How to Enable Email Delivery to Gmail:
Set Up Your MX Records

Quick and easy-to-follow guide for Google Workspace administrators

Why do I need to do this?

  • You only need to activate your email delivery to Gmail if you plan on using your Google Workspace emails.
  • If you do plan to use Gmail, this is a mandatory step.

How do I activate Gmail and what are MX records?

  • To activate Gmail (or any other email service), you must update your domain’s MX records.
  • MX records are DNS records that specify where your domain will receive emails. 
  • In other words, they direct messages sent to your domain to a specific email service.
  • You can usually update your domain’s DNS records through your account at the domain hosting provider’s website.

Be careful if you are currently using another email service with the same domain

  • If you have been using another email service with your domain so far, you currently have MX records set up for it.
  • When you change your current MX records and replace them with Google’s, you will stop receiving emails at the old email service and start receiving at Gmail.
  • Suppose you want your old email service and Gmail working simultaneously. In that case, you need to set up split delivery or dual delivery – click these options to learn more about them.

Will I lose any emails in my other email service?

  • No, your emails will remain intact, but you will stop receiving emails at your other email service if you have one.
  • You can migrate your emails from the other service to Gmail, though. We will help you with this step by step further in the guide.

How long does it take to activate Gmail?

  • After you follow the steps below, the changes can take up to 24 hours to take effect.
  • You may not start receiving emails at Gmail immediately.

How to activate your Google Workspace Gmail step-by-step with images

Step 1

How To Enable Email Delivery To Gmail (Set Up MX Records) - Step 1

After verifying your domain, you can send emails via Gmail, but you can’t receive anything yet. You need to activate email delivery to Gmail if you wish to receive emails at Google Workspace user accounts.

This step is optional. You can skip activating Gmail if you already have another email service and would like to keep receiving emails there.

Alternatively, you can have both Google Workspace and another email service working at the same time. Click here to learn how to set this up.

If you are only going to use Google Workspace to receive emails, click ACTIVATE and proceed with the next steps below.

Step 2

How To Enable Email Delivery To Gmail (Set Up MX Records) - Step 2

If you already have email addresses at another provider and you would like to stop using them and start receiving at Google Workspace, first add all email addresses at Google Workspace.


Important: Note that activating Google Workspace emails can take up to 24 hours. Until your new settings go into effect, you will receive emails at your old email provider if you have one.

Click I’M READY TO ACTIVATE GMAIL.

Step 3

How To Enable Email Delivery To Gmail (Set Up MX Records) - Step 3

Next, on your DNS host’s website, find the page where you can add MX records. It’s usually the same page where you add other DNS records.

-Click here if you need help identifying your DNS host. (Coming soon)
-Click here for links to articles with step by step instructions on adding MX records to the most common hosting providers. (Coming soon)

Once you find the page, click NEXT: GO TO STEP 2.

Step 4

How To Enable Email Delivery To Gmail (Set Up MX Records) - Step 4

If you already have MX records at your DNS host, delete them.

Next, add 5 new MX records.

MX Record #1:
Priority: 1
Host: Put in the @ sign or leave this field blank
Points to: ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
TTL: 3600 or 1 hour

MX Record #2:
Priority: 5
Host: Put in the @ sign or leave this field blank
Points to: ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
TTL: 3600 or 1 hour

MX Record #3:
Priority: 5
Host: Put in the @ sign or leave this field blank
Points to: ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
TTL: 3600 or 1 hour

MX Record #4:
Priority: 10
Host: Put in the @ sign or leave this field blank
Points to: ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
TTL: 3600 or 1 hour

MX Record #5:
Priority: 10
Host: Put in the @ sign or leave this field blank
Points to: ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
TTL: 3600 / 1 hour

If you can’t match the priority exactly, just make sure that record #1 has the lowest number, records #2 and #3 have a higher number, and #4 and #5 have the highest number.

The name of the Points to field in your hosting may be Destination, Value, or something else – check your hosting’s step-by-step instructions to find out.

Step 5

How To Enable Email Delivery To Gmail (Set Up MX Records) - Step 5

In this image, you can see us copying the values from the Google Admin page (on the left) into the DNS records page at SiteGround (on the right), then saving the changes. Click here for a step-by-step guide on adding MX records if your host is SiteGround.

Clicking the Points to field on the Google Admin page automatically copies the text in it, so you just have to paste it into the corresponding field at your host.

Step 6

How To Enable Email Delivery To Gmail (Set Up MX Records) - Step 6

After you add and save the MX records at your host, back at the Google Admin page, click the button on the bottom. Google will check your host for the records so you can make sure you set them up properly.

Sometimes, the records won’t be published right after you add them, and Google can’t validate them successfully. In other cases, you may not have set them up correctly, or you may not have saved them.

Google’s Troubleshooting Guide will let you know if there are any issues.

Step 7

How To Enable Email Delivery To Gmail (Set Up MX Records) - Step 7

What if my email still isn’t working after I do the setup?

The best way to check if you created the records successfully is to use the Google Admin Toolbox.

1. Go to https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/dig/#MX.
2. Type your domain under Name and click the MX button.
3. If your MX records are ok, your results will look like this. The letter case doesn’t matter.

Sometimes it can take a few minutes for the records to show up. Even after you see them on the Google Admin Toolbox, it can take up to 24 hours for them to go into effect, which means you may not start receiving emails immediately.

As long as you see the records on the Google Admin Toolbox, the job is done. Now you just have to wait for them to go into effect.

Click here for links to articles showing how to add MX records at some of the most popular hosts. If you don’t see your host in the list, go to Google Search and type “Add TXT record –your DNS host’s name here–”

For example, if your DNS host is SiteGround, you can search for “Add TXT record SiteGround.” Google will bring up an article with step-by-step instructions on adding DNS or TXT records.

That’s all! You’re done with the initial setup. Click here to continue to the next category of the Getting Started tutorial: Basics.

If you find this useful, share and help others!

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