How MyShield's Instant Email Forwarding Works

MyShield is built to forward mail as it comes in. It is not a digest tool and it does not wait for a scheduled batch window before sending messages onward to your inbox.

What "Instant" Means in Practice

The product forwards mail as part of the live delivery path. As soon as MyShield receives and processes a message for an active alias, it hands it off to the outbound mail transport.

That said, exact arrival time still depends on several systems outside the app itself:

• the sender's mail server
• upstream delivery services such as Cloudflare Email Routing for @myshield.world
• your destination inbox provider

So the accurate promise is: no deliberate batching inside MyShield. Exact timing can still vary.

The Two Inbound Paths

1. @myshield.world aliases

Mail to standard MyShield aliases is handled through Cloudflare Email Routing before it reaches the application webhook.

2. Custom-domain aliases

Mail to verified custom domains is accepted by MyShield's SMTP service at mail.myshield.world, which validates the recipient before handing the raw message to the main application.

What the App Does with a Forwarded Message

Once the application receives the raw message, it:

1. Looks up the alias
2. Confirms it is active
3. Parses the sender and subject
4. Builds the forwarded copy sent to the account email on file
5. Ensures a stable Reply Route (Reverse Alias) is available for paid plans
6. Increments the alias forward counter

The forwarded copy is not just a raw passthrough. The current product wraps the message in MyShield's branded forwarding format and prefixes the forwarded subject with the alias or label.

What Happens if the Alias Is Not Active

• Unknown or deleted aliases are rejected by the active delivery path
• Paused aliases are also treated as inactive for delivery purposes

Paused aliases should not be treated as a mailbox hold queue. If mail is sent during the pause, you should assume it may be missed.

Message Storage and Privacy

MyShield does not operate as a long-term mailbox for your forwarded mail.

However, one detail matters for accuracy: on paid plans, when reply-from-alias is available, the system stores the mapping for stable Reply Routes. This mapping ensures that outbound replies are correctly routed from the correct alias to the original sender, even for conversations that span weeks or months.

That is not the same as hosting your inbox, but it is part of how the feature works to ensure reliable, private communication.

Deliverability Notes

Forwarding still depends on the destination provider's spam and inbox-placement logic. Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Proton Mail, and other providers each apply their own filtering after MyShield hands off the message.

For custom domains, publishing the DKIM record shown in the dashboard is important if you plan to use reply-from-alias on your own domain.

Create your first free alias →