Always reply with the same email address

I've got multiple email accounts but I actually only use 1 address to send my mails from.

As Outlook always automatically uses the account that the message has been received with for sending as well, I need to change the account each time.

How can I make Outlook always use the address of my default account instead?

Reply buttonThere is no option in Outlook to force it to always reply with the email address of your default account; replies and forwards will always use the account that the message has been received with.

However, there are a couple of workarounds which can still make it work.

Method 1: Forward messages on the old server

Forward buttonIf these are old accounts and you only have configured them in Outlook to monitor if mail is still received on them, then you could opt to forward your mail to your new email address instead.

Many mail providers offer this option in their web based mailbox.

Since this mail forward or redirect rule runs on the server, there is no need anymore to configure the account in Outlook.

Method 2: Collect messages on the new server

Connected Accounts buttonAgain, if these are old accounts, but a forwarder on your old address isn’t possible, then configuring your new mail account to collect mail from your old account could be a possibility.

For instance, Gmail and Outlook.com offer this functionality but many other mail providers as well.

Now you only have to configure your new account in Outlook.

Method 3: Configure Outlook to prompt you for your account when sending

Select Sending Account buttonYou can configure Outlook to prompt you for the sending account each time that you send a message. Configuring this can be done by changing a Registry setting.

For details see; Always prompt for sending account.

Method 4: Modify your account’s email address and SMTP server settings

SMTP buttonAs always being prompted can be a pain, especially when you ALWAYS want to use your default account, then you can modify several of your email account settings to match your sending account. This can only be done when these are POP3 or IMAP accounts.

For the non-default account you’ll have to do the following;

  • Change the address to the address that you want to send out with.
  • Use the SMTP server settings of the email address that you want to send with.
  • Set the SMTP server logon information on the Outgoing Server tab of the More Settings… dialog

Example
Assume you have a new email account for robert@newdomain.com which you want to use when replying to messages received with the robert@olddomain.com account as well. We also assume that the email addresses are the usernames.

In this case you’ll fill out the main account settings for the robert@olddomain.com account in the following way;

Your NameRobert Sparnaaij
E-mail Addressrobert@newdomain.com
Incoming mail server (POP3/IMAP)mail.olddomain.com
Outgoing mail server (SMTP)mail.newdomain.com
User Namerobert@olddomain.com
Passwordpassword for robert@olddomain.com

You’ll then need to press the More Settings… button and set the following settings on the Outgoing Server tab;

My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authenticationSelected
Log on usingSelected
User Namerobert@newdomain.com
Passwordpassword for robert@newdomain.com
Sperry Software
Use "BH93RF24" to get a discount when ordering!