How to Forward an Email as an Attachment

Forwarding as an Attachment

When reporting a phishing or spam email to abuse@csun.edu, Information Technology will ask you to send the email as an attachment. Sending the email as an attachment allows Information Technology the ability to see full email headers, providing all the information needed to investigate the email. 

The email header is a code snippet in an email that contains information about the sender, recipient, email’s route to get to the inbox and various authentication details. The email header always precedes the email body.

Forwarding vs. Forwarding as an Attachment

When an email is forwarded, the headers of the original email will be changed to the email of the user reporting the phishing email, at which point the email can not be investigated. A screen shot or PDF attachment is not helpful as this does not contain the email header information.

When you forward an email as an attachment, the email will be sent as is. This will include the header information. This information is critical when investigating the email.

Microsoft 365:

How to forward an email as an attachment:

1. Single-click the message you want to forward as an attachment. Leaving the message still highlighted, click the button in the top left that says New Mail.
2. Drag the highlighted message you want to forward over to the new empty message. You should see it show up as an attachment.
3. Set the To: field to the recipient and set the subject and body with any additional information you would like to provide.

Outlook Express / Windows Mail:

1. Right-click the message that you want to forward.
2. In the context menu that appears, click Forward as Attachment (this is also available from the ‘Message’ menu) at the top of the screen. Type the destination email address and press send.

If you want to send multiple messages, you can also drag and drop messages onto the message window. You can also select multiple messages by holding the Shift or Ctrl keys when clicking, and then right-click and Forward as Attachment as above.

Outlook 2011 and newer for Mac

1. Click on E-mail to create a new email (or attach to any reply).
2. Select the email you want to forward in the folder, and then drag it to the body area of the email. You should see it show up in the new message as an attachment. (An alternative is to select multiple emails as in Outlook 2003/XP below.)

In newer versions of Outlook for Mac, you may also highlight the message in the scrolling list of messages, right-click and choose Forward as attachment.

Outlook 2010

Right-click the message, select More Actions and then click the Forward as Attachment option.

Outlook 2007

In Outlook 2007, Forward as Attachment is available from the Actions menu when one or more emails are selected.

Outlook 2003/XP

1. To forward multiple emails, select the messages (by holding the Shift or Ctrl keys when clicking).
2. Then right-click and select Forward items. This automatically attaches the emails to a blank message – Outlook decides for itself whether to forward as an attachment depending on how many messages you are forwarding.
3. Type the destination email address and press send. (You could also use this to send a single email, by selecting a message you don’t want to send, and then removing that attachment before sending.)

Alternatively, start a new email message. You can then either drag and drop one or more messages into the new message (if after selecting the message you can’t see the new message window any more, drag it instead to the taskbar button for the new message and the window you want should come to the foreground); or from the menu, click the Insert menu and then choose Item. In the top half of the window that opens, select the folder that contains the email you want to send, usually Inbox. Then select the message you want to attach, and make sure that any Insert As option is set to Attachment before clicking OK. Type the destination email address and press send.

You can tell Outlook to always forward as attachment by going to Tools > Options > Preferences > E-mail Options > When forwarding a message, and selecting Attach original message > OK. 

Google 

How to forward an email as an attachment: 

1. On your computer, go to Gmail.
2. Select the emails that you want.
3. Click More  Forward as attachment.
4. In the To field, add recipients. You can also add recipients in the Cc and Bcc fields.
5. Add a subject.
6. Write your message.
7. At the bottom, click Send.

How to Create Email Rules 

Email rules are a way to have incoming (or outgoing) messages sorted, filed, marked, or otherwise handled automatically.

How to create Inbox rules in Outlook Web App

A rule is an action Outlook will automatically take with incoming or outgoing messages. Below are the steps to create new rules for your Outlook Inbox.

1. Choose + new.
2. Give the rule a name.
3. Select the criteria for your rule.
4. Use the Do the following box to select the action you want taken when a message arrives. 

For more information please visit Inbox rules in Outlook Web App.

How to create an inbox rule in Microsoft Outlook Application

There are three types of rules you can create:

• Stay organized: These rules help you filter, file, and follow-up with messages.

• Stay up to date: These rules notify you when you receive a message that fits a specific set of criteria.

• Custom rules: These are rules you create without a template. 

Use the following steps to help guide you:

1. Select File > Manage Rules & Alerts to open the Rules and Alerts dialog box.
2. On the Email Rules tab, select New Rule.
3. To start from a blank rule, select Apply rule on messages I receive or Apply rule on messages I send.
4. Edit the rule description box, click on any underlined options to set them.
5. You may add additional conditions to your rule.
6. You may select additional actions to take on a message.
7. You may add any exceptions on the fourth page.
8. On the last page of the Rules Wizard, enter a name for your rule.
9. If you want to run this rule on messages you've already received, check Run this rule now on messages already in "Inbox."
10. By default, Turn on this rule is checked. You can uncheck this box if you don't want the rule to be turned on at this time.
11. Click Finish to save and turn on your rule.

For more information please visit Inbox rule in Microsoft Outlook Application.

How to create an inbox rule in Gmail: 

1. Open Gmail.
2. In the search box at the top, click the Down arrow .
3. Enter your search criteria. If you want to check that your search worked correctly, see what emails show up by clicking Search. 
4. At the bottom of the search window, click Create filter. 
5. Choose what you’d like the filter to do.
6. Click Create filter.