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Cancelling Auto-Forward, Send Mail Alias and Mail Delegation permissions in Gmail

This article is intended to assist Gmail users who have previously set up or allowed (a) Forwarding, (b) "Send mail" alias and (c) Mail delegation setup with another email address that they now want to cancel but are unable to. 

There are two common approaches to cancelling such setups.

  1. From the account where the set-up occurs.
  2. From the account that allows the set-up.

For the screenshots, I have used two Gmail addresses, one s*****@gmail.com and the other t*****@gmail.com. 

Note: This article does not contain steps to set up Email Auto-Forwarding, "Send Mail as" Aliases, or Mail Delegation. It only highlights how to cancel such setups from both accounts.

Case 1: t*****@gmail.com auto-forwards its emails to s*****@gmail.com

How things are set up:

When auto-forwarding is set up, Gmail sends a forwarding confirmation email to the destination address, in this case, s*****@gmail.com. 

After the confirmation link is clicked, the destination address is shown as the Forwarding option within the source address's (t*****@gmail.com) Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab under Gmail settings.


How to cancel:

From the source t*****@gmail.com address, visit the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab under Gmail settings and follow the steps as shown in the screenshot below.


From the destination s*****@gmail.com address, open the forwarding confirmation email and click the highlighted link in the screenshot below.


Case 2: s*****@gmail.com allows permission to Send messages from t*****@gmail.com

How things are set up:

After the "Send mail" alias is set up, a confirmation message is sent to the address allowing the setup, s*****@gmail.com.


In the setup address, t*****@gmail.com, the reference to the s*****@gmail.com address can be seen in the "Send Mail as:" section, within the Accounts and Import tab under Gmail settings. 


How to cancel:

From the t*****@gmail.com address, where the "Send Mail" alias is set up, visit the "Send Mail as:" section, within the Accounts and Import tab under Gmail settings and click on the delete option next to the "Send Mail" alias email address.


From the s*****@gmail.com address which allowed access, open the "Send mail alias" confirmation email and click the highlighted link in the screenshot below.


Case 3: s*****@gmail.com grants delegate permission to t*****@gmail.com

How things are set up:

Note: For personal Gmail addresses, Email delegation can only be set up between other personal Gmail addresses. For Google Workspace domains, one can only add other people or groups in their organisation as delegates.

Once the process is completed, a confirmation email is sent to the delegate address, t*****@gmail.com.


In the address granting the delegate, the delegate address appears in the "Grant access to your account" section, within the Accounts and Import tab under Gmail settings.


How to cancel:

From the address granting the delegate, s*****@gmail.com, visit the "Grant access to your account" section, within the Accounts and Import tab under Gmail settings and click on the delete link for the account previously granted access. 


From the address which granted the delegation access, t*****@gmail.com, open the mail delegation confirmation email and click on the highlighted link in the screenshot below.


Keeping the confirmation message is the ONLY way to cancel/remove/delete such setups from the account that is allowed such permission. So, the best practice is to save these messages by attaching an appropriate label and archiving them. 


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