FWD meaning in email: passed on to you

Fwd: in a subject line

Fwd: at the start of a subject means the sender received the email and passed it on to you. Your mail app adds that prefix when you press Forward.

Outlook does the same job but writes FW: instead.

What the new reader sees

A forward shows the new reader who sent the original and who else got it, with their addresses and the date. If that date is nine days ago, they also see how long the email sat in your inbox.

fwd in a chat

In a chat, “can you fwd me the invite” asks you to send the invite on. The past tense is fwd’d, as in “fwd’d to IT, waiting”. Like pls, fwd saves a few letters, and it reads like a request typed by someone who already has their coat on.

Forwarding a whole conversation

In Gmail, Forward all sends a whole thread at once, as long as conversation view is on. That view groups emails by subject line, so if you change the subject on a forward, it starts a new thread.

Fwd, or add them to the thread

Forward the thread when the newcomer only needs to know what happened. If they need to answer, put them on the Cc line of a reply all. A forward stays private, while a reply all shows everyone on the thread who you brought in.

Automatic forwarding

Gmail can forward every new message to another address on its own, once someone at that address clicks a verification link. Set up a shared inbox to forward to five people, and each of them assumes one of the other four replied.

How the prefixes pile up

Depending on the app, each forward can add one more Fwd: to the subject. A policy update can arrive as “Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: Updated travel policy”. Delete the extras before you send it on.

The note on top

Every forward needs one line on top saying what the reader should do with it. “See below” doesn’t count. If they have to act by a date, put the date in that line, the way an FYA note does.

A forward that’s only for their records gets tagged NRN, short for no reply needed, so you won’t get a “thanks” back.

Fwd among the email codes

Fwd is the email code that admits the message has already been somewhere else. ASAP asks for speed, and OOO explains why nobody is answering. Our jargon dictionary gives all three in plain words, along with the rest of the inbox shorthand.

FWD on a car listing

In a car ad, FWD means front-wheel drive, where the engine turns the front wheels. One American dictionary also lists four-wheel drive under FWD, so check with the seller which one they mean.

fwd as a word on its own

A crowd-edited dictionary lists fwd as short for forward used as an adjective, an adverb, a noun or a verb. In a work chat, fwd almost always means pressing Forward.

A chat message asking for a fwd

#legal-ops, 2:47 pm

@Dana pls fwd send me the signed vendor contract from Tuesday. Legal needs the PDF by 3 and it only went to your inbox.