Guide · Gmail and Google Workspace

Forward Gmail and Google Workspace email to Tend.

Keep the support address your clients already use. Forward it to your queue's private Tend address with one of three routes below, then send a test from outside your organisation.

Steps checked against the provider's help pages · October 2026

Before you start

Copy your queue's private address

Every Tend queue has its own private email address. Forwarding sends a copy of each email that reaches your public support address to that private address, and Tend opens it as a request with the original sender as the requester.

  1. 01In Tend, open Settings, then Email. You need permission to manage settings to see this page.
  2. 02Each queue has its own card. Under Incoming, copy the address after forward incoming email to.
  3. 03Keep it somewhere handy for the next steps. The address is long and random on purpose: nobody can guess it, so only mail you forward ever arrives.
  • Several queues, such as support and accounts, each have their own address. Forward each public address to its own queue.
  • You only forward incoming mail. Tend's emails to clients go out under your queue's name, and client replies come straight back to the request whichever route you choose below.

Choose a route

Three ways to forward from Google

Each route passes the original message on, so the customer, not your support mailbox, becomes the requester in Tend. Pick the one that matches how your support address is set up.

  • Gmail forwarding

    One mailbox: a Gmail account, or one Google Workspace user such as support@. Set up by whoever signs in to that mailbox.

  • A Google Group

    Google Workspace, when your support address is a group or can become one. Set up by an admin, with no confirmation email.

  • An admin routing rule

    Google Workspace, when your support address is a user mailbox and you prefer the copy to be made on Google's side. Set up by an admin.

Route 1

Gmail forwarding

Gmail confirms a new forwarding address by emailing it. Because that address is your Tend queue, the confirmation arrives in Tend as a request, which is where you click it.

  1. 01Sign in to Gmail on a computer as the support mailbox. Click Settings (the gear), then See all settings.
  2. 02Open the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab and click Add a forwarding address.
  3. 03Paste your queue's private address, then click Next, Proceed and OK.
  4. 04In Tend, open the inbox. Gmail's confirmation email arrives as a new request within a few minutes. Open it and click the confirmation link. If it does not appear, check the Spam view of the inbox.
  5. 05Back in Gmail, refresh the page and return to Forwarding and POP/IMAP. Choose Forward a copy of incoming mail to with your queue's address selected.
  6. 06Keep Gmail's copy in the inbox while you test, then click Save Changes.
  7. 07Resolve or delete the confirmation request in Tend. It has done its job.
  • Gmail forwards new mail only, and does not forward messages it has marked as spam.
  • Gmail shows a notice about the forwarding in the mailbox for its first week. That is expected.
  • To forward only some mail, turn forwarding off and create a Gmail filter with Forward it instead. The address must be confirmed first.
  • On Google Workspace, if the forwarding option is missing, an admin has turned it off. It lives in the Admin console under Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail > End User Access > Automatic forwarding, as Allow users to automatically forward email to another address. Google turns it on by default.

Provider reference: Google: automatically forward Gmail messages to another account

Route 2 · Google Workspace admin

A Google Group

If your support address is a group, add the Tend queue as one more member. A group cannot share its address with a user mailbox, so this route suits a support address that is already a group or can become one.

  1. 01In the Google Admin console, go to Directory > Groups. Open the group that owns your support address, or click Create group to make one.
  2. 02Open Access settings. Allow external members, and under Who can post include External so clients outside your organisation can email the group. Keep Who can view conversations limited to members.
  3. 03Add your queue's private address as a member. Admins can add an outside address directly in the Admin console. Make sure it receives each email, not a digest.
  4. 04Save, then send a test from outside your organisation, as described below.
  • Organisation-wide group policies under Apps > Google Workspace > Groups for Business > Sharing settings limit what group owners can do in Google Groups. Admins can still allow external members and outside email per group in the Admin console.
  • Google Groups adds an unsubscribe footer to messages sent to outside members. Tend removes that footer from incoming email.
  • Colleagues in the group keep receiving each email too. Remove anyone who no longer needs a copy once Tend is working.

Provider reference: Google Workspace: update group details

Route 3 · Google Workspace admin

An admin routing rule

A routing rule tells Gmail to deliver an extra copy of mail for your support address to the Tend queue. No confirmation email is involved, and the mailbox owner does not need to change anything.

  1. 01In the Google Admin console, go to Apps > Google Workspace > Gmail > Routing. Leave the top organisational unit selected.
  2. 02Click Configure (or Add another rule) and name the setting, for example Copy support to Tend.
  3. 03Under the messages to affect, tick Inbound.
  4. 04For the action, choose Modify message. Under Also deliver to, tick Add more recipients, click Add and paste your queue's private address.
  5. 05Under Envelope filter, tick Only affect specific envelope recipients and enter your support address, so only support mail is copied.
  6. 06Click Save. Google notes that routing changes can take up to 24 hours to apply, so test again later if the first one does not arrive.
  • Routing rules apply to active users with Gmail turned on, and Google applies them to outside mail only when it passes SPF or DKIM checks.
  • You need the Gmail Settings administrator privilege to add a routing rule.

Provider reference: Google Workspace: add Gmail routing settings

Last step

Test it from outside

A forwarding rule can look right and still not deliver. Two quick tests tell you which half works.

  1. 01In Settings > Email, click Send a test email to this queue. It usually opens as a request within a minute. This proves Tend's intake only: the test goes straight to the private address and never touches your forwarding.
  2. 02Now, from an address outside your organisation, such as a personal account, email your usual support address. Keep a copy in the support mailbox while you test.
  3. 03In Tend, check the new request shows the outside sender as the requester, not your own support mailbox.
  4. 04Reply from Tend, then reply again from the outside account. The second reply should land on the same request.
  5. 05Back in Settings > Email, the dot beside Incoming turns green, and the line beneath names the address the latest email was sent to.

If nothing arrives

Find where it stopped

  • Check the support mailbox kept its copy. If it did, the email reached Google and the forwarding step is the place to look.
  • Compare the forwarding address with the one in Settings > Email, character for character.
  • Look in the Spam view of the Tend inbox. Mail flagged as spam before it reaches Tend waits there for review.
  • Check Settings > Email > Blocked senders. Mail from a blocked address or domain is dropped on arrival.
  • If the outside sender received a bounce, its wording usually names the setting that refused the message.

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