Hover: Set up MX records

Tip! Only Google Workspace customers who want to use Gmail must change their MX records. You can skip this procedure and continue to use your current email provider with Google Workspace.

A Beginner's Guide to Signing up for Google Workspace

You’re now ready to set up Gmail as your business email for your domain (and, if you haven’t already, verify your domain).

To do this, you need to sign in to your domain host and direct the email for your domain to the Google Workspace servers. It’s like registering your new address with the post office when you move so that your mail gets delivered to the right place. We’ll walk you through the steps.

Before you begin

• Verify that you own your domain.

  Or, you can verify now with an MX record. We’ll show you how while you're setting up the MX records.

• Create user accounts in Google Workspace for your team.

  If your team members already use email with your domain (their email address ends with your domain), you have to create their user accounts in Google Workspace before you change any MX record settings. Otherwise, they won't be able to send or receive messages with their business address in Gmail.

Change your MX records

Step 1: Sign in to your domain host

1. Leave the Google Admin console setup instructions open.
2. Open a new tab or browser window and go to the Hover site.
3. On the Hover Sign in page, enter your email address and password that you created when you opened your Hover account.
4. Click Sign In.

   If you don’t know your username and password, click Forgot Password? to reset your password or contact Hover support.

Step 2: Go to your DNS records

1. In the Hover site, to the right of the domain you're setting up, click DNS.

Step 3: Delete any existing MX records

1. You'll see a table of DNS records. If there are any existing MX records, they will stop your email from being delivered to Gmail. Click the X icon to delete them.
   Note: Delete only MX records. Do not delete any A, AAAA, CNAME, SRV, or TXT records.

   

2. Click Delete to confirm.

   

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for any other existing MX records.

Step 4: Add new MX records

1. Click Add A Record in the top left of the DNS tab.

   

2. Select MX from the Record Type drop-down list.

   

3. In the Hostname field, enter @.

   

4. In the Priority field, enter 1.

   

5. Enter SMTP.GOOGLE.COM in the Mail Server field.

   

6. Click New Record to save.

   

Step 5: Tell Google to find your new MX records

1. Return to the browser tab where you have the Google Workspace setup tool open. (You can reopen the tool if you closed it.)

2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Activate Gmail.

   Important! Some registrars may require additional time to publish your MX records. If the Google Workspace setup tool can't find your new records, wait an hour before you try again.

   If you need additional help with your DNS settings, please contact your registrar. They are experts in managing your domain and are eager to help you. 

 

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