FamilyHQ works by reading a copy of the school and activity email you already receive, then turning it into a clear, per-child digest. To get started, you point a forwarding rule at your personal FamilyHQ address. This guide has a full walkthrough for each of the big four providers — Gmail, iCloud Mail, Outlook.com, and Yahoo Mail — so jump straight to yours.
Find your FamilyHQ forwarding address
When you sign in, your dashboard shows a forwarding address that belongs only to your account. It looks like u_k3x9m2p8w1qz@forward.mailtohq.com — yours will be different, because it's a random code tied to your account, not your name. You can find it any time on your Dashboard, or during setup.
Everything sent to that address is processed for your digest — nothing else in your inbox is touched.
Gmail
About 5 minutes. Gmail takes two parts, in order — it won't forward anything until the first part is done.
One-time step, do this first: Gmail needs to verify your FamilyHQ address before it will forward anything to it. That's Part 1 below. Skip it and Part 2's filter will silently fail to deliver mail.
Part 1 — Verify your FamilyHQ address
- Open Gmail, click the gear icon (top right), then See all settings.
- Open the forwarding tab: Settings → Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
- Click Add a forwarding address, paste your FamilyHQ address, then Next → Proceed.
- Gmail's confirmation email lands in FamilyHQ, and your FamilyHQ Dashboard will show a Confirm forwarding button — click it. It opens Gmail's real confirmation link in a new tab for you to approve.
- Back in Gmail's Forwarding settings, your address will now show as verified. FamilyHQ is now a trusted forwarding destination in Gmail.
Part 2 — Create the filter
- Open Settings → Filters and Blocked Addresses, then click Create a new filter.
- In From, enter a sender (
newsletter@my-school.org) or a whole domain (@my-school.org) to catch everything from that school. - Click Create filter, check Forward it to, and choose your FamilyHQ address from the dropdown.
- Optional: also check Skip the Inbox (Archive it) to keep your own inbox clean.
- Click Create filter. Done — matching emails now forward automatically.
Heads up: Filters only catch new mail. To send an older email, open it and forward it manually to your FamilyHQ address.
Still stuck? Google's official forwarding guide covers the same flow.
iCloud Mail
About 3 minutes. No verification step — iCloud just needs one rule. Set it up at icloud.com/mail in a browser, not the Mail app (more on that below).
- Go to icloud.com/mail and sign in.
- Open Settings → Rules.
- Click Add a Rule and name it something you'll recognize later, like "Forward — Lincoln Elementary."
- Set the condition: From contains your school's domain (e.g.
@lincoln-elementary.org). - Set the action: Forward to, then paste your FamilyHQ address.
- Click Add. The rule is live immediately, though it can take up to 15 minutes to catch new mail.
New email from that domain now forwards to FamilyHQ automatically.
Heads up: Like Gmail, rules only catch new mail — forward older emails manually. And rule order matters: keep FamilyHQ rules above any auto-archive rules that might intercept the same mail first.
Prefer the Mail app to a browser?
You can set up the same thing on your Mac: Mail → Settings → Rules → Add Rule, matching From against your school's domain, with the action set to Redirect Message (not "Forward"). One difference: this rule only runs while Mail is open on that Mac, so it won't catch anything while it's closed or asleep. The iCloud.com rule above runs on Apple's servers and works around the clock — that's the more reliable choice for something you want running unattended.
Apple's official rules guide has the details.
Outlook.com
About 4 minutes. Outlook.com's rules work like Gmail's filters — no separate verification step, just one rule.
- In Outlook.com, open Settings (gear icon), then Mail → Rules.
- Click Add new rule and give it a name, like "Forward — Lincoln Elementary."
- Click Add a condition and set it to match your school's sender or domain.
- Click Add an action, choose Forward to, and paste your FamilyHQ address.
- Click Save. Matching mail now forwards automatically.
Heads up: Microsoft may send you a security alert when a new forwarding rule is added to your account — that's expected, not an error. Rules also only catch new mail; forward older emails manually.
Microsoft's official rules guide covers the same flow.
Yahoo Mail
About 5 minutes. Yahoo splits into two very different situations depending on your account type — check which one you're in before you start.
Requires Yahoo Mail Plus: Yahoo's own auto-forwarding only works on Yahoo Mail Plus (or an ISP-partner plan that includes it, like some AT&T or Rogers Yahoo accounts). Free Yahoo Mail accounts don't get the option at all — Settings won't show it.
If you have Yahoo Mail Plus
- Click the More options icon, then Settings.
- Click Mailboxes, then select your primary mailbox account.
- Under Auto-forwarding, paste your FamilyHQ address and click Verify.
- Your FamilyHQ Dashboard will show a Confirm forwarding button once Yahoo's verification email arrives — click it to approve.
Heads up: This forwards everything, not just school senders — Yahoo Plus doesn't offer sender-specific forwarding the way Gmail and Outlook rules do.
If you're on a free Yahoo account
Native forwarding isn't available to you, but there's a reliable workaround: add your Yahoo account to a desktop mail app (Apple Mail or Outlook desktop both work) and create the forwarding rule there instead.
One catch: a rule set up this way only runs while that app is open on your computer — it won't catch mail that arrives while it's closed. That's a real tradeoff for something meant to run unattended, but it's the option Yahoo leaves free accounts with today.
Yahoo's official forwarding guide covers the Plus flow.
Confirm forwarding
Some providers verify a new forwarding destination before they'll send anything to it — Gmail always does, and so does Yahoo Mail Plus. FamilyHQ does not silently accept that verification. When the provider's confirmation email arrives, your dashboard shows a Confirm forwarding button that opens the provider's real confirmation link so you can approve it yourself. iCloud Mail and Outlook.com rules skip verification entirely — once the rule is saved, new mail starts flowing into your digest.
Still need help?
Provider screens change and school email setups vary. If yours doesn't match these steps, contact support and we'll walk you through your exact provider.