Check the email link and form separately
Tapping an email address on a website usually opens your email app. A contact form sends the details through a separate service or website setting. Updating the address visitors can see may leave the form sending to the old inbox.
On Browser Workbench, the public email address comes from the website content, while the form recipient is a separate hosting setting. That separation is why I check both when an address changes. Your site may put those settings somewhere else.
| Route | What to check |
|---|---|
| Email link | The address shown on the page and the recipient opened by the link. |
| Enquiry form | The destination in the form plugin, hosting settings or sending service. |
| Your reply | The customer address selected when you reply, and the business address they see as the sender. |
Know which inbox you need to open
A mailbox is an account you sign into. An alias is another address attached to a mailbox. For example, [email protected] and [email protected] could share one inbox.
Write down which mailbox receives each address. With Namecheap Private Email, an alias has no separate login. Check your own provider’s instructions, including how to send a reply from the alias you want customers to see.
The addresses above are an example. They do not describe a customer setup or a delivery test.
Make a short change list
- Check that the new mailbox exists and that you can sign in. Keep the old account available while you verify the change.
- List the places showing the old address: contact page, footer, privacy contact, email buttons, downloadable documents and business listings.
- Find each form that sends a notification. A quote request, callback request and general contact form may have separate settings.
- Ask whoever manages the site to confirm the notification recipient, sender and reply address. A new inbox alone does not update all three.
- If you are changing email provider, ask them to confirm the required domain records and migration steps before cancelling the old service.
Run a test you can recognise
Use an email account you control outside the business mailbox. Send a plain message to the new public address with a distinctive subject, such as “Email change check, 30 October, 10:15”. Look for that exact message in the new inbox and spam folder.
Then submit your own website form using the same external address. Put “Test enquiry, no customer action needed” and the time in the message. Check the destination inbox rather than relying on the website’s confirmation screen.
Open the form notification and press Reply without sending. Confirm that the recipient is your external test address. Then send a short reply and check it arrives there with the intended business sender.
| Check | Record the result |
|---|---|
| Direct email to the new address | Time sent, inbox checked and time found. |
| Each website form | Page used, confirmation shown and where its notification arrived. |
| Reply from the business inbox | Recipient selected, sender shown and reply received. |
| Each alias you intend to use | Receiving tested; sending tested separately if needed. |
Use your own test details. If the form also alerts a colleague or starts another process, agree the test with them first.
If the message does not arrive
Check spam, inbox rules and the recipient saved in the form settings. If you use a sending service, inspect the entry for that exact test and time.
Resend distinguishes a successful sending request from delivery to the recipient’s mail server. Even a delivered event does not tell you which folder the message reached or whether someone read it. The inbox check still matters.
Keep the form confirmation, delivery record and inbox result as separate notes. Give those notes to whoever manages the site so they can investigate the right part of the route.
Finish the change after the checks pass
- Confirm the visible address and every email link use the intended destination.
- Confirm each form notification reaches the mailbox you actually check.
- Confirm replies go to the test customer address and use the intended business sender.
- Keep the old receiving route available for existing customers while you agree when it can be retired.
- Retain the short test record so a future change has a known starting point.
Further reading
Official guidance behind the practical advice. Service inclusions are confirmed in your written quote.