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Organization Settings: Configuring a Custom Email Domain

Improve email deliverability and brand image by configuring a custom domain for sending emails through Guide

Updated over 2 weeks ago

📧 Why Use a Custom Sending Domain?

By default, Guide sends interview emails (e.g. confirmations, reminders, reschedule notices) from a shared Guide domain. To improve deliverability, reduce spam risk, and maintain branding consistency, you can configure a custom domain — so all Guide emails appear to come from your own organization.

✅ What This Does

Once set up, Guide will:

  • Send all candidate and team-facing emails using your custom domain (e.g. @recruiting.yourcompany.com)

  • Authenticate email delivery via DKIM, SPF, and DMARC standards

  • Improve inbox placement and reduce spam filtering


🛠️ Step-by-Step Setup Instructions

Step 1: Navigate to Email Settings in Guide

  1. Go to Settings → Organization Settings → Email Settings

  2. Enter the custom domain you want Guide to send emails from

    📌 This should be a subdomain dedicated to Guide (e.g., recruiting.yourcompany.com)

  3. Click Set Domain

Once submitted, Guide will display the DNS records you need to add.

Step 2: Add the Required DNS Records

In your DNS provider (GoDaddy, Route 53, Namecheap, etc.), add all the DNS records exactly as shown in Guide:

  • CNAME records (used for authentication + routing)

  • TXT record (used for DMARC verification)

  • MX record (used for mail routing)

🧠 Some DNS providers (like GoDaddy and Namecheap) will automatically append your domain name.

For example:

  • ❌ Incorrect: em123.recruiting.example.com.example.com

  • ✅ Correct: em123.recruiting.example.com

    In these cases, only paste the subdomain portion into the “host” field — e.g., em123.

💡 MX record tip:

Some providers split the MX record into two fields:
- Priority: Set to 10
- Value: Set to mx.sendgrid.net.

If the priority isn’t separate, paste the full value: 10 mx.sendgrid.net.

Step 3: Verify Your Domain

After you’ve added all records in your DNS provider:

  1. Return to the Email Settings page in Guide

  2. Click Verify Domain

If verification succeeds, the status will change to ✅ Verified

If verification fails:

  • Any failed records will still show a ❌

  • You may need to wait up to 48 hours for DNS propagation


🚨 Troubleshooting Tips

  • Double check host fields for DNS entry formatting errors

  • Wait at least 15–30 minutes before retrying verification (some changes are not immediate)

  • Use online tools like MXToolbox to verify DNS propagation

If your domain still doesn’t verify:

  • Email Guide Support with:

    • A screenshot of your DNS record in your provider’s UI

    • The name of your DNS provider

    • The domain you’re trying to verify

🔐 Reminder

Guide will not begin sending emails from your custom domain until all required records are verified.

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