Verify your domain to unlock features (for email-verified services)

Applies to email-verified Essentials editions or Chrome Enterprise Upgrade

If you're the owner or IT admin for your organization's domain name, you can unlock admin features, such as the ability to create user accounts, manage user profiles, and control password strength. Unlock features by verifying you own your domain.

You can verify your domain:

After signing up for a Google service, like Google Workspace Essentials Starter or Chrome Enterprise, and trying it out with your team.
or
After someone else at your domain signs up for an email-verified Google service. In this case, you take over management of the Google service for your organization.

Unlocks more features

When you verify your domain for a Google service:

You assume full administrative control of all user accounts in your organization. You can create user accounts, manage user profiles and security settings, and more.
If you have an Essentials edition, you also get mobile device management features an additional features, such as managed Google Groups.
You can switch to another Google Workspace edition to get even more apps, like Gmail.

See what you get: Compare Essentials features | Compare Chrome Enterprise features

Before you begin

Verifying domain ownership prevents other teams at your organization from signing up for an email-verified Google service, such as Essentials Starter or Chrome Enterprise.
If you're using Essentials Starter edition, you'll be prompted to upgrade to Enterprise Essentials after you verify your domain. Alternatively, you can upgrade before you start domain verification process. For details, see Switch to Enterprise Essentials edition.

Consumer accounts can't be restored. When you verify your domain for your Google service, users' Google accounts become permanently managed. Before you verify, users can back up or delete their personal data, or delete their account. Learn about what happens to a Google Account after domain verification.

How to verify domain ownership

To unlock identity management features for your Google service, you need to verify that you own your organization's domain.

Step 1: Get access to your domain host

To verify your domain with Google, you must have:

The sign-in information for your domain host—Your host is typically where you bought your domain, such as GoDaddy or Enom. If you’re not sure where you bought your domain, go to Identify your domain host.
Access to your domain's DNS settings/records—You'll need to update your domain’s DNS settings (also called DNS records). Most domain hosts let you do this yourself, by signing in to your account at the host. Others may update your settings for you.
If your domain host doesn't allow updating DNS settings, you can verify your domain by updating files at your domain's website. Go to Verify your domain with a TXT record.

Step 2: Update your domain settings (use the domain verification tool)

Follow these steps to verify you own your domain.

I'm already an admin for a Google service

If you have access to your Google Admin console:

Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
From the Admin console Home page, go to Domains.
Click Manage domains > Verify domain ownership. Then follow the steps in the verification tool.
Important: If a message appears that says you can’t verify your domain, go to “If you can't verify your domain" below.
When it's time to verify your domain, you'll be asked to sign in to your domain host. You'll get a verification record to add to your domain’s DNS settings. Or, you can add a tag or file to your website’s files.
Click below for step-by-step instructions to add the verification record, for your host. Also find generic steps if your host isn't listed.

GO TO VERIFICATION STEPS FOR YOUR DOMAIN HOST

Important: The verification record doesn’t affect your existing website or email.
After you add the verification record to your DNS settings, you'll tell the verification tool to look for this record. After a few minutes (though it might take up to 1 hour), you’ll get a confirmation message that your domain is verified.
If you're using Essentials Starter edition, follow the instructions to upgrade your subscription to Enterprise Essentials within 8 days; otherwise, domain verification will be canceled.
If there are other teams using an email-verified Google service in your domain, follow the on-screen instructions to merge the teams with yours.
For details about merging organizations and recommended actions to take before and after you complete domain verification, see the section “Merging with other teams after domain verification” below.

Once you complete all on-screen steps to unlock features, you can start using your domain-verified Google service.

I'm taking control from another admin

If you don't have access to the Google Admin console:

Go to the sign-up page for your service:
- Essentials sign-up page
- Chrome Enterprise sign-up page
Sign up using your email address at the domain you're verifying.
Use an address where you can get mail.
Follow the instructions in the section “I’m already an admin for a Google service” above.

Step 3: Set up billing (required to avoid account suspension)

Set up billing to avoid suspension: After you verify your domain, you have 15 days to set up billing. If billing was already set up, you must set it up again. Otherwise, your account will be suspended.

Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using an account with super administrator privileges (does not end in @gmail.com).
On the Admin console Home page, go to BillingManage subscriptions.
Under Subscriptions, next to your Google service—such as Essentials or Chrome Enterprise Upgrade)—click Set up billing.
Follow the instructions to set up billing.

For details, go to one of the following:

Merging teams after domain verification

If there’s at least one other team (organization) using an email-verified Google service at your domain, you’ll need to merge your team with the other teams before you can unlock features and start managing user accounts. Follow the on-screen instructions to merge teams.

If you merge organizations:

Your organization will become the top-level parent organization in your organizational structure in the Admin console. All other organizations will become child organizational units under that. Learn more about your organizational structure.
Your organization needs to have all the subscriptions the other teams are using. If your organization is missing any of those subscriptions, you'll need to add them to your organization's account during the domain verification process. This prevents users from losing access to services and associated data. Follow the on-screen instructions to add the missing subscriptions on the Billing page, which opens on a new tab. Make sure you return to the "Review subscriptions" page to finish merging teams.
You'll need to upgrade any teams using Essentials Starter edition. Follow the on-screen instructions to upgrade these teams' subscriptions to Enterprise Essentials.
Billing is consolidated. Other organizations' billing will be automatically canceled, and you’ll have one bill for all merged organizations.

Chrome Enterprise organizations: For additional information on merging teams for Chrome Enterprise, see About email-verified and domain-verified accounts.

Actions to take before you unlock features of your Google service

You might need to complete some or all of these tasks:

Reset other teams’ policies—All organizations that merge with yours will lose their policies and inherit your organization’s policies—for example, your Drive sharing settings. If needed, work with the team administrators to reset policies by adding them to the parent organizational unit.
Download Chat spaces data (Essentials editions only)—When your organization merges with the other organizations, existing Chat spaces for all organizations except yours are permanently deleted. If you and other team administrators want to keep Chat spaces data (messages and tasks) from those teams, make sure you export your organization’s data. For details, see Export your organization’s data.
Important: If any organizations export data, domain verification will be paused until the export is complete, which usually takes from 3 to 14 days.
Add storage (Essentials edition only)—Storage for all merging organizations is limited to 2 TB. If you need more storage, contact sales about upgrading your organization’s account. Or, you can switch to another Google Workspace edition. For details, see Switch Google Workspace editions.

Actions to take after you unlock features for your Google service

You might need to complete one or both of these tasks:

Grant administrator privileges—The team administrators for the merging organizations lose their administrative privileges. If needed, add back administrative privileges to their accounts. For details, see Make a user an admin.
Migrate Chat apps (Essentials editions only)—If merging organizations have developed Chat apps, they might not work properly after domain verification. To keep their apps working, developers might need to migrate them to a Google Cloud project. For details, see Migrate Chat apps.

If you can't verify your domain

If the following message appears in the Admin console when you try to verify your domain, domain verification isn't available using the Admin console.

“You can’t verify domain ownership because other teams are using Google services at that domain.”

Your Google subscription doesn’t yet allow you to take over management of multiple teams at once if they're not all using the same Google service. Your subscription version will be upgraded to allow you to do this in an upcoming release.

If you want to manage the other teams now, you can verify your domain by merging the other teams with yours, as follows:

Ask the other teams’ admins to cancel their email-verified Google service subscription. Go to steps. Make sure these admins:
- Choose the option to let users keep their data
- Also delete their team’s Google service account
If you don’t know who the other team admins are: Contact Google Workspace Support by filling out this form.
Verify domain ownership, by following the instructions above.
Add the other teams’ users to your Google service account, by following these steps.

Want help with these steps?

You can contact us directly for help (available with your Essentials subscription): Contact support

After you verify your domain

Existing users get an email telling them that their Google accounts will soon have a new administrator.
Essentials only: You'll no longer manage your team from the Team dashboard. Instead, you'll perform all management tasks from your Google Admin console, where more business features become available.
You become the sole admin for users. Any previous admins lose access to management controls, such as the Team dashboard (Essentials only) or Admin console.
Users in any teams that merged with yours can no longer access Chat spaces—including messages and tasks—they used with their original team.

Manage your domain-verified Google service

As a super admin for your domain-verified Google service, you can manage all aspects of your service, including creating user accounts, configuring security settings, creating policies, and more.

Learn more about managing user accounts:

If you're using Essentials, learn more about:

Questions

Why must I verify my domain to unlock features?

Before we can unlock identity management features for any organization, we need to know they own their domain. This helps prevent anyone from using Google services with someone else's business identity.

A domain is what comes after www. in web addresses. This is often your organization's name, followed by .com. An example is yourbusiness.com.

Who is my domain host?

If you’re not sure where you bought your domain, go to Identify your domain host.

Can I tell if my domain is verified?

To check if your domain has been verified:

Sign in to your Google Admin console.
Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).
From the Admin console Home page, go to Domains.
If you don't see a message asking you to verify your domain, your domain has been verified.

How long does verification take?

Adding your verification record takes about 10 minutes. It can take up to 1 hour for us to confirm you added the record, but it usually happens more quickly.

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