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Q: How do I send mail FROM a mailing list when using Exchange?

  • How do I send mail FROM a mailing list when using Exchange?
  • How do I send mail with a "fake" FROM address after I have switched to Exchange?

Context

Many groups, offices, and programs at MIT use mailing lists as their main contact address for their office, to give them more flexibility in who receives and processes incoming email. It is often useful to be able to send messages with this mailing list shown as the sender's (fake) FROM address to make it appear the message is coming from that office, and to direct all replies back to the list. (The "Reply-To" email header field can be used to achieve the second outcome in most cases, but is not always observed and does not make it appear that the message came from the office rather than an individual.)

Answer

MIT's Exchange environment does not allow outgoing mail with a "fake" FROM address. This prevents sending mail with a FROM address other than the individual sender's and also prevents the re-directing or "re-disting" of mail. However, there are easy work-around for every mail client program except the web-based Outlook Web Access.

The general solution is to set up a separate email account in your mail program specifically for sending mail with this "fake" FROM address via MIT's SMTP server, rather than via the Exchange environment. This second account can be configured alongside the personal Exchange account. As an added benefit, this will still allow you to use authenticated SMTP to send these messages, preventing them from being flagged as spam and maintaining the ability to verify the sender of the message.

Specific instructions vary by client program:

For Mailboxes not in Office 365.

For Mailboxes in Office 365.

IS&T Contributions

Documentation and information provided by IS&T staff members


Last Modified:

February 07, 2024

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mailing_lists mailing_lists Delete
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moira moira Delete
owa owa Delete
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