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# Send emails from your own address

| **Plans:** Pro and Agency.

You can send Zendo's emails from your own address, so that invitations, notifications and documents reach your clients from your business rather than from Zendo. To do this, you connect your own SMTP server, the mail server that sends email for your domain. Every email also has a logo and a footer, and you can replace both with your own on the **Emails** tab of **Settings › Brand › Domain & email**. Only the workspace owner can set up the sender.

## Before you start

You need two things:

- **Your own domain for the client portal.** Until it is set up, the **Custom email sender** switch is off and the card says *"Set up your custom domain before configuring a custom email sender."* See [Use your own domain](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/use-your-own-domain-1ka8al9/).
- **An SMTP server for your domain.** Your email provider gives you its details: the host, the port, the username and the password. Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, your hosting company, or a sending service such as SendGrid, Mailgun or Amazon SES can all provide one.

## Connect your SMTP server

1. Sign in where you manage your domain's DNS and add an `MX` record, as shown in the table below. Wait until it works: usually 5 to 30 minutes, sometimes up to 48 hours.
2. In Zendo, open **Settings › Brand › Domain & email** and select the **Emails** tab.
3. Under **Custom email domain**, turn on **Custom email sender**.
4. Fill in the **Sender name** and the **Sender email** your clients will see in the From line.
5. Fill in the **SMTP host**, the **SMTP port**, the **Encryption**, the **Username** and the **Password** from your email provider. Use port `465` with SSL or port `587` with TLS.
6. Select **Verify connection**.
7. Select **Save**.

| Field at your DNS provider | What to enter |
|---|---|
| **Type** | `MX` |
| **Host** or **Name** | Your domain, for example `yourcompany.com` |
| **Value** | `mails.getzendo.io` |
| **Priority** | `10` |

![The Emails tab: the email logo, the custom email sender (3) and the email footer.](https://getzendo.io/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/kb-p11-emails.webp =600x624)

## Why the MX record is needed

Your emails go out through your own SMTP server, but your clients' replies have to come back to Zendo, so that they land in the right request. The `MX` record sends those replies to Zendo.

The **Reply-To** address of your emails is on your portal domain, for example `no-reply@clients.yourcompany.com`, not the sender address. That is why the `MX` record has to be in place.

## Verify connection sends a real email

**Verify connection** sends a message through the server you entered, so it tests more than whether the port is open. If something is wrong, Zendo tells you whether the problem is the username and password or the encryption, and does not save the settings.

## Example: Google Workspace

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| **SMTP host** | `smtp.gmail.com` |
| **SMTP port** | `465` |
| **Encryption** | SSL |
| **Username** | Your full email address |
| **Password** | An app password, not your normal password |

You create the app password in your Google account. With Gmail or another ordinary mailbox, send from the same address you sign in with. To send from other addresses, use a sending service such as SendGrid or Amazon SES and verify your domain with it.

## SPF, DKIM and bounces stay with your email provider

Zendo sends through your server, so it does not ask for SPF or DKIM records and does not check them. Set them up with your email provider, so that your emails do not land in spam.

Bounces also go to your email provider, because its server sends the emails. Zendo does not collect them or show them.

## If your server stops working, emails still go out

If your SMTP server stops answering, the email is not lost. Zendo sends it through its own servers and notifies the workspace owner.

Emails to the workspace owner's own address always come from Zendo's servers, so that Zendo can tell you about a problem with your server.

## Set the logo and the footer

1. If emails should show a logo other than your main one, turn on **Use a custom logo**, upload the **Email logo** (up to 1 MB) and set its width under **Customize email logo size**. To show no logo at all, turn on **Hide logo**.
2. In **Custom email footer**, write the text that Zendo adds at the bottom of every email to your clients. You have up to 5,000 characters.
3. Select **Save**.

By default, emails show your main logo from **Settings › Brand › Identity**. If you set a custom logo on the **Emails** tab, they show that one instead. The **Dark mode logo** is never used in emails or in PDFs. See [Put your logo, favicon and app icon in place](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/put-your-logo-favicon-and-app-icon-in-place-1sy8a1l/).

## Which emails are sent

The **Emails** tab only changes how emails look and where they come from, not which ones are sent. That is decided on **Settings › Workspace › Notifications**, where you choose the in-app, browser and email notifications separately for your team and for your clients. Each person can then change their own. See [Set notification defaults for your team and clients](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/set-notification-defaults-for-your-team-and-clients-7uej9f/).

## Messages inside Zendo come from the system bot

Messages that automations post inside Zendo, and entries in an order's history, are not emails. They are signed by the system bot, which you name under **System bot** on the **Domain** tab of **Settings › Brand › Domain & email**. See [Name the system bot and set your help links](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/name-the-system-bot-and-set-your-help-links-qvqbis/).

## Related

- [Use your own domain](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/use-your-own-domain-1ka8al9/)
- [Put your logo, favicon and app icon in place](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/put-your-logo-favicon-and-app-icon-in-place-1sy8a1l/)
- [Set notification defaults for your team and clients](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/set-notification-defaults-for-your-team-and-clients-7uej9f/)
- [Every notification your clients can get](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/every-notification-your-clients-can-get-16mqbme/)
- [Name the system bot and set your help links](https://help.getzendo.io/en/article/name-the-system-bot-and-set-your-help-links-qvqbis/)