Connect your business email (contact@, info@…)

Your business address (contact@, info@, events@…) is usually the one your clients know: it is where wedding, corporate and private-hire inquiries land. Joinways can receive a copy of every email sent to that address, detect inquiries automatically and centralize them in your Inbox, next to your quotes, contacts and calendar.

The connection relies on email forwarding: Joinways gives you a dedicated receiving address, and you create a forwarding rule in your mail provider (Gmail, Google Workspace, Outlook or another provider). Nothing is connected to your mailbox and no credentials are shared: you stay in full control and can stop forwarding at any time. This guide covers the step-by-step setup, the live verification and the classic sticking points.

Prerequisites

• Your business email address (contact@, info@, events@…) and access to its mailbox to create a forwarding rule.
• Rights on the mailbox: if the address is managed by your organization (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365), you need to be able to change forwarding, or ask your administrator.
• Access to your Joinways workspace Settings.

What you will learn

• Create the Joinways receiving address linked to your business email.
• Set up the forwarding rule in Gmail, Google Workspace, Outlook or another provider.
• Verify forwarding with a live test email.
• Resume a setup you left unfinished, and remove an address.

Set up forwarding, step by step

The whole thing takes about two minutes. The assistant guides you screen by screen, and verification is automatic.

1. Go to Settings then Integrations, Inquiries tab, and click Your business email.
2. Enter the address your clients use to contact you, then click Continue. Joinways creates your dedicated receiving address, in the form inbound-…@in.joinways.app.
3. Copy the receiving address, then follow the instructions in the tab matching your provider: Gmail, Workspace, Outlook or Other (OVH, IONOS…). Each tab lists the exact steps, with a direct link to the right settings screen.
4. Once the rule is saved in your mailbox, click Test the forwarding. Joinways sends a test email to your business address and checks that it comes back: the screen turns green as soon as the test arrives, usually in under a minute.

The Gmail confirmation code

When you add a forwarding address in Gmail, Google requires you to confirm the destination: it sends a confirmation code to the Joinways receiving address. That code therefore lands in your Joinways inbox, not in your Gmail mailbox. Open Joinways in another tab, find Google's email in the inbox and copy the code back into Gmail to validate forwarding. The assistant reminds you at the right moment.

Reference: what forwarding does

• Every email sent to your business address is forwarded as a copy to Joinways; the original stays in your mailbox, nothing is moved or deleted.
• Detected inquiries surface in your Inbox and attach to the right contact.
• You can connect several addresses (contact@, events@…) with Add another address; each one gets its own receiving address and its own verification.
• No credentials are shared: forwarding is configured on the mailbox side, and disabled the same way.

Resume an unfinished setup

If you close the assistant before the end, the address stays listed with the Setup to finish badge. Click it to reopen the instructions exactly where you left off, then send a test once the rule is in place.

Special cases

• Google Workspace: besides per-user forwarding (Gmail interface), an administrator can create a global routing rule in the Admin console; the Workspace tab of the assistant covers that path.
• Outlook: the assistant links to Microsoft 365 mail rules for a business address, or to Outlook.com for a personal one (hotmail, live…).
• Other providers (OVH, IONOS…): look for “Forwarding” or “Redirect” in the settings. If your provider asks to confirm the destination, the confirmation email also arrives in your Joinways inbox.

💡 Good to know: the Verified badge appears as soon as one forwarded email has arrived. While the address shows Setup to finish, inquiries sent to it do not reach Joinways yet.

Best practices

• Start with the address that receives the most inquiries (contact@ or events@), then add the others.
• Send the test once the rule is saved: verification waits up to two minutes, then offers to send another test.
• Also connect your personal mailbox (Settings then Emails) to send replies from your own address.

Troubleshooting

The test never arrives

Problem: after “Test the forwarding”, the screen keeps waiting and then reports the test was not received.

Cause: the forwarding rule is not active in your mailbox, or the forwarding address was never confirmed (Gmail code not validated).

Solution: check in your mailbox that the Joinways address is confirmed and the rule enabled, then click Send another test.

Gmail asks for a code I cannot find

Problem: Gmail expects a confirmation code and nothing arrives in your Gmail mailbox.

Cause: the code is sent to the Joinways receiving address, not to your mailbox.

Solution: open your Joinways inbox in another tab; Google's email is there. Copy the code back into Gmail.

The address stays on “Setup to finish”

Problem: the badge never switches to Verified.

Cause: Joinways has not received any forwarded email yet.

Solution: reopen the address to review the instructions, finish the rule in your mailbox, then test again.

Concrete example

Le Loft du Canal receives all its inquiries on contact@leloftducanal.fr, a Google Workspace address. The manager opens Settings then Integrations, clicks Your business email and enters the address. She copies the Joinways receiving address, adds a forwarding address in Gmail, grabs the confirmation code from her Joinways inbox, validates it, then clicks Test the forwarding. Thirty seconds later the screen turns green: every inquiry sent to contact@ now lands in her Inbox.

FAQ

Are my emails moved out of my mailbox?

No. Forwarding sends a copy to Joinways; the originals stay untouched in your mailbox.

Do I need to share my password or connect my mailbox?

No. No credentials are shared: the rule is created on the mailbox side, and you can delete it at any time to stop forwarding.

Can I connect several addresses?

Yes. Click Add another address and repeat the setup; each address gets its own receiving address and its own verification.

What happens if I remove the address in Joinways?

Forwarded emails are no longer processed. Remember to also disable the forwarding rule in your mailbox.

How is this different from connecting Gmail or Outlook?

Forwarding covers a shared team address without giving access to the mailbox. The Gmail or Outlook connection (Settings then Emails) links your personal mailbox to sync your conversations and send replies from your address.

See also

• Connect Gmail
• Connect Outlook
• Manage your email connections
• Understanding the unified Inbox