Message Shield for Email: Setup and Troubleshooting

Availability: Message Shield for Email is available in BestInterest version 3.2 or higher and requires Protect.

Message Shield for Email brings incoming coparent email into your private BestInterest timeline. Message Shield can soften harmful language before you read it, and the imported messages can be organized and searched with your other records. BestInterest does not email your coparent.

Setting up Email Shield requires Protect. If Message Shield for Email does not appear under Settings > Communication Settings, update BestInterest to version 3.2 or higher and reopen Settings.

If Protect later becomes inactive, an enabled Email Shield channel can continue importing original wording without Message Shield filtering. Restore Protect or remove the forwarding rule in your email provider if you do not want unfiltered email imported.

Set up Email Shield

1. Open Settings > Communication Settings > Message Shield for Email.
2. Enter your coparent’s primary email address. Add up to two other addresses your coparent uses.
3. Confirm the email address where your coparent’s messages arrive. BestInterest starts with your account email, but you can replace it with another mailbox.
4. Wait briefly while BestInterest saves each valid field automatically and creates your forwarding address.
5. Tap the bordered forwarding address to copy it.

If the screen says the app cannot display the current consent, update BestInterest before continuing. If the setting is still missing in version 3.2 or higher, contact support.

Verify the email address you forward from

Automatic provider rules do not require this BestInterest verification step. Manual forwarding does. Gmail separately asks you to confirm the forwarding destination; complete that confirmation in the Gmail steps below even if you have verified your mailbox here.

1. Under Where will you forward messages from?, tap Send Verification Code.
2. Enter the six-digit code sent to that email address and tap Verify. The code expires after 30 minutes.

If you change the forwarding mailbox, wait for the new address to save before requesting a code. Verification applies only to the currently saved mailbox.

Set up Gmail to forward only one sender’s email

Use Gmail in a web browser on a computer for this setup. These settings are not available in the Gmail mobile app. Sign in to the mailbox where you receive your coparent’s email.

You will add your private BestInterest address as a destination, then create a filter for your coparent’s sender address. Keep forwarding for all incoming mail turned off so unrelated email stays in Gmail.

1. Add and confirm your BestInterest forwarding address

1. Copy your private forwarding address from Message Shield for Email in BestInterest.
2. In Gmail, click the Settings gear > See all settings.
3. Open Forwarding and POP/IMAP (or Forwarding).
4. Click Add a forwarding address, paste your private BestInterest address, then click Next > Proceed > OK.
5. Gmail sends a confirmation message to that private address. Return to BestInterest and reopen Message Shield for Email to refresh its status. Tap Confirm Gmail Forwarding when it appears, then complete confirmation on Google’s page. If Google asks you to sign in, use the Gmail account you are forwarding from.
6. Return to Gmail and refresh the settings page. Leave Disable forwarding selected for account-wide forwarding. If you changed that setting, click Save Changes. The sender filter below handles forwarding to BestInterest.

If Confirm Gmail Forwarding has not appeared, wait briefly and reopen the Email Shield screen. If your BestInterest address is missing from Gmail’s forwarding choices, finish confirming it before creating the filter.

2. Create a filter for one coparent email address

1. In Gmail’s search bar, click Show search options (the sliders icon).
2. In From, enter your coparent’s full email address, for example coparent@example.com. Use the same address you saved in BestInterest. Leave the other search fields blank to include all new email from that address.
3. Optional: click Search to check the matching messages, then reopen Show search options.
4. Click Create filter. In the action list, check Forward it to and choose your private BestInterest address.
5. Click Create filter again to save it.

This forwards new mail matching that sender filter. It does not forward older matching messages, even if you see an option to apply the filter to existing conversations. Gmail excludes spam from forwarding.

If your coparent uses another address, save it in BestInterest and repeat the filter steps for that address. Each filter should have one coparent address in From and your private BestInterest address as its forwarding destination.

3. Check, change, or stop the Gmail filter

Open Settings > See all settings > Filters and Blocked Addresses to find your filter. Check its sender and forwarding destination. Use edit to change it and save with Update filter, or delete to stop that filter’s future forwards. Disabling account-wide forwarding alone does not remove a forwarding filter.

Check the next new email from the configured coparent address against the Email Shield status below. You do not need your coparent to change how they send email.

Google’s guides: forwarding settings and creating and managing filters.

Use another email provider or forward a message manually

For another provider, create a rule with From / Sender is set to your coparent’s full email address and Forward to set to your private BestInterest address. Save the rule for new incoming mail. Choose a sender-specific rule rather than forwarding your entire mailbox; repeat for any additional coparent addresses saved in BestInterest. Menu names vary by provider.

To forward one email manually, first complete Verify the email address you forward from above. In that verified mailbox, open an email from a coparent address saved in BestInterest, choose Forward, enter your private BestInterest address in To, and send it.

Check whether forwarding is working

The Email Shield screen shows Waiting for the first forwarded message until one arrives. It changes to A forwarded message has arrived after BestInterest accepts a message.

If a message is missing:

1. Confirm that the original sender address exactly matches one of the coparent addresses saved in Email Shield.
2. Confirm that your provider rule uses the current private forwarding address.
3. Check spam and provider-side forwarding logs. Gmail does not forward spam through a filter.
4. Open Email Shield and review any paused, queued, safety-limit, or unexpected-sender status.
5. Forward a new test message from the configured sender. Adding a rule does not import older email.

Messages stopped by a safety limit are not shown as unfiltered messages. The originals remain in your email account. If the status continues after the displayed reset time, contact support and include the approximate send time and sender domain without copying private message content into the request.

Reset the forwarding address

Tap Reset private email address to invalidate the old address immediately. Update every provider rule with the replacement address.

Imported email remains private to you, including in Collaborative Mode. See Message Shield settings for how filtered and original wording appear in BestInterest.