How do I get rid of the bar in Outlook EMAIL FORWARDING IS ON

Question

How do I get rid of the bar in Outlook EMAIL FORWARDING IS ON

Guillaume Jordaan 30

a Bar appears below the top ribbon in Outlook stating: EMAIL FORWARDING IS ON You are forwarding your email to ...

HSWinMD 5 Reputation points

2026-08-26T18:08:05.46+00:00

Once again, AI is wrong. I do not have automatic forwarding enabled in any of my rules, so where's it coming from? Not from there for sure.
Hornblower409 14,715 Reputation points

2026-08-27T00:09:20.19+00:00

@HSWinMD said

I do not have automatic forwarding enabled in any of my rules

I don't have the problem, so I can't test. Not enough detailed reports to draw any real conclusions. This is all pure speculation.

One theory is that, if you have any Rules, Outlook is misinterpreting one of those Rule and thinks it's an "All Mail Forward" Rule, when it's really not.
Joel Holcomb 0 Reputation points

2026-08-27T00:11:50.6166667+00:00

All answers I've seen so far say that to disable the notification, simply turn forwarding off. The thing is, I know I have auto forwarding rules set up for this particular account; They are essential to the operation of my organization's email service. It's a pain to have to turn the notification off every time I open Outlook and it seems I should be able to disable the notification permanently without disabling auto forwarding.
AMDMan64 1 Reputation point

2026-08-27T04:37:05.6033333+00:00

Same for me. I have a forwarding rule on for a particular purpose. I'm not going to turn off that forwarding rule just to clear the message.

I understand why they added this banner for security reasons (it's a common tactic to enable forwarding rules on hacked email accounts), but there needs to be a way to turn it off after it notifies me about it once. Do better please Microsoft! AI coding should make this sort of thing easy, but only if the engineers actually understand basic software design...

It's acutally not just an Outlook message either. It's a banner that shows up in outlook.live.com / Hotmail as well.
Joel Holcomb 0 Reputation points

2026-08-29T19:03:18.6+00:00

Although this issue seems to be behind us, I want to mention that during approximately the same period, something kept signing me out of the Microsoft OneNote app on my Android cell phone. Just OneNote, no other Microsoft 365 mobile app. That appeared to be fixed on the same day as the forwarding email issue, but has returned today, only with a different set of symptoms. Now I'm reading on Axios.com that in a recent cyber test of roughly 1200 OpenAI agents, the AI agents cheated and attacked or hacked a large number of companies to get their answers. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I can't help but wonder if this hacking incident didn't have something to do with these two problems.
Hornblower409 14,715 Reputation points

2026-08-29T19:34:27.2666667+00:00

@Joel Holcomb said

something kept signing me out of the Microsoft OneNote app on my Android cell phone ... That appeared to be fixed on the same day as the forwarding email issue, but has returned today, only with a different set of symptoms.

You will probably not get any help for this issue by adding to an existing post on a completely different topic. I would suggest that you start a new thread using the "Ask a question" button at the top of this page to create a new Question and include the details for this specific problem. This provides much higher visibility to your issue than adding on to an existing post, which is only seen by people who are already following this question.

a recent cyber test of roughly 1200 OpenAI agents, the AI agents cheated and attacked or hacked a large number of companies ... wonder if this hacking incident didn't have something to do with these two problems.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

I've seen Microsoft pull stunts like this one many times before. No official acknowledgement of the problem, just traffic on the forums, lots of Problem Reports, and then it magically gets fixed.
Joel Holcomb 0 Reputation points

2026-08-29T19:54:22.0133333+00:00

I understand that, Hornblower409. I wasn't trying to post a question about a different topic, merely commenting on the possibility this problem could be linked to other similar issues occurring at the same time, and suggesting a reason for it. I realize no human malice was involved, but since AI getting it wrong was mentioned in the original post, I saw no harm in including a comment about AI here.

And I agree, Microsoft and many other companies have created problems with their software "enhancements," but never officially acknowledge they were at fault.

BTW, the OneNote problem I mentioned has been reported on extensively in other online forums, and I filed a problem report with Microsoft myself a few days ago. :-)

Answer accepted by question author

AI answer

That bar appears because automatic forwarding is enabled on the mailbox. To remove it, turn forwarding off.

For Outlook on the web:

Select Settings at the top of the window.
Go to Mail > Forwarding.
Turn off forwarding, then select Save.

For new Outlook for Windows:

Select Settings at the top of the window.
Go to Mail > Forwarding.
Toggle Disable forwarding and select Save.

If forwarding already looks off, check for an inbox rule that is forwarding messages and remove that rule. The Outlook support content also notes that forwarding can be set up in rules.

AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

4 additional answers

Your answer

HSWinMD 5 Reputation points

2026-08-26T18:08:05.46+00:00

Once again, AI is wrong. I do not have automatic forwarding enabled in any of my rules, so where's it coming from? Not from there for sure.
Hornblower409 14,715 Reputation points

2026-08-27T00:09:20.19+00:00

@HSWinMD said

I do not have automatic forwarding enabled in any of my rules

I don't have the problem, so I can't test. Not enough detailed reports to draw any real conclusions. This is all pure speculation.

One theory is that, if you have any Rules, Outlook is misinterpreting one of those Rule and thinks it's an "All Mail Forward" Rule, when it's really not.
Joel Holcomb 0 Reputation points

2026-08-27T00:11:50.6166667+00:00

All answers I've seen so far say that to disable the notification, simply turn forwarding off. The thing is, I know I have auto forwarding rules set up for this particular account; They are essential to the operation of my organization's email service. It's a pain to have to turn the notification off every time I open Outlook and it seems I should be able to disable the notification permanently without disabling auto forwarding.
AMDMan64 1 Reputation point

2026-08-27T04:37:05.6033333+00:00

Same for me. I have a forwarding rule on for a particular purpose. I'm not going to turn off that forwarding rule just to clear the message.

I understand why they added this banner for security reasons (it's a common tactic to enable forwarding rules on hacked email accounts), but there needs to be a way to turn it off after it notifies me about it once. Do better please Microsoft! AI coding should make this sort of thing easy, but only if the engineers actually understand basic software design...

It's acutally not just an Outlook message either. It's a banner that shows up in outlook.live.com / Hotmail as well.
Joel Holcomb 0 Reputation points

2026-08-29T19:03:18.6+00:00

Although this issue seems to be behind us, I want to mention that during approximately the same period, something kept signing me out of the Microsoft OneNote app on my Android cell phone. Just OneNote, no other Microsoft 365 mobile app. That appeared to be fixed on the same day as the forwarding email issue, but has returned today, only with a different set of symptoms. Now I'm reading on Axios.com that in a recent cyber test of roughly 1200 OpenAI agents, the AI agents cheated and attacked or hacked a large number of companies to get their answers. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I can't help but wonder if this hacking incident didn't have something to do with these two problems.
Hornblower409 14,715 Reputation points

2026-08-29T19:34:27.2666667+00:00

@Joel Holcomb said

something kept signing me out of the Microsoft OneNote app on my Android cell phone ... That appeared to be fixed on the same day as the forwarding email issue, but has returned today, only with a different set of symptoms.

You will probably not get any help for this issue by adding to an existing post on a completely different topic. I would suggest that you start a new thread using the "Ask a question" button at the top of this page to create a new Question and include the details for this specific problem. This provides much higher visibility to your issue than adding on to an existing post, which is only seen by people who are already following this question.

a recent cyber test of roughly 1200 OpenAI agents, the AI agents cheated and attacked or hacked a large number of companies ... wonder if this hacking incident didn't have something to do with these two problems.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

I've seen Microsoft pull stunts like this one many times before. No official acknowledgement of the problem, just traffic on the forums, lots of Problem Reports, and then it magically gets fixed.
Joel Holcomb 0 Reputation points

2026-08-29T19:54:22.0133333+00:00

I understand that, Hornblower409. I wasn't trying to post a question about a different topic, merely commenting on the possibility this problem could be linked to other similar issues occurring at the same time, and suggesting a reason for it. I realize no human malice was involved, but since AI getting it wrong was mentioned in the original post, I saw no harm in including a comment about AI here.

And I agree, Microsoft and many other companies have created problems with their software "enhancements," but never officially acknowledge they were at fault.

BTW, the OneNote problem I mentioned has been reported on extensively in other online forums, and I filed a problem report with Microsoft myself a few days ago. :-)

Answer 1

Hornblower409 14,715

@Guillaume Jordaan said

a Bar appears below the top ribbon in Outlook stating: EMAIL FORWARDING IS ON

Have seen similar recent reports. It would appear that Classic Outlook is now showing the Forwarding Bar if there are old Rules that it thinks are "forward all mail" rules, when they really are specific to a Subject, Sender, etc.

See the thread at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5985006/how-to-turn-off-email-forwarding-that-i-did-not-se

Do you have any Rules defined?
| Classic Outlook | tab at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/mail/manage-email-messages-by-using-rules-in-outlook

HSWinMD 5 Reputation points

2026-08-27T00:35:08.0466667+00:00

I went through my rules list again even more carefully than before and I DID find a forward rule to my wife. I have deleted it and shut down Outlook 365. Now to restart: and no more forwarding bar. Now to recreate the rule and see what happens..... as soon as I created the rule, Outlook put the message bar up at the top of the window. As soon as I deleted it, the bar across the top disappeared! Go figure...

OK, so now that we know it happens, how to shut it off?
Hornblower409 14,715 Reputation points

2026-08-27T00:45:40.5066667+00:00

@HSWinMD said

I DID find a forward rule ... deleted it and no more forwarding bar ... as soon as I created the rule, Outlook put the message bar up

Thanks for the confirmation. Sorry, I don't have any suggestions for a fix.

Bring in Microsoft Support?

MS 365 Admin Only Support (Qualified MS 365 Subscriptions)
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/get-help-support

Classic Outlook In App Support
Help -> Contact Support
Hornblower409 14,715 Reputation points

2026-08-27T00:58:08.9733333+00:00

HSWinMD said

I DID find a forward rule ... deleted it and no more forwarding bar

Just another data point - Same results if you just disable the Rule (uncheck) and not Delete it?
HSWinMD 5 Reputation points

2026-08-27T02:58:48.79+00:00

That I didn't try. I'll do it.......tomorrow. Too late tonight!

Answer 2

@Joel Holcomb @AMDMan64 said

I have a forwarding rule on for a particular purpose. I'm not going to turn off that forwarding rule just to clear the message.

How to submit a Problem Report for this issue.

Every Report moves this issue one tiny bit higher on the Microsoft fixit list.

Since this just started showing up for Rules that were already in place, it's obviously a bug or a Microsoft change that they didn't think all the way thru before rolling out. At this point all I can suggest is that you submit a Problem Report so they know this is happening:

In App Problem Report - New Outlook for Windows or Outlook Web

From the main menu: Help -> Feedback
{This should open the Help side panel}
Select "Report a problem"
Fill in the "Describe your problem ..." text box.
Can we contact you about this feedback -> Yes
Collect logs for feedback -> Yes
Click [Submit]

In App Problem Report - Classic Outlook

Help -> Feedback -> Report a problem

Copilot suggest this as a concise description you could use in your Report:

False "Email Forwarding Is On" banner displayed for accounts that have forwarding Rules but do not have mailbox-level email forwarding enabled.

If you wish, you can include a link to the Q&A Post about this issue in your Report to help them understand the details of the problem.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5985867/how-do-i-get-rid-of-the-bar-in-outlook-email-forwa
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5985006/how-to-turn-off-email-forwarding-that-i-did-not-se

Answer 3

ron 10

FWIW, I am having the same problem. Outlook (classic) with desired mail-forwarding rules.

The only way I've found to disable the banner is to disable all the mail-forwarding rules in the Outlook rules manager.
Making the rules apply "only on this computer" (and seeing them flagged "client only") does not remove the banner, even though it removes the ForwardTo option on the server.

Even if those solutions had worked, they would not be satisfactory for my use-case.

I submitted a report using Feedback within Outlook (classic) but I didn't see any other reports of this issue there. Is there another more useful link?

Hornblower409 14,715 Reputation points

2026-08-27T12:44:26.0933333+00:00

Ron said

I submitted a report using Feedback within Outlook (classic) but I didn't see any other reports of this issue there.

You won't see this as a "Reported Issue" until someone at Microsoft reviews the reports and decides to add it to the Message Center alerts.

Is there another more useful link?

If you have a Qualified MS 365 Subscription - MS 365 Admin Only Support
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/get-help-support
ron 10 Reputation points

2026-08-27T12:49:31.1233333+00:00

Thanks. But I have a family subscription. What I meant to indicate is that I also searched the feedback forum (not just my feedback) and didn't see reports of this problem from anyone. Maybe it's too recent a problem?
HSWinMD 5 Reputation points

2026-08-27T12:58:35.02+00:00

I reported it to MS. (Classic Outlook365) running standalone and POP3. If one has forwarding rule/s and you uncheck the item--rather than getting rid of it altogether, the bar doesn't show up when Outlook re/starts. In fact the bar goes away as soon as you uncheck it in the Manage Rules dialog and click Apply/OK.

The reason it doesn't happen on my wife's set up is she has no configured rules!
ron 10 Reputation points

2026-08-27T13:04:38.98+00:00

Yes, that is my experience also. I found it interesting that when you recheck the box, the mail-forwarding action is not there. But when you add it back, the bar will reappear.
Hornblower409 14,715 Reputation points

2026-08-27T13:07:16.2166667+00:00

Ron said

I also searched the feedback forum (not just my feedback) and didn't see reports of this problem from anyone.

The Feedback Forum ( https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com ) is probably not the best place to report something like this. That Forum is pretty much for new feature request. Doesn't hurt to post there, but at this point I'm going on the assumption that this is a bug, or Microsoft rolled out a change without testing for side effects. For that a Problem Report (as described in my Answer) is probably the best way to get Microsoft's attention.
ron 10 Reputation points

2026-08-27T13:11:36.2433333+00:00

I did report it using the Feedback ==> report a problem dialog within Outlook (Classic). That was the area I tried to search for other reports.
ron 10 Reputation points

2026-08-28T19:19:45.0133333+00:00

Of interest. The banner did not appear today, and everything with regard to my rules is the same as it was yesterday.

Answer 4

Joel Holcomb 0

I am not sure what happened, but as of this morning, I stopped having this issue with Classic Outlook. I have two Microsoft email accounts plus two Gmail accounts setup in Outlook. The second Microsoft account is one connected with a shared instance of Microsoft 365 for families, which I have subscribed to under my primary Microsoft account, and is the one that showed the "Email forwarding is on" alert. Initially, I had no forwarding rules for my primary account, but four forwarding rules for the secondary account.

I added a test forwarding rule to the primary account, and the notification then appeared for the primary account as well as on the secondary account. I cleared the notification for both the primary account and secondary account, restarted outlook, and the notification was gone on both accounts!

I'm not sure this will be of help to anyone else, where this may be a special case with two email accounts connected to Outlook. I'm just glad it's gone, and hope it doesn't reappear.

HSWinMD 5 Reputation points

2026-08-28T20:45:45.6266667+00:00

I just (Friday 8/28, 4:45 PM ET) re-enabled my forwarding rule and the problem no longer exists. Thanks to whomever fixed this issue. Most appreciated.
ron 10 Reputation points

2026-08-28T23:08:33.4466667+00:00

Ditto here with classic Outlook. Looks like it may have been a server side issue that MS fixed. At least I hope that is the case.