When an email is sent from D2L, it is sent from username @mail.d2l.depaul.edu to the email address that the recipient has selected as their preferred email address in Campus Connect. The University utilizes this @d2l.depaul.edu email address to get around having to send emails “on behalf of” the sender. Sending “on behalf of” is contrary to best practices and these emails are generally blocked by the recipient. A copy of the sent mail can be found in your D2L email box under SENT.
When the recipient responds to this email, the email will be sent back to your @mail.d2l.depaul.edu email address. Again a copy will be stored in your D2L email box under RECEIVED. From here the mail will be forwarded to your preferred email address. When this happens the mail will appear to come from you (from your @mail.d2l.depaul.edu) to you (your preferred email address). Again this is following email best practices and avoiding a practice called Spoofing. While not immediately obvious, when you respond to this email it will be sent to the original senders preferred email as this is the address in the reply to field in the email header.
We understand that this practice can be confusing and makes it hard to filter emails in your preferred inbox. Unfortunately given the complexities of email and the need to follow standard protocols, the only way we can change this behavior is to either keep all d2l emails inside D2L (you would have to log into D2L to read/see/respond to emails) or to enforce the use of a Depaul email address for all campus users (faculty/staff/students).