Activity Messenger Help Center
Choosing a Reply-To email address
Can I choose any Reply-To email when sending a message?
No. The Reply to email field on the message screen is a selection list, not a free-text field. You can select only:
- Your organization's configured Reply-To email address.
- The verified From email addresses available to your organization.
- The email address of the user currently composing the message.
A department or shared inbox must already belong to that set before you can select it. Knowing an address, or having access to its inbox, does not add it to the list. The current user's email is included separately; not every option has to be a verified From address.
Select the address for a message
- Open Communications > New message and choose Email or SMS and email.
- Expand Sender & Reply settings if it is collapsed.
- Choose the From address first, then open the email Reply to list and select the inbox that should receive replies.
- Check the selected address before sending or scheduling your message.
When Use the user’s email address for replies is disabled, changing From to a verified sender address also sets Reply to to that address. If replies should go elsewhere, select your Reply-To address after changing From. When the preference is enabled, changing From leaves the selected Reply-To address in place.
Duplicate addresses appear only once. If there is only one available address, it is displayed without a dropdown. The list can differ between users because each user's own email is included.
Use your own email by default
Turn on Use the user’s email address for replies for your organization in My Account › Update Information, then click Update. An administrator who can edit your user can change the same option below Email in the user window. Administrators can also select several users and use Actions › Email reply settings to enable or disable it in one window; see Users and permissions.
New email messages then start with your own email as Reply-To. The Replies to your email badge in New message displays the address whenever the actual selection matches your email, so you can recognize it without expanding Sender & Reply settings. You can still choose another available address for an individual message. Review an existing draft or scheduled message separately; changing this preference does not rewrite it.
The option starts enabled for newly added instructors, including instructors without messaging, and disabled for other new users. Existing users keep it disabled until it is changed. Enabling it does not grant permission to send messages. The preference is separate for each organization and does not change your From address or SMS reply behavior.
For example, an instructor can send from the organization's verified address while replies to new class messages go to the instructor's own inbox.
Make a department or shared inbox available
Ask an administrator with access to the relevant organization settings to configure the address before composing the message. There are two setup paths:
- Use it as the organization's Reply-To address: open Communications > Settings, find Reply-to email in Messaging, enter the shared inbox address and save. This changes the organization's setting, so use this path when that inbox should be the organization's reply destination.
- Add it as a verified From address: open the From email settings and complete the domain and email-address verification process. This lets you add an eligible address without replacing the organization's Reply-To address. A pending verification alone does not add the address to the verified choices. See From Email using your own domain.
After the setup is saved and any required verification is complete, reopen the message composer and select the address under Reply to. If you cannot access these settings, ask your organization's administrator.
For example, to receive registration replies at registrations@example.org, first configure it as the organization's Reply-To email or add it as a verified From address. Then select it for the message. You cannot simply type it into the send-time Reply-To field.
From identifies the sender; Reply to identifies the destination for email replies. Selecting a different Reply-To address does not by itself change the From address. SMS reply settings are separate from this email selection.