When should I forward an email instead of replying to it?
You should forward your email instead of replying to it if you did not include the recipient in the original email message. It’s as simple as that. Many online communication professionals will agree with this, and so will I, since I send a lot of email every day, both internally and externally. hopefully, now you won’t have any dilemma when pressing the “forward” button.
what happens when you forward an email?
forwarding an email allows a new recipient to view the sent email if it was not originally included in the email chain. furthermore, forwarding an email message means that you are forwarding the message to another person or group, including all content, text formatting, and attachments included in the original email message. If you don’t change the elements of the email before you forward it, the person or group it’s forwarded to will see all the details of the original message.
When you forward an email, does the original sender see it?
If your original sender uses traditional email, it’s simple. in this case, if you forward an email, the sender of the original message will never know that you forwarded the message to another recipient. Only when you put the original sender’s email address in the “cc” or “bcc” field in the forwarded email message will the sender receive a copy of the email.
Now, I’ve covered the case where the original sender uses traditional email. There is also the case when the sender uses an email open tracking tool or other CRM software dedicated to email marketing. some email solutions allow the sender to embed the code in the email to know precisely when and how many times the email was opened by the recipient.
For example, your tracking tool may show that a recipient opened an email from a specific location. then after some time you may get another confirmation that your email was opened from somewhere else in the world. this could be evidence that your email was forwarded.
The subject of the message can also indicate to the sender that you have forwarded the message. the abbreviation “fw:” or “fwd:” added to the beginning of the subject line of the message tells you that the email was originally sent to someone else.
best practices for forwarding emails
Nobody likes getting clunky, messy emails. it is more difficult to understand its meaning. the only thing you see when you first look at it is chaos. Regardless of whether you send or forward a message, the email must be perfect and indicate your professionalism. So what should you do before you forward professional emails to other people?
use the ‘forward’ button exactly where you are
always forward an email from the current message you are reading. by doing so, your recipients will immediately spot the message you want them to see. they won’t have to read the dozens of answers above. trust me, it really makes communication easier and faster.
add your comment
If you forward a message, always include your thoughts in the email. check the message information by leaving a comment at the top. express your opinion, suggest solutions or additional steps. That shows that you spend time reading the entire thread. it’s also a signal to other people that the message is worth taking a look at.
Remember to add the appropriate greeting and closing. pay attention to who you are writing to and use the best greeting or closing accordingly.
If you include an attachment in your response, be sure to add the appropriate file. for files like images or graphics, you can paste them into the body of the email. recipients will not have to download files and will be able to view the content regardless of the device they are using or the quality of the network.
adjust subject line
remove ‘fw: fw: fw: fw:’ and anything else that is not needed from the subject line. it just looks bad. change the subject of the email and write one that shows a hint of your reply. this will also help speed up the response time, especially if you indicate that it is time sensitive.
In gmail, you can easily change the email subject. follow these steps to do it:
open email in gmail -> ‘forward’ -> ‘response type’ -> ‘edit subject’
so, instead of sending “fw: fw: negotiating a contract with xyz”, try writing something like this “[attachment] new terms of cooperation with company xyz”.
Also, I did my homework and put together a set of the best email subject lines that you can use to increase your open rate. try them.
format the text of a message
The first time someone forwards a message, it looks fine. however, when repeated over and over, the message looks disorganized and difficult to read. it’s possible that, at this point, it’s just a random mix of bold and italic text, and in various font sizes. don’t send an email when it looks like this. fix it by editing those things.
select the text that needs formatting and look for the plain text feature in your email inbox.
be careful when formatting a message that contains images. after using “plain text mode”, images will be removed.
Since I’m talking about formatting, remove unnecessary signatures and disclaimers from emails that only prolong the reading process and prevent the recipient from getting to the point quickly.
check again or regret it
Before clicking the “forward” button, make sure that all content in the email is appropriate for the person it is being sent to. A friendly exchange of views occurs in an email, but beware of content that is not appropriate for everyone. the way we talk to people with whom we have a personal relationship is different. With those people, we speak less formally.
It’s easy to break email etiquette, but how will you restore your credibility then?
privacy is important
Is it okay to forward an email without the permission of the original sender? it depends. According to email etiquette, it’s a good idea to first ask the sender if they want to forward a message they sent.
Imagine you are talking to a customer. Suddenly, you have to consult with your team members about a question that they have asked you. you forward an email with all messages on the topic, including personal information such as their name and email address.
Unfortunately, there may be data that the client does not necessarily want to share with everyone. if you know that kind of information is in the email, don’t make it public. By not submitting that type of information, you are taking care of the customer and giving them peace of mind when it comes to their personal information.
Do not include confidential or sensitive material in the message if it is not necessary to resolve the customer’s case. always write an email with the knowledge that your message could be made public at any time. use additional file encryption and data anonymization if the situation calls for it.
what about forwarding email addresses? again, it would be good to ask if you can forward the message and email address. This may come as a surprise to you, but if it turns out that the sender doesn’t want their email address disclosed, it’s a clear violation of their privacy. just keep it confidential, show respect, and remove unnecessary email addresses at the top of the message.
“to”, “cc” and “bcc”
Whenever you send an email to more than one person, consider whether the recipients are related to the case and whether or not the message will be useful to them. try the “to”, “cc”, or “bcc” fields that are available in your inbox.
Below you can find an example of an email using the “to”, “cc”, and “bcc” fields. look how they are filled.
now the most interesting part. look at the correlations between the email addresses. quick analysis allows you to create your own correlations between the recipients of your message.
‘to’
When you use the “to” field, the recipients are public. each of them can see the content of the email and who it was sent to. Please fill in this field carefully to ensure recipients know who else received the message.
‘cc’ (carbon copy)
Email addresses filled in the “cc” field mean that these people are additional recipients of the message. they get the exact same message as everyone else because they need to be aware of the problem, but they don’t see themselves as the most interested recipients. in this way, you can organize your communication and prioritize the responses of each individual.
‘bcc’ (blind copy)
Using the ‘bcc’ field, you can hide the visibility of email recipients. in this way, each person will be convinced that they have received the only copy of the message. remember that if you only fill in the ‘bcc’ field, recipients will only be able to see their own email address in the header.
be careful with ‘reply’ and ‘reply all’
the difference between ‘reply’ and ‘reply all’ is childishly simple. via ‘reply’, your message is sent to a person. that person could be someone who sent you the original email or someone who sent the last message in the thread you’re replying to.
with ‘reply all’, you literally reply to everyone. everyone in the thread can see what you’ve written, and this also applies to all email addresses in the “to” and “cc” fields.
The final choice is up to you, but I think it’s a good idea to choose “reply all” when:
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the answer applies to most people in the thread and may be useful to all recipients.
there are not many people in the thread and they are all working on the same problem.
There is a policy that you must share your comments with everyone included in the message.
Your supervisor expects you to show your reasoning to the entire team.
You decide how the conversation continues. the transparency of the processes, being informed in the team, and many others depend on whether you continue with ‘reply to all’ or just ‘reply’. think about who should be included in the conversation and who shouldn’t.