Mailboxes, SPF, DKIM and DMARC

Connect a Google Workspace address to send campaign email, and set up the three DNS records that keep it out of spam.

Last reviewed November 7, 2026

Which mailboxes can send

All three mailbox types send campaign email. Only Google Workspace reads replies back into ACR, so the agent can answer email replies from a Google mailbox alone.

Mailbox type	How it is added	Sends	Reads replies
Google Workspace	Sign in with Google and allow sending and reading	Yes	Yes
Microsoft 365 or Outlook	Sign in with Microsoft as that address, once Growth Dept has set up its Microsoft app	Yes	No
Custom IMAP & SMTP	Server details and a password, stored encrypted. The server must offer STARTTLS, or use port 465	Yes	No

If Mailbox to send from is empty, a campaign uses the store's oldest active mailbox. When you have more than one, pick the one you want by name, and prefer a Google mailbox if you want the agent to answer replies.

Connect a Google Workspace mailbox

Open Mailboxes and press Add mailbox. Only an admin or the owner of the store can do this.
Under Mailbox type choose Google Workspace, enter the Email address and press Connect.
Sign in to Google as that address and allow sending and reading mail.
Open Mailboxes again. The address is listed with the status active.
In each campaign, choose it under Mailbox to send from on the Email card in Outreach channels.

ACR looks for replies in the Gmail thread every 5 minutes, until three days after the last email the store sent, and the agent answers in the same thread.

Delete mailbox stops sending from the address and reading its replies. Email steps that use it are skipped until you pick another.

The three records

SPF names the mail servers that may send as your domain. DKIM adds a signature to each message, so a receiver can tell it arrived unaltered. DMARC is your instruction to receivers for mail that fails SPF or DKIM. All three live in your domain's DNS. A missing record does not stop ACR sending, but the mail may land in spam.

Open your DNS provider for the domain of the mailbox.
Add or update the SPF TXT record so it includes Google's servers: include:_spf.google.com.
Turn on DKIM signing in Google Workspace and publish the record it gives you.
Publish a DMARC TXT record at _dmarc. Start with p=none and tighten it once reports look clean.
Come back to Mailboxes and press Recheck records. DNS changes can take a few hours to show.

What Recheck records looks for

Nothing is checked until you press the button. Each record then shows Configured, Needs a fix (the record exists but does not do its job) or Missing.

SPF: a TXT record on the domain starting v=spf1 that includes Google's servers (include:_spf.google.com) for a Google Workspace mailbox.
DKIM: a key at one of the common selectors, google first. Google Workspace publishes its key at google._domainkey.
DMARC: a TXT record at _dmarc starting v=DMARC1 with a policy (p=). A record with no policy needs a fix.