---
title: "How to Set Custom Call Forwarding in 8x8 Work for Desktop"
slug: "how-to-set-custom-call-forwarding-in-8x8-work-for-desktop"
updated: 2026-05-19T11:52:01Z
published: 2026-05-21T21:27:46Z
canonical: "help.8x8.com/how-to-set-custom-call-forwarding-in-8x8-work-for-desktop"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.8x8.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Set Custom Call Forwarding in 8x8 Work for Desktop

## Objective

Configure Call Forwarding rules to re-route calls to voicemail outside business hours.

## Applies To

- 8x8 Work for Desktop
- Call Forwarding
- Voicemail

## Procedure

**To set default call forwarding rules:**

1. Go to **Settings > Account Settings**. A browser window will open.
2. From the menu, select **Call Forwarding Rules**.
3. Click **Edit** (pencil icon) to customize your selected call forwarding rules for when:
  - Your Internet connection is down.
  - Your 8x8 Work for Desktop phone line is busy.
  - You don't answer your call within a certain period of time (by default, 25 seconds).
4. Select your preferred call forwarding method.
  - Voicemail
  - Forward to no one and simply play a busy signal
  - Forward to a selected user or external number
  - Forward directly to a specific extension
5. Once you are finished, click **Save** to return to the list of default rules.
6. Click **Save** to apply your changes.

**To set custom call forwarding rules:**

1. Go to **Settings > Account Settings**. A browser window will open.
2. From the menu, select **Call Forwarding Rules**.
3. Click **+ Add New Rule** to create a custom rule, or click **Edit** next to an existing rule to customize it. You can:
  - Name the rule.
  - Apply the rule to all calls, or to calls from specific numbers.
  - Choose to apply the rule at all times, or on a specified schedule.
  - Drop incoming calls, or to forward calls to another number.
  - Enter multiple phone numbers to forward calls to, and choose to forward calls to the desired numbers sequentially or simultaneously.
  - Forward calls to voicemail or other numbers, should your initial call forwarding destinations fail.
4. Once you are finished, click **Save** to return to the list of custom rules.
5. In addition to creating and editing your custom rules, you can:
  - Click the **Delete** icon next to a rule to delete it.
  - Reorder call forwarding rules to set the order in which your rules take priority.
6. Click **Save** to apply your changes.

## Additional Information

See the User Guide for more information on [setting up call forwarding](/documentation/docs/set-up-call-forwarding). For information on setting up call forwarding in Admin Console, see [Set Up Call Forwarding in 8x8 Admin Console](/support/docs/set-up-call-forwarding-in-8x8-admin-console).