OrderPilot
Book a demo

Set up your sending domain

5 min readUpdated 31 Oct 2026Basics

Send customer emails from an address on your own domain. Complete the guided setup, add the records OrderPilot provides, and verify them before relying on customer emails.

You can save progress and return later. No email goes out until the domain is verified and sending is on.

Before you start

Use a domain you control

Have access to its DNS settings, or involve the person who manages them.

Check your permission

You need Manage shop settings.

Decide what should send

Read which emails go out before turning on automatic customer messages.

Use the exact record values provided for your domain. The Harlow & Finch example addresses in this guide illustrate the setup; they aren't records to copy into your domain.

Walk through the guided setup

  1. Step 1: Enter the sending address

    Go to SettingsMessages & notificationsSending settingsSending setup. In Sending address, enter Your website domain, Sender name, and Sender email address.

    Reply-to addresses (optional) identifies where replies should arrive. The setup shows the domain records needed for verification. You can continue while DNS verification is pending.

  2. Step 2: Choose the appearance

    Choose an Email theme. Complete Logo and name if that step appears; it is shown only when either is missing. The review reflects your chosen email appearance.

    Use email design editing later for more detailed changes. First make sure the sender and brand are recognizable.

  3. Step 3: Choose when to send

    In When to send, answer the questions about quote creation, invoices when orders are placed, and status emails for changes made by hand. A store with a Paid status receives the corresponding paid-invoice question.

  4. Step 4: Review and finish

    Read What Finish sets up and review the 6 customer emails. Use Edit for an answer that needs changing, then click Finish. You can return through Run guided setup again.

    Finish changes the Quote and Invoice groups' statuses and the manual-status-change switch. It doesn't turn on Send an email when an order is created. The review offers that action when your answers need it.

    A paused setup offers Continue guided setup. Use all email settings leaves the guided view. Neither finishing nor leaving the guide substitutes for domain verification.

Add and verify the DNS records

  1. Step 1: Copy the domain records

    Open the Domain card. Copy each row's Host and Value, preserving its Type and Priority where supplied. Use Show full names if your provider expects a full name.

  2. Step 2: Add records at your domain provider

    Give the records to your domain administrator or add them through your provider's DNS controls. Add them alongside existing records. Return to OrderPilot when they are saved.

    Warning

    Keep existing email records

    Don't replace unrelated DNS records with OrderPilot's records. Other services may depend on the records already present.

  3. Step 3: Check verification

    Click Check again. The domain shows Verified when its records are found. New records can take up to a day to appear.

    OrderPilot checks daily. Needs attention after an earlier verification means the records need checking again. Compare the full hostname with your provider's saved entry.

Add or tighten DMARC

  1. Step 1: Review the current result

    If the banner says your domain has no DMARC record, click Review DMARC. The recommended section shows whether a usable record was found.

    Statuses include Not checked yet, Found, Missing, Needs fixing, More than one, and Couldn't check. Read the explanation alongside the status.

  2. Step 2: Add the monitoring record

    For a missing record, copy the TXT record shown and add it at your domain provider. The starter policy is v=DMARC1; p=none;. Click Check again to update the result.

    DMARC is recommended, not required for this setup. The monitoring policy doesn't block emails. Use the existing record when one needs repair instead of adding another.

  3. Step 3: Review a stronger policy later

    After 30 days on the current policy, a verified domain can show the next optional step. The progression is p=none, then p=quarantine, then p=reject.

    Before tightening, confirm every service sending as your domain uses SPF or DKIM. Change only the policy part identified by the guidance and keep the rest of the record.

What happens next

With a verified domain and Send customer emails on, customer emails use your sending address. Domain and DMARC checks continue daily.

Set up Receive replies separately to bring replies into orders and purchase orders. A verified sending domain alone doesn't enable that capture.

Example: Harlow & Finch sets up sending

Example · Harlow & Finch Interiors

Prepare the store's customer emails

Nora Ellis sets up Harlow & Finch Interiors.

  1. She enters orders@harlowandfinch.example and the store's sender name.
  2. She chooses the Ledger theme and reviews the sending answers.
  3. Her domain administrator adds the displayed records.
  4. Nora checks again after the records appear and sees Verified.
  5. She adds the monitoring DMARC policy and reviews the result.

Important notes and tips

Change the sending domain

Use Change domain, enter New domain and Sender email address, and read Changing your sending domain before saving. Verify the new records afterward.

Changing domains cancels waiting and scheduled customer emails. Sending stays off until verification, branded links are removed, and an existing sending pause remains. Schedule cancelled messages again if still needed.

The old Receive replies setup is removed too. Set it up again for the new domain.

Set up branded links

When offered, Set up branded links provides records to add. Check again moves the setup through Waiting for records, Securing, and Active.

Securing can take a few hours. Emails go without open and click tracking until branded links are Active. Remove branded links has its own confirmation.

If something goes wrong

DNS records aren't found

Wait for publication, then use Check again. Check whether the provider duplicated the domain in the hostname.

DMARC says More than one

Keep one valid DMARC record with your domain administrator's help.

DMARC says Needs fixing

Edit the existing record's invalid policy instead of adding another.

Finish refuses the invoice choice

An invoice tied to Paid needs compatible manual-status-change settings. Review those answers.

Was this guide helpful?