Allowing Zendesk to send email on behalf of your email domain

So, do you have to allow Zendesk to send email on behalf of your email domain? The short answer is: No.The slightly longer answer is: Only if you really don't want your customers to see the Zendesk name on their messages.

When Zendesk sends an email message using your email address (which is what happens if you'veset up a support address with forwarding) the message identifies the sender aszendesk.comto avoid getting rejected. However, if you allow Zendesk to send email on behalf of your email domain, Zendesk stops sending messages fromzendesk.com, and sends them from your domain, completely preserving your branding.

If youdon'tcomplete the tasks described in this article, your customers might see something like this: 

The following warning will also appear in the agent interface next to your external support addresses:

However, if you complete the tasks described in this article, theviastatement and warning don’t appear.

The process of setting up an SPF record is different for different domain registrars. For example, here are the instructions forGoDaddy,Namecheap,1&1,Network Solutions, andGoogle Domains.

To create or edit an SPF record to reference Zendesk

• Edit your domain's DNS settings to add a TXT record. The steps vary depending on your domain registrar. A TXT record is required for yourSPF record to be validated.

Zendesk recommends using the following SPF record:

v=spf1 include:mail.zendesk.com ?all

If you've already set up an SPF record for another purpose, you can simply add a reference to Zendesk to it. The SPF specification requires that you only have one SPF record on your domain. If you have multiple records, it may cause issues, and cause rejections of your email.

For example, instead of having two separate records, such asv=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~allandv=spf1 include:mail.zendesk.com ~all, you can combine them into one, like this:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:mail.zendesk.com ~all

In the past, Zendesk suggested alternate formulations for SPF records, includinginclude:smtp.zendesk.comandinclude:support.zendesk.com. These are both outdated SPF records. While they might still work, they're not the best option. If you're still using them, you'll see a warning flag indicating you've set up an outdated record.

In order for Zendesk Support to send emails on your behalf, you must verify that you own the domain that you want Support to use. This is done by adding a TXT record (a domain verification record) to your DNS server that Support will check. The domain verification record is unique for each Support account and domain combination.

If you don’t add the domain verification record, Support sends emails from a Zendesk-provided email address. If you want to give your customers a white label experience, hiding all Zendesk branding, you must add this record.

To verify that a domain belongs to you

1. Make sure you have finished setting up your SPF record.
2. InAdmin Center, clickChannelsin the sidebar, then selectTalk and email > Email.

   You should see a verification check for your DNS records.

   

3. ClickSee detailsto see the domain verification value.

   You can find the value next to theDomain verification TXT recordcheck. In this example, the value isabcdef123456:

   

   Note:If you are an agent with permissions to manage support addresses, you can use the Support Addresses API endpoint to find the domain verification code for your support address instead, if you prefer. Look for thedomain_verification_codevalue. For more information, see the developer documentation aboutSupport Addresses.
4. Edit your domain's DNS settings and add this TXT record:

   Type	Name	Value	TTL
   TXT	zendeskverification	<your unique value found in Support>	3600 or use default

   Note:Your domain will be automatically appended to zendeskverification. If your domain is used in more than one Zendesk account, your TXT record can include all of the verification codes, separated by a space, up to 255 characters.
5. After you add the TXT record, click theVerify DNS recordsbutton to confirm that all of your records are now valid.

   If they are, the red error messages will be gone. If you're having trouble setting up your DNS record correctly, seeWhy do I receive the error "DNS records are not set up correctly" when verifying my DNS records.

After your domain is verified, leave the domain verification record in-place.

If you decide to change your Support subdomain or host mapping later, you don’t need to update your domain verification records.

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a domain level email authorization protocol that allows you to declare which IP addresses are allowed to send email as if it originated from your domain.

This is accomplished by adding Domain Name System (DNS) TXT record. Think of DNS as a publicly accessible record for the internet. This record enables you to state publicly that Zendesk is an authorized sender for your domain.

When an email client receives a message, it performs an SPF check on the sending domain to verify that the email came from who it says it did. If this check fails, or there isn't a DNS record that says that Zendesk is a permitted sender, some receivers might consider that email spam or a phishing attempt, and flag it as untrustworthy or not display it to your customers at all.

Zendesk avoids this by sending email using our own domain when we're not authorized to use your domain, and by using your domain only when you authorize Zendesk with a proper SPF record. Generally, this helps to prevent emails from your Zendesk account to your customers from being incorrectly marked as spam. However, if you are having this problem, seeHow can I stop my emails from going into my customer's spam folder?

If you're curious, you can read more about SPF atwww.openspf.org. If you're having trouble verifying your SPF record, seeWhy is my SPF record not validating?