Fastmail's domain setup wizard is designed to make setting up your domain to work with Fastmail as quick and easy as possible.
We will ask you a few questions about your domain and how you would like to use it to give you the best possible instructions.
Note: Updating your DNS is a big change: we recommend updating it at a time you don't expect much mail.
If you have any questions while setting up your domain, you can refer to this page for advice, or contact our support team if you need further assistance.
Do I own this domain?
In order to set up a custom domain with your Fastmail account, you need to own the domain by purchasing it through a domain registrar.
If you register a domain through Fastmail, the domain can be used immediately, with no complex DNS setup required. More information about registering a domain through Fastmail can be found here.
If you have already purchased your domain, we should be able to automatically detect the registrar you bought it from. It's important that you confirm the registrar as correct, as this will affect the instructions we provide for you at the end.
If you don't own the domain you are trying to set up, and it's not available for purchase, you will not be able to successfully set up this domain with Fastmail.
Express setup or set up addresses individually?
Express setup is a good option if you are the only person who uses this domain for email, and you only have one address that you use (or want to use) regularly.
This will set up an email address for your own Fastmail account, and let you choose whether to accept all mail ending in @mydomain.com, or reject it. We recommend accepting all email sent to your domain.
Setting up addresses individually is a better option if you want to set up email for more than one person. This option lets you create new users (who each have their own separate login and inbox) as well as multiple extra addresses to go to you or your users.
You can also choose whether to receive all other email sent to any address you haven't already created. We recommend enabling this option.
Do I have a website?
We need to know if you use a website on your domain in order to give you the best instructions.
If you do have a website and you need your website to remain up, choose Yes. You can also choose Yes if you are planning on using your domain for a website in the future.
If you don't have or want a website, or you do have a website but you're not using it and don't mind if it goes offline, choose No. We'll handle your DNS settings, including setting up DKIM authentication for your domain, which means the mail you send will be less likely to be filtered as spam.
Familiar with DNS?
We use the website question as a way to determine the easiest and safest way to move your domain. If you choose Yes (indicating you do have a website), we will offer instructions to switch only your MX records to Fastmail. If you choose No, we will offer instructions to move your nameserver records to Fastmail. You can change which instructions you use on the Instructions page later.
Instructions
The final instructions are on how to change the settings at your domain host to get your email to be sent to your Fastmail account. We will give you different instructions depending on your domain host and on whether you have a website or not.
Following the instructions is essential to get your email working. We cannot make this change for you. Email for your domain won't be sent to Fastmail until the final step is complete.
If you have questions about using your domain host's control panel, we recommend contacting your domain host directly as they will be able to offer clearer instructions. Because each domain host is different, we are not always able to give you exact instructions for your service, but we try to support the most common domain hosts.
If you have other questions that don't relate to your domain host's control panel, please contact our support team.
Why is completing the final step necessary?
Your domain won't work until you complete the final step and set your domain to point to Fastmail.
Domains use a system called DNS (Domain Name System) to tell internet traffic where to go. This acts like a signpost.
When someone sends your domain an email, this sends a traffic request. The request first goes to your registrar, where you bought your domain. The registrar will then pass the request to whoever controls your domain's nameservers.
Once the request has been passed to the nameservers, the nameservers then look up the MX (Mail Exchanger) records. All email traffic goes to the place the MX records are pointing to.
If you have completed the final step, the MX records will point to Fastmail. (If your nameservers are pointing to Fastmail, we will set up your MX records for you behind the scenes.) All email for your domain will then come to us.
If your MX records are not pointing to Fastmail, mail won't reach us. Unfortunately, because the mail never reaches us in the first place, we are not able to restore or retrieve it.