Salesforce Application Locations from Which Emails Can Be Sent — Email Relay Reference Guide

This article lists Salesforce application areas and services from which email can be sent, categorized by Binding Used (User or System) and whether Email Relay is used when active. This reference is helpful for administrators planning to configure Email Relay or testing all email delivery touchpoints within Salesforce.

User binding — the email is sent using the logged-in user's email address and deliverability settings
System binding — Salesforce sends the email on behalf of the system, using the org's email settings
Email Relay — when Email Relay is active, emails flagged as "Yes" in the table are routed through your organization's email relay server before delivery

The table covers standard Salesforce tabs and automation features including Contacts, Leads, Cases, Campaigns, Workflows, Email Administration, and more. This should be used for guidance and may not be fully comprehensive for all release versions.

The table below maps each Salesforce application area and sending option to its email binding type and whether Email Relay applies when active.

Tab	Option	Binding Used	Email Relay Used when Active?
Home	Creation of new Task	User	No
Contacts	Mass Mail	User	Yes
Contacts	Mass Mail Notification	System	Yes
Contacts	Extended Mail Merge (XMM)	System	No
Contacts	Email Author (Single Email)	User	Yes
Contacts	Stay In Touch	User	Yes
Contacts	Change Owner	User	No
Contacts	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Leads	Mass Mail	User	Yes
Leads	Mass Mail Notification	System	Yes
Leads	Email Author (Single Email)	User	Yes
Leads	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Leads	Assignment Rules	User	No
Leads	Web To Lead	User	No
Leads	Auto Response Rules (Web To Lead)	User	Yes
Cases	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Cases	Mass Mail Notification	System	Yes
Cases	Mass Mail	User	Yes
Cases	Email Author (Single Email)	User	Yes
Cases	Assignment Rules	User	No
Cases	Auto-Response Rules	User	Yes
Cases	Notify Case Owner of New Case Comments checked	User	No
Cases	Notify Case Owners when Case Ownership Changes checked	User	No
Cases	Enable Case Comment Notification to Contacts checked	User	Yes
Cases	Email-To-Case	User	No
Cases	Email-To-Case (set Routing Name) email notification	System	No
Cases	Forward an email	User	No
Cases	Reply-to-all	User	Yes
Campaigns	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Campaigns	Email Author (Single Email)	User	Yes
Campaigns	Change Owner	User	No
Accounts	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Accounts	Email Author (Single Email)	User	Yes
Accounts	Change Owner	User	No
Opportunities	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Opportunities	Update Reminders	System	No
Opportunities	Big Deal Alerts	User	No
Opportunities	Email Author (Single Email)	User	Yes
Opportunities	Change Owner	User	No
Contracts	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Contracts	Change Owner	User	No
Contracts	Email Author (Single Email)	User	Yes
Self-Service	Web-To-Case	User	No
Self-Service	Self-Service Portal	User	Yes
Self-Service	Self-Service Portal — change user's email address	System	No
Solutions	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Products	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Documents	Change Owner	User	No
Documents	Email Author (Single Email)	User	No
Activities	Task Triggers	User	No
Activities	Email Author (Single Email)	User	No
Reports	Scheduling a report to send out an email	User	No
Ideas	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Assets	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Users	Apex Triggers	User	Yes
Users	Mass Mail	User	Yes
Email Administration — Email2Salesforce	All users get notification email	User	No
Email Administration — Email2Salesforce	Email2Salesforce status email	System	No
Email Administration — Test Deliverability	Send a series of test emails to IP addresses	User	No
Email Administration — Organization-Wide Addresses	Verified email sent	System	No
Manage Users — Users	Reset Password	System	No
Security Controls — Sharing Settings — Sharing Rules	Recalculating rules notification email	System	No
Data Management	Importing Leads and Contacts — notification email	System	No
Data Management	Export DOT file	User	No
Data Management	Mass reassign team	User	No
Monitoring — Email Log Files	Requesting email logs	User	No
Workflow	Email notification in workflow logic	User	Yes

Summary: Key Email Relay Touchpoints

Email Relay IS used for the following sending types when Email Relay is active: Mass Mail (Contacts, Leads, Cases, Campaigns, Users), Email Author / Single Email (Contacts, Leads, Cases, Campaigns, Accounts, Opportunities, Contracts), Auto-Response Rules, Apex Triggers (Contacts, Leads, Cases, Campaigns, Accounts, Opportunities, Contracts, Solutions, Products, Documents, Ideas, Assets, Users), Stay In Touch, Enable Case Comment Notification to Contacts, Self-Service Portal, and Workflow email notifications.
Email Relay is NOT used for: Assignment Rules, Change Owner notifications, Web-to-Lead/Case, Email-to-Case (both types), Reply-to-all (forwarded), Reset Password, Extended Mail Merge (XMM), scheduled Reports, Big Deal Alerts, Update Reminders, and all Data Management and Monitoring notifications.

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