remember you setting up a year or two ago?


p.s.  I thought the Greenby migration was complete, but I only got my 
notification on Friday that my mailbox is going to be migrated, I don't 
use it for anything important nowadays.

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#21741

On 2026/8/9 13:35:26, Andy Burns wrote:
> J. P. Gilliver wrote:
> 
>>> ls using a domain (i.e. email address) owned by another
>> Agreed (my I"S"P has been allowing it too, but not "supporting" it; I
>> expect it to break an day now).
> 
> Assuming you authenticate to your provider's SMTP server, they're not 
> going to be fussed about what domain names are in you emails.

They don't seem to be, but they could, perhaps as an anti-spam measure -
as Jo-Anne's (forced new) one seems to be doing.>
> It's up to you (not them) to publish that SMTP server as being expected 
> (aka allowed) to send emails from your domain, within your SPF record, 
> which I seem to remember you setting up a year or two ago?
> 
That was a slightly different matter: it wasn't that PlusNet/Greenby
objected to the _sending_ of such emails, but that Gmail (and possibly
others. I can't remember) objected to _receiving_ them - until I tweaked
something at my hosting provider, probably what you said.>
> p.s.  I thought the Greenby migration was complete, but I only got my 
> notification on Friday that my mailbox is going to be migrated, I don't 
> use it for anything important nowadays.

I don't give out my PlusNet address, so the only people who use it are
PlusNet themselvs (and now Greenby). Do PlusNet send your bills to your
andyburns.uk address?
-- 
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()ALIS-Ch++(p)Ar++T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The bottleneck is always at the top of the bottle. - Attributed to
Peter Drucker (re management), by @Eric_Partaker 2023-7-14

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#21742

J. P. Gilliver wrote:

> Andy Burns wrote:
>
>> It's up to you (not them) to publish that SMTP server as being expected
>> (aka allowed) to send emails from your domain, within your SPF record,
>> which I seem to remember you setting up a year or two ago?
>>
> That was a slightly different matter: it wasn't that PlusNet/Greenby
> objected to the _sending_ of such emails, but that Gmail (and possibly
> others. I can't remember) objected to _receiving_ them 

yes they choose to do the tests when receiving, they used to not enforce 
it, but people soon noticed when their emails were junked.

>- until I tweaked
> something at my hosting provider, probably what you said.>
>> p.s.  I thought the Greenby migration was complete, but I only got my
>> notification on Friday that my mailbox is going to be migrated, I don't
>> use it for anything important nowadays.
> 
> I don't give out my PlusNet address, so the only people who use it are
> PlusNet themselvs (and now Greenby). Do PlusNet send your bills to your
> andyburns.uk address?

They send two copies, one to my postmaster@blahblah.plus.net, the other 
to my andyburns.uk

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