How to Create Receive-Only Email Addresses in StackCP

Where a Send-Only Address (covered in our companion guide) handles outgoing-only mail, a Receive-Only Address does the opposite: it can accept incoming mail but isn't set up for sending. This is useful for addresses meant purely to collect submissions or notifications — where you want mail to arrive somewhere without that address ever needing to send a reply itself.

What Is a Receive-Only Address Used For?

Common use cases include:

• Collecting form submissions or feedback routed to a specific address purely for storage or later review, without any expectation of a reply going out from that same address.
• A dedicated inbox for automated alerts from other systems (monitoring tools, third-party services) that you check periodically, without needing that address to send anything itself.
• A submission address for a specific process (e.g., "reply-to-this-address-to-unsubscribe") where incoming mail needs to be captured and processed, but outgoing mail is always sent from a different, separate address.

Step 1: Open Receive-Only Addresses

1. Log in to StackCP.
2. Go to Manage Hosting, then Manage on your package.
3. Select Receive-Only Addresses under the Email section.

Step 2: Create the Address

1. Enter the address you want to use (for example, submissions to create submissions@yourdomain.com).
2. Save/create the address.

Step 3: Check the Mailbox

Since the address is designed to receive but not send, checking it typically works the same way as any other mailbox — via webmail (Stackmail) or a connected email app configured for IMAP access only.

Why Use Receive-Only Instead of a Full Mailbox?

• Reduced risk if credentials are ever exposed. Since the address can't send mail, it's a less attractive target for someone looking to send spam or phishing mail using your domain's reputation.
• Clear intent — it signals the address exists purely to collect, not to correspond.

Common Mistakes Beginners Make

• Expecting to reply from a receive-only address, then being confused when sending fails. Use a separate, standard mailbox for any actual correspondence.
• Not checking the address regularly, since a receive-only address can still accumulate a growing number of unread messages if nobody is monitoring it.
• Using a receive-only address for anything customer-facing where a genuine two-way conversation might eventually be needed.

Troubleshooting

"I'm not receiving mail sent to my receive-only address." Confirm the address was created successfully in the Receive-Only Addresses section, and allow a short time after creation before testing, similar to standard mailbox setup.

"I'm trying to send from this address and it's failing." This is expected — the address is specifically configured for receiving only. Use a standard mailbox or a send-only address (see our companion guide) if you need to send mail from your domain.

A Practical Example

Imagine a business that uses a third-party monitoring service to alert them when their website goes down. Rather than routing those alerts to a busy, actively-used team inbox where they might get lost among regular correspondence, a dedicated receive-only address like alerts@yourdomain.com gives those notifications a clean, separate home. The team can check it specifically when investigating an issue, without needing to filter it out of their day-to-day email, and without that address ever needing the ability to send mail itself.