SiteGround: Set up G Suite MX records

Tip! Changing MX records is required only for G Suite customers who want to use Gmail. You can continue to use your current email provider.

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 G Suite 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 G Suite 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 G Suite 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 to start using G Suite

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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 SiteGround site.
  3. Enter your username or email address and click Next.
  4. Enter the password you created when you bought your domain from SiteGround.
  5. Click Sign In.

    If you don’t know your account information, you can recover your account.

Step 2: Go to your DNS records
  1. Click the Services tab.
  2. Click the Hosting child tab.
  3. Under your domain’s hosting plan, click Manage.

    The My Hosting plan is shown with Renew and Manage options.

  4. On the Plan Details page, next to the domain you want to set up with Gmail, click Manage.

    On the Plan Details page, a red circle highlights the Manage button.

  5. Next to your domain, click Site Tools.

    The Site Tools option is to the left of the domain name.

  6. In the left column, click Domainand thenDNS Zone Editor.

    On the left column, Domain and DNS Zone Editor are selected.

Step 3: Delete existing MX records
  1. Under Manage DNS Records, scroll down to the MX records.
  2. Next to the first MX record, click Delete .

    The Delete icon is selected next to the first MX record in the DNS records table.

  3. Click Confirm to complete the record deletion.
  4. Repeat steps 2–3 until all MX records have been removed.

    You’ll add new MX records in the next step.

Step 4: Add the G Suite MX records
To direct your email to your G Suite account, you have to add new MX records to your domain. These are the records that you need to add:
MX server address Priority
ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM 1
ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM 5
ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM 5
ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM 10
ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM 10
Important: Some registrars require you to add a period after the .COM in the MX server address.
  1. Scroll up to the Create New Record section, and click the MX tab.
  2. Leave the Name field blank.
  3. In the TTL field, leave the default value of 1 hour.
  4. In the Priority field, enter 1.
  5. In the Destination field, enter ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.

    All fields of the MX record are completed and the Create button is selected.

  6. Click Create.
  7. Click Back.
  8. Repeat steps 1–7, entering the remaining MX server address values from the table above and setting the Priority values.

    All MX records are added to the DNS records table.

  9. Skip this step if you already verified your domain by another method (such as TXT record, HTML file, or meta tag).

    If you need to verify your domain:

    1. In the Admin console, scroll to the Get your verification code section and click the Copy button.

      The MX records table is shown and a red circle highlights the Copy button next to the MX verification record.
    2. Paste the value in the Value/Answer/Destination/Target column.
    3. Make sure the record's priority is set to Low or to 15 or greater.
    Note: If your registrar rejects the verification code, try deleting the period at the end of .com.

    The MX verification record is entered in the Destination field and the Create button is selected.

Step 5: Tell Google to find your new MX records

  1. Open the setup tool in the Admin console. 

  2. In the Gmail section, click Activate.

    A red circle highlights the "Activate." option in the Gmail section.

  3. Verify that you've created all existing email addresses and are ready for Gmail to start receiving all email for your domain. Click Continue.

  4. On the next page, scroll to the bottom and click Activate Gmail.

    A red circle highlights the Activate Gmail button on the bottom right of the MX records table.

Note:

  • The records can take several hours to update, so you might not immediately get new email messages in Gmail. Until then, you'll continue to receive messages at your old email provider.
  • If you see the MX records setup validation in progress message in the Admin console for more than a few hours, make sure you entered the MX address records and priorities correctly in the DNS records stored with your host.
  • If you still need help changing your MX records, contact G Suite support.

Google, G Suite, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.
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