How to Sign Up for Google Workspace and Buy a Domain
Follow these steps to create your Google Workspace account and buy a domain while you’re at it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Follow these steps to create your Google Workspace account and buy a domain while you’re at it.
Follow these steps to create your Google Workspace account.
To activate access to your Google Workspace services, you need to verify yourself as the owner of your domain name.
Activate your email delivery and start receiving emails at Google Workspace by adding MX records to your domain’s DNS settings.
Add users during the initial setup process. You can skip this now and add more users later. We cover this in more detail in the Users section.
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