How to forward incoming faxes straight to email
Configuring the MFP to convert incoming faxes to PDF and email them to a designated address — the configuration steps, the routing logic, and the retention behaviour to consider.
Fax-to-email forwarding replaces the daily ritual of walking to the MFP, collecting printed fax pages, sorting them by recipient, and distributing internally. The MFP intercepts incoming faxes, converts each into a PDF, and emails the PDF to a configured address — usually a shared inbox the front office monitors, or specific addresses based on sender or recipient line. Pages no longer print physically unless someone needs a paper copy. The savings in paper, toner, and walking time compound across years of office operation.
Why this matters operationally
The typical Spanish office MFP receives 5-20 faxes monthly. Each printed fax produces 1-8 pages of toner-on-paper output, most of which the recipient scans back into the office DMS to attach to the case file. Fax-to-email skips the print step entirely — the PDF arrives ready to file directly into the DMS.
The five stages of fax-to-email
End-to-end flow
Step-by-step setup
Confirm SMTP is already configured on the device
Fax-to-email depends on the MFP's existing SMTP configuration used for scan-to-email. If SMTP is not yet set up, see the scan-to-email tutorials for Gmail or M365 first. Both work for fax-to-email forwarding.
Open the fax forwarding settings
Browse to the device web admin → Fax → Receive Settings → Forwarding (paths vary by vendor). Some vendors call this "Inbound Routing", "Fax Forwarding", or "Reception Forwarding".
Enable memory reception mode
Memory reception stores incoming pages digitally rather than printing on receipt. This is required for forwarding to work — pages must exist as files before they can become attachments. Disable the auto-print-on-receive option.
Configure the forwarding destination email
Enter the email address that should receive forwarded faxes. For most offices this is a shared inbox like faxes@empresa.com monitored by reception or office administration. The address must be one the MFP's SMTP server can deliver to.
Set the forwarding behaviour
Two common modes: "Forward Only" (faxes go to email but never print) and "Forward and Print" (faxes go to email AND print a copy). Choose Forward Only for paperless operation; choose Forward and Print only if a physical copy is also required for filing.
Configure email subject and body templates
The email template includes variables the MFP substitutes per fax: sender ID, time received, page count, source line. A useful template: subject "Fax received from {sender} ({pages} pages)" and body with full metadata.
Configure attachment format
PDF is the standard format. Set resolution to match the received fax (200 dpi is the default fax resolution). Enable OCR if the device supports searchable PDF output — recipients can then search within the forwarded faxes from their email.
Test by sending a fax to your number
Have a colleague or partner send a one-page fax to your number. Verify the email arrives within 60-90 seconds with the PDF attached and the metadata correctly populated in the subject and body.
Routing rules — multiple destinations
More advanced MFPs support multiple forwarding rules based on the incoming fax characteristics. The most useful rules:
Rule examples
Retention behaviour after forwarding
The MFP's memory continues holding forwarded faxes for a configurable period. Default behaviours vary: some devices auto-delete after successful email delivery, others retain for 7 to 30 days as backup. The forward-and-delete pattern produces the cleanest device state but eliminates the recovery option if the email never arrived. The 7-day retention with delivery confirmation is a useful middle ground.
Confirm whether the device's memory reception area is encrypted at rest. Confidential faxes (legal documents, medical referrals, financial statements) sitting in plaintext on the device's internal storage produce a data protection concern. Most enterprise MFPs encrypt internal storage by default; confirm in the device's security settings.
Delivery confirmation and failure handling
The MFP's SMTP send may fail for various reasons: temporary network issue, recipient mailbox full, attachment too large, SMTP server unavailable. Configure the device's behaviour on send failure: retry 3 times at 5-minute intervals, then fall back to printing the fax physically if all retries fail. This guarantees no fax is silently lost when email delivery breaks.
For audit purposes, the MFP's fax log records every receipt with delivery status (forwarded successfully, printed, failed). Review the log monthly to spot patterns of delivery failure that suggest underlying infrastructure issues.
Securing the forward destination inbox
The forwarding destination inbox accumulates client documents, signed contracts, medical referrals, and other sensitive content. Configure the receiving mailbox with appropriate access controls: limit access to the team that needs faxes, enable mailbox audit logging in M365 or Workspace, apply retention policies matching the office's document retention schedule, and consider mailbox-level data loss prevention rules that flag attachments containing personal data for review.
Sender notification options
Some offices want the original fax sender to receive a delivery confirmation when their fax was successfully forwarded internally. The MFP can be configured to send a transmission confirmation (TX confirmation) back to the sender's fax number after successful email forwarding. This is a courtesy that costs nothing and reassures senders that their document arrived.
When fax-to-email does not fit
For environments with regulatory requirements about original document chain of custody (some healthcare and legal contexts), the printed fax may be a required artifact and forwarding-only setup fails compliance. In these contexts, use Forward-and-Print mode and document the dual delivery in the office's information handling policy.