Using Gmail with your own domain through Google Workspace? Here are the records to add, where to add them, and the one thing that catches people out on our hosting.
Where to add the records
Add them where your domain’s DNS lives: the client area’s DNS Management if you’re on ns3 and ns4, cPanel’s Zone Editor if you’re on our hosting nameservers, or your DNS provider (such as Cloudflare). Not sure? See Where to edit your DNS.
The records Google needs
| Record | What to add | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Verification | A TXT record starting google-site-verification=, from Google’s setup |
Proves the domain is yours |
| MX | Exactly what Google’s setup shows you, usually one record: smtp.google.com, priority 1 |
Sends your email to Gmail |
| SPF | One TXT record: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all |
Lets Google send for your domain |
| DKIM | A TXT record at google._domainkey, with the value Google generates for you |
Signs your emails so they’re trusted |
| DMARC (optional) | A TXT record at _dmarc, such as v=DMARC1; p=none |
Tells other servers what to do with fakes |
- Remove the old MX records
Delete every MX record that isn’t Google’s, including ours. Old ones send some of your email to the wrong place.
- Keep only one SPF record
If you already have a record starting
v=spf1, edit it to include Google rather than adding a second one. Two SPF records break both. - Turn on DKIM in Google
In the Google Admin console, open Apps, Google Workspace, Gmail, then Authenticate email. Generate the key, add it as a TXT record, wait a little, then click Start authentication.
If your website is hosted with us, open cPanel, go to Email Routing and choose Remote Mail Exchanger. Otherwise, emails sent from your own website (such as contact forms) stay on our server and never reach Gmail.
We’re happy to. Copy the records from your Google setup (verification, MX, SPF and DKIM) and send them to us by chat or ticket, and we’ll add them for you.
Once the MX records point to Google, new email stops arriving in your mailboxes with us. Move any email you want to keep first, then switch.