How to Set Up a Business Email With Shopify

You want customers to write to you@yourstore.com, and to see that address when you answer them. Shopify handles the first half for free on a domain it manages. The second half needs a mail host, and which steps you take depends on how your domain reached your store.

This guide covers both jobs: forwarding for incoming mail, a mailbox from Zoho Mail, Google Workspace or another host for sending, the DNS records mail depends on, and the address your store's own emails come from. If you came to change the email you sign in with, that is a different setting: see changing your Shopify login email.

Do You Need Forwarding or a Real Mailbox?

Shopify gives you one of these and connects you to the other. On a domain you buy through Shopify or transfer to Shopify, you can set up an unlimited number of forwarding email addresses for free. Mailboxes are another matter: Shopify says email hosting isn't provided on Shopify, so a mailbox comes from a third-party service.

• Forwarding receives. Each address forwards to one existing inbox hosted elsewhere, such as Gmail or Outlook, and you read the mail there.
• Email hosting sends as well. You get a mailbox on your domain, so you can write and reply as you@yourstore.com. Zoho Mail and Google Workspace connect from the admin; other hosts connect through DNS records.

The difference shows the moment you answer a customer. Shopify's forwarding page puts it plainly:

Shopify adds that you can't reply from your custom domain address unless you use a third-party email hosting service. Our answer on why forwarding isn't a real mailbox settles the yes-or-no; this guide is the setup.

Which route is open to you depends on how the domain reached your store. Shopify lists three ways to add a domain: buy it through Shopify, connect a domain you own elsewhere, or transfer it to Shopify. A connected domain stays with its provider, where you still manage its settings, pay for it and renew it.

Your domains are listed under Settings > Domains. If you're not sure how yours got there, our DNS guide explains how to tell which kind of domain you have.

In Shopify adminOpen in your store

1. Settings
2. Domains

Zoom

How to Set Up Email Forwarding in Shopify

These are the steps from Shopify's forwarding page for a Shopify-managed domain:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Domains.
2. Click the domain you want a forwarding address for.
3. In the Email forwarding section, click Add forwarding email.
4. In the Forwarding email address field, enter the address you want to create. You don't need to type the @ symbol or anything after it.
5. In the Receiving email address field, enter the full address of the inbox that should get the mail. This is also the address customers see when you reply.
6. Click Save.

Three limits come with it:

• Each forwarding address reaches only one inbox.
• The inbox can't be at a host that enforces DKIM; Shopify names AOL and Yahoo as examples.
• If Add forwarding email isn't shown for your Shopify-managed domain, Shopify says to contact Shopify Support.

Shopify's Help Center recorded the same flow in 2022. Its screens may have moved since, so where the video and the steps above differ, follow the button names in the steps.

Add the SPF record forwarding needs

Shopify's SPF steps start from the same domain page:

1. In the DNS settings section of the domain, click Manage.
2. Click Add custom record, and then click TXT Record.
3. Enter @ as the Name.
4. Enter v=spf1 include:_spf.hostedemail.com ~all as the TXT value, and then click Confirm.

Test the addresses

Send a test message from another account to each address you created, as Shopify's test step says. If nothing arrives, one of the checks in Shopify's general troubleshooting is that you have waited at least 48 hours for DNS changes to propagate; its other checks are in when mail doesn't arrive.

Can You Reply From a Forwarded Address in Gmail?

Forwarding the address to Gmail and replying through Gmail's Send mail as setting can look like a way around a mail host. Gmail's help asks for more than the address, though: for school or work accounts, you enter the SMTP server and the username and password of that account.

Gmail's help page opens with this notice:

As of November 2026, that date is still ahead. Google's timeline sets out these steps:

Google says the change only applies to third-party, non-Google email accounts and leaves Google-hosted identities, such as other Gmail addresses and Google Workspace aliases, untouched. The Google pages we read don't say whether an address on your own domain that only forwards counts as a third-party account here (see what we looked for). Either way, Google's advice for a custom domain is to use Google Workspace.

Forwarding into Gmail still works for receiving: Google says you can configure your provider to auto-forward messages to your Gmail address.

For your store's own emails there is a Shopify-side option: on a Shopify-managed domain, a forwarding address can be your Sender email, covered in store emails.

How to Connect Zoho Mail or Google Workspace

The Shopify admin supports two email hosting services for sending from your address: Zoho Mail, which provides email accounts for your custom domain, and Google Workspace, which connects to the Gmail platform. Any other host connects through DNS records instead.

Zoho Mail or Google Workspace

Price and limits decide this more than features do. Read your row against the number of people who need an address; if you want mail in a desktop app, note that Zoho Mail Free is web only:

Zoho's free plan has a catch for some stores: Zoho says it is currently available only in selected data centers and may not be accessible in all regions, and no Zoho page we have found lists which ones (see what we looked for). Where it isn't offered, the paid rows above are the alternatives.

Connect your mail host step by step

Check one thing first: whether this domain already forwards mail through Shopify. Shopify's hosting page warns:

So decide where those forwarded addresses will live before you start. Steps one to four happen at your host and in Shopify; steps five to eight apply to any mail host, including one you connect with DNS records alone. Progress is saved in this browser.

Zoho's own Shopify guide describes the Shopify screen with other labels, such as an Emails section with Use third-party hosting service, and says to enter None in the Meta tag or TXT field. Shopify's Help Center, which documents its own admin, uses Switch to email hosting and asks for the Zoho code, so the two guides differ; this checklist follows Shopify's.

Switching or removing your mail host

Shopify's deactivation steps differ by how the host was connected:

• Zoho Mail or Google Workspace: in Settings > Domains, click the domain that has email hosting activated, then click Deactivate email hosting, or Change to switch email hosting provider, in the Email hosting section.
• Any other host: in the domain's DNS records section, remove the records you added for that host, typically MX, TXT and CNAME records.

The DNS Records Your Mail Host Needs

Shopify's page on other email hosts says to add custom DNS records to your domain, and to follow your host's instructions for which types you need. Shopify's domains page names Microsoft 365 as one option for full inboxes; it isn't one of the two hosts the admin connects directly, so it takes this route.

You add the records on the domain's page: in the DNS settings section, click Manage, click Add custom record, select the type, enter the details and click Confirm, as Shopify's add-a-record steps say. If your domain uses custom nameservers, its records aren't shown on that page at all.

These are the records a mail host usually asks for, and where each value comes from:

A few rules from Shopify's DNS page and the two hosts are worth checking before you click Confirm:

• Don't edit the name field when you add a new MX or TXT record.
• Leave the default A, AAAA and CNAME records alone. Removing or changing them can break the connection between your domain and Shopify, so your store can't be found by its domain name.
• Keep one SPF record. Zoho warns that multiple SPF records can make SPF validation fail, so emails end up as spam; Google says each domain can have one SPF record, which can name additional servers.
• TXT values can be up to 255 characters on a Shopify-managed domain. Shopify says this limit often affects DKIM records from services such as Google Workspace that use a 2048-bit key: generate a 1024-bit key at your host instead. You can't split a longer value or add quotation marks to it.
• Remove the old host's MX records. Zoho says MX records from multiple providers can cause delivery conflicts, and Google says your email might not work correctly if you keep old or incorrect MX records.

For Zoho, take the MX values from your own admin console: Zoho says they depend on the region where your account is set up, so they vary between accounts.

If Your Domain Is at Another Registrar

Shopify's forwarding page is direct: if you use a third-party domain, you can't set up email forwarding addresses from your Shopify admin. It adds that your domain provider might offer forwarding or hosting, or you can transfer the domain to Shopify.

A mail host works on a third-party domain too, set up with the host's own instructions: you create the address at the host and add its records where the domain is managed.

Shopify Support can't help on that side: it can't access your third-party domain provider, even if you give your permission.

If the domain uses custom or external nameservers, Shopify warns they can cause connection and email problems when they aren't set up correctly. Our answer on whether you need to change nameservers explains when they matter.

Before you move the domain into Shopify

Shopify's connect-or-transfer guide says to connect your domain when you use services, such as custom email hosting, that are tied to your domain provider. If you transfer anyway, Shopify's transfer page sets out what to do:

1. Copy the records on your domain before the transfer, so you can add them in the Domains section afterwards. Shopify's example is an MX record that reconnects your domain to an email hosting service.
2. Use a login email on another domain. Shopify says you need to make sure the email address you use with your current domain provider doesn't belong to the domain you transfer. You need to respond to transfer emails received at that address, and if it's connected to your domain, it's deactivated during the transfer.
3. Line up where the mail will land. Shopify says you need to use a third-party email hosting service with email forwarding from Shopify; Shopify doesn't provide email hosting services, but does provide unlimited email forwarding accounts. For forwarding alone, Shopify's forwarding page says the destination must be an existing email address hosted by a third party, such as Gmail or Outlook.
4. Allow time: a transfer can take up to 20 days.

Our domains guide covers how a transfer into Shopify works beyond the email side.

Make Store Emails Come From Your Domain

Shopify keeps two addresses apart: its Store email and Sender email settings control how email works for your store, and the Sender email is the one your store's emails come from.

To set it, go to Settings > Notifications and enter your address in the Sender email section, as Shopify's sender email steps say.

In Shopify adminOpen in your store

1. Settings
2. Notifications

Zoom

Without authentication records, Shopify rewrites your Sender email to store+123@shopifyemail.com. And as of February 1, 2024, Gmail and Yahoo require you to authenticate your domain and have a DMARC record to send emails to customers from a branded address.

What you add depends on the domain, per Shopify's authentication steps:

• Bought through Shopify: authentication is set up automatically, with DKIM, SPF and DMARC configured for you. Don't delete those records, because removing them gets your sender address rewritten.
• Third-party, on Cloudflare, GoDaddy or IONOS: in the Sender email section, click Email domain authentication, then Authenticate automatically. That sets up the CNAME records for DKIM and SPF but no DMARC record, so add one yourself.
• Any other third-party domain: click authenticate your domain in the Sender email section, add every CNAME record shown at your domain provider, and add a DMARC TXT record named _dmarc with the value v=DMARC1; p=none;. Your domain must have only one DMARC record.

Your store must be on an active paid plan: Shopify says adding these CNAME records isn't possible for client transfer stores, dev stores or stores on the Pause and Build plan.

The CNAME records also handle SPF for your sender address on their own, so you don't add a second SPF record for it.

On a Shopify-managed domain, a forwarding address can serve as your Sender email, so customer replies reach your personal inbox. Avoid wording such as no-reply: Shopify notes that some email hosts automatically reject addresses like that.

Our answer on whether it matters where you bought the domain goes further on how your Sender email behaves on each kind of domain.

When Mail Doesn't Arrive

Shopify's pages give two waiting times. Its DNS settings page says changes can take up to 24 hours to take effect, while its hosting page says propagation can take up to 48 hours and the general troubleshooting on its forwarding page asks you to check that you have waited at least 48 hours (all read on November 4, 2026).

With Google Workspace, Google says new MX and TXT records can take up to 72 hours to be recognized. For mail, wait at least 48 hours, or 72 for those Google records, before you start changing things.

A DNS reset can take your mail down too: resetting the DNS settings of a Shopify-managed domain deletes every record except A, AAAA and CNAME, so your MX and TXT records go with it. Our answer on what a full DNS reset deletes and keeps covers it before you click.

What Happens to Your Email When the Domain or Store Changes?

Each of these changes touches your mail differently:

Moving between stores has its own steps: see how to move a domain to another Shopify store.

Before you cancel, move your mail to a host you control and decide what happens to the domain, as our guide on your domain when you cancel sets out.

The Bottom Line

Most of the work happens outside Shopify: at the mail host, in DNS, and in Gmail if you were relying on Send as. Shopify's own part is short: one button to forward, one to switch to email hosting, and one section for the address your store sends from.

Frequently Asked Questions