How to set up a custom email domain

To send emails with a custom email domain through Automations, you have to add and authorize an email domain. So if you have your own website domain (eg: mybusinesswebsite.com), you can set this up in Typeform, so that emails from your Typeform account to your Contacts will come from that domain. 

Setting up a custom email domain is available on the Plus, Business, Growth Essentials, Growth Pro, Talent, Growth Custom, and Enterprise plans with the Contacts & Automations add-on.

This article shows you how to use our automated setup system, and also how to do it manually.

Automated setup

1. Open your Typeform account, and go to Admin settings, under your Organization icon in the top left corner.

Now you can see AUTOMATION EMAIL DOMAINS. Click Add email domain.

2. A new popup will appear, where you can enter your email domain. This isn't your email address, just the domain, like typeform.com or micah.cat. Now click Add, and wait without clicking anything more.

3. After a second, this popup will appear:

Entri is our tool for automatically setting up your domain. Click Continue.

4. Now you'll see our tool analyzing your domain:

5. Once analyzed, you have to give authorization to create DNS records in your domain provider (in the below example it's Squarespace).

6. To proceed, click Authorize with .., which will take you briefly to a new tab, where you can give Entri authorization:

Click Confirm (or whatever affirmative your domain provider asks for).

7. Now you'll see a new popup showing you the configuration was a success.

Click Done to go back to Typeform.

8. You'll now see your domain listed in Automation Email Domains. Click the Check status button:

You should now see a green Authorized message next to your domain. If not, try again later. It can take up to 48 hours to authorize a domain, but in most cases it will happen in seconds:

You're all set!

Manual Setup 

For manual setup, at step 5 above, choose "go to our manual setup", then follow these instructions: 

1. Now you can choose from a selection of popular domain providers, like GoDaddy, from the dropdown menu. 

If your domain provider is not on the list, click Other. Once you've chosen, click Continue.

4. Now you'll see a series of values that you'll use to connect Typeform to your domain.

Each of these values will need to be copied into a new DNS record in your domain provider, for the domain you are using. 

Log into your domain provider, and navigate to DNS settings, or equivalent. There you need to create new or custom DNS records; one for each in the above image.

See below for instructions for the most common domain providers. 

5. Once all your records have been created, go back to your Typeform account Admin settings and click the Check status button next to your domain name under AUTOMATION EMAIL DOMAINS:

If setup has been successful, you'll now see your domain tagged with Authorized: 

If you cannot get your domain authorized, go to the Troubleshooting section at the end of this article

GoDaddy

Each of the above values will need to be copied into your GoDaddy DNS records:

1. Sign in to your GoDaddy account.

2. Go to your My Products page.

3. Select the domain you want to set up email for, then click the DNS button.

4. Scroll down the DNS Records list until you see Add new record. Click this.

5. Choose the record type corresponding to the value you see in the Typeform window above (MX, SPF, DKIM, TXT, CNAME)

6. Copy over the value from Typeform.

7. Save the record.

8. Now repeat this process for the other DNS records on the Typeform window.

9. Go back to Typeform, click the Done button.

10. It may take up to 48 hours for the domain to be authorized. Check in your Typeform Admin settings to see if your domain is active.

Namecheap

Each of these values will need to be copied into your Namecheap DNS records:

1. Log in to your Namecheap account.
2. From the left-hand menu, click Domain List.
3. Next to the domain you want to manage, click the Manage button.
4. Go to the Advanced DNS tab.
5. Click Add New Record.
6. Choose the record type (MX, SPF, DKIM, TXT, CNAME) from the dropdown corresponding to the value you see in the Typeform window.
7. Copy the value across from the Typeform window.
8. Click the green checkmark to save.
9. Repeat this process for each of the values in the Typeform window.
10. Go back to Typeform, click the Done button.
11. It may take up to 48 hours for the domain to be authorized. Check in your Typeform Admin settings to see if your domain is active.

Hostinger

Each of the above values will need to be copied into your Hostinger DNS records:

1. Log in to your Hostinger account.
2. Open the Domains section from the top menu, and go to Domain portfolio.
3. Click Manage the domain you want to configure.
4. Choose the DNS records tab.
5. You’ll land in DNS Zone management.
6. Choose the record type corresponding to the information you are copying over from Typeform (MX, SPF, DKIM, TXT, CNAME), then copy over those values.
7. Click Add Record.
8. Repeat this process for each of the values in the Typeform window.
9. Go back to Typeform, click the Done button.
10. It may take up to 48 hours for the domain to be authorized. Check in your Typeform Admin settings to see if your domain is active.

IONOS

Each of the above values will need to be copied into your IONOS DNS records:

1. Log in to your IONOS account.
2. You’ll see a list of your domains — select the domain you want to configure.
3. Click the gear symbol, and then under Actions choose DNS.
4. Click Add Record.
5. Choose the record type corresponding to the information you are copying over from Typeform (MX, SPF, DKIM, TXT, CNAME), then copy over those values.
6. Click Save.
7. Repeat this process for each of the values in the Typeform window.
8. Go back to Typeform, click the Done button.
9. It may take up to 48 hours for the domain to be authorized. Check in your Typeform Admin settings to see if your domain is active.

Dynadot

Each of these values will need to be copied into your dynadot DNS records:

1. Log in to your Dynadot account.
2. Check the box next to the domain you want to set up, and then the Action button.
3. Choose DNS Settings from the Action list.
4. Now you're on the DNS Settings page. Select Dynadot DNS from the dropdown menu.
5. From the Record Type dropdown, choose the type corresponding to the value you are copying over from Typeform (MX, SPF, DKIM, TXT, CNAME).
6. Copy over the values from Typeform here.
7. Click Save Settings.
8. Repeat this process for each of the values in the Typeform window.
9. Go back to Typeform, click the Done button.
10. It may take up to 48 hours for the domain to be authorized. Check in your Typeform Admin settings to see if your domain is active.

Troubleshooting

Different services may expect different configurations of the information you will paste from Typeform:

If you are failing to get your domain authorized in Typeform, make the following changes to the data provided from your Typeform account

For #1 and #2, CNAME, change the value from the first box, eg: pdk1._domainkey.mydomainname.com. 

Delete your domain name and the preceding period (.mydomainname.com) from the text in the first box. Paste the remaining text, eg: pdk1._domainkey into your DNS record in your domain server. Copy the full content of the second box, unchanged, into your DNS record.

For #3, TXT, instead of pasting the included text, which is your domain name again, just write "@" in that box when creating your TXT DNS record. Paste the full content of the second box.

So, your Domain records will look something like this (this is from Squarespace). Note that the records are in a different order than above (but the numbers correlate to the correct record):

Now go back to your Typeform tab, and try the Check status button again: