Use a Custom Sending Domain

The default address used to send emails from your account is a shared Privy address. However, to improve your email deliverability and build trust with your email recipients, this address should be updated to reflect your specific domain and brand. If your DNS provider is Domain.com, GoDaddy, NameCheap, Shopify, or Wix, please follow their platform-specific instructions instead.

Please ensure that you meet the following requirements before proceeding:

You must own a domain name - addresses from free providers like Gmail or Yahoo won't work.
You must have the ability to update the DNS records of your domain.
You must be hosting a website at the root of the domain.

Note: The approach to updating DNS records varies from one provider to another. If you encounter issues locating these settings, please contact the provider directly.

Add the domain

To add a new sending domain:

In Privy, click the Account option from the navigation. Your business name appears there.
Select the Business Information option from the dropdown menu.
In the sidebar, select Sending Domain under the Email Settings section.
Click the + Add Sending Domain button in the upper right.
In the prompt, enter your domain name (e.g., example.com) and click the Save button. The provided domain must be a root domain, not a subdomain (e.g., mail.example.com).

Update your DNS information

After completing the previous steps, DNS records are generated for your domain. The records are automatically presented to you after saving the domain for the first time. However, if you have navigated away from the page, you can easily access the records by returning to your Sending Domain settings, locating the domain, and clicking the DNS Records button.

Once you've accessed the records:

Add each of them to your DNS provider. There is a mix of CNAME and TXT records.
Once all of the records are added, return to the records in Privy and click the Verify and Set Default button next to the domain. This action will check if the DNS records were updated correctly and set the domain as the default for your emails going forward.

Note: It can take up to 48 hours for the DNS records to propagate and properly verify.

Send emails with the domain

After verifying your sending domain, you can update the default "from" address for emails sent from your account. If you don't update these settings, emails will be sent using "offers" as the username paired with your custom sending domain. To update this setting:

In Privy, click the Account option from the navigation. Your business name appears there.
Select the Business Information option from the dropdown menu.
In the sidebar, select Sender Options under the Email Settings section.
Input the desired address before the "@" symbol in the
Default From Email field.
Ensure the desired custom domain appears to the right of the "@" symbol.
Click the Save Changes button to confirm your selections.

Completion of this process will update all emails that you create moving forward. Check out this example from our Space Age Trading Cards friends, who combined "launches" with their custom sending domain to create their default From Email address.

To update this setting for emails set up before the change:

Go into the email editor and click on the From option under the Sender Info section.
Enter the desired address information and select a verified domain from the dropdown menu.
Click Save.

Troubleshoot common issues

Invalid records

Typically, we'd suggest that you copy and paste the host values provided in your account:

scph1218._domainkey
s1._domainkey
s2._domainkey
privy-sg
privy._verification

However, some providers will not verify when your brand and top-level domains are excluded from these host values. For example, if you enter privy-sg in the Host Name, the provider will throw an error because it expects privy-sg.yourdomain.com instead.

Add your domain information to each host value to troubleshoot this issue and input those values instead. After adding your domain to the records, they will look something like the following:

scph1218._domainkey.yourdomain.com
s1._domainkey.yourdomain.com
s2._domainkey.yourdomain.com
privy-sg.yourdomain.com
privy._verification.yourdomain.com

Note: It's okay if the TXT record for scphXXXX._domainkey is not verified. In some cases, your domain will use the hosting provider's DKIM instead.

Pending verification

In most cases, the records should be verified almost immediately when entered into the host correctly. However, some changes will require up to 48 hours to take effect. If your records have not been verified after 48 hours, please do the following:

Review the "Why won't my DNS records verify?" guide.
Attempt the verification process again.
Contact your web host for assistance.
Explore the Privy Partner and Privy Support resources listed below.

Additional resources

Privy Support

Email Domain Support for help setting up your DNS, DKIM, and SPF records to send from a custom domain.