Setup domain records for G Suite Gmail

Published	18/12/2018
Last Updated	20/11/2024

Gmail is an essentially core app of G Suite. However setup domain records for Gmail requires a few steps to ensure the service will work properly:

Clear existing MX and SPF records
Add MX record for G Suite Gmail
Add SPF record
Add DKIM record
Add DMARC record

Failing to setup SPF, DKIM and DMARC records may make your organization emails marked as untrustworthy and end up in spam folder.

Clear existing MX and SPF records

When buying domain from a registar, certain registars may pre-set domain MX and SPF records to associate with their free email services. These records need to be removed before configuring MX records for Gmail:

remove all records that has MX type
remove TXT record that has value contain spf string

Add MX record for Gmail

Add the following MX records to your domain:

Name/Host/Alias	Time to Live (TTL*)	Record Type	Priority	Value/Answer/Destination
@ or leave blank	3600	MX	1	ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
@ or leave blank	3600	MX	5	ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
@ or leave blank	3600	MX	5	ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
@ or leave blank	3600	MX	10	ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
@ or leave blank	3600	MX	10	ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.

Reference: https://support.google.com/a/answer/140034?hl=en

Authorize Google server with SPF record

SPF record prevent spammers from spoofing using your domain.

Add the following TXT record to domain:

Name/Host/Alias: Enter @ or leave it blank. Your other DNS records might indicate which entry is correct.