How to Connect Your Domain and Business Email to Shopify

Who it is for

Store owners with a new or existing domain

Time needed

15 minutes, then up to 48 hours

What you need

Your registrar login and admin access

A domain connection takes five minutes of typing and up to two days of waiting. The typing is easy. What goes wrong is everything around it: a missed AAAA record, an old forwarding rule at the registrar, or a mailbox that stops receiving because someone deleted the wrong record.

This guide covers both halves: putting your store on your own domain, and making sure your business email sends and receives properly once it's there. I have done this on hundreds of stores, and the steps below are checked against Shopify's Help Center as of 7 November 2026.

Buy through Shopify or connect your own?

You have two routes. Neither is wrong, but they change who looks after DNS and email.

If you don't have a domain yet, buying it in Settings > Domains with Buy new domain is the simplest option. Shopify adds the DNS records itself, auto-renew is on by default, and purchases are non-refundable, so check the spelling twice. My domain name generator helps if you're still choosing.

If you already own the domain, especially if it runs your email, connect it and keep it where it is. Moving a domain and its email at the same time as launching a store is more change than one week needs.

The quick route: automatic connection

For some registrars, including GoDaddy, Shopify can connect the domain for you after you sign in to the registrar. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Domains, click Connect existing domain, enter the domain without www, and follow the prompts. If Shopify offers to connect automatically, take it: it sets the records for you and avoids typos.

If your domain is still connected to another Shopify store, Shopify asks you to prove ownership first, usually with a TXT record. Remove it from the old store if you still can.

How to connect a domain manually

Every registrar's screens look different, but you change the same records everywhere. Log in to your registrar, open the DNS settings for the domain, and set these:

1. Change the A record. Point the @ A record to 23.227.38.65 and delete any other A records on the root domain.
2. Change the AAAA record. Point it to Shopify's IPv6 address above and delete any other AAAA records. This is the step people skip, and a stale AAAA record can send some visitors to your old site.
3. Change the www CNAME. Point www to shops.myshopify.com. Some registrars want the trailing period, some add it for you.
4. Leave TTL at the default and save.
5. Add it in Shopify. Go to Settings > Domains, click Connect existing domain, enter the domain and click to connect. Shopify checks the records and tells you if something is wrong.

Shopify says the change usually shows within two hours but can take up to two days. Don't keep editing records while you wait. Each edit can mean another wait, and it makes a real problem harder to trace.

Connecting a GoDaddy domain

GoDaddy is the most common registrar I see, so here are its steps. Try the automatic connection first. If you prefer to do it by hand:

1. Open DNS. Log in to GoDaddy, go to your Domain Portfolio, select the domain and click DNS.
2. Edit the A record. Click the pencil icon on the A record with the name @, set the value to 23.227.38.65 and TTL to 1 hour, and save.
3. Edit the CNAME record. Click the pencil icon on the www CNAME, set the value to shops.myshopify.com and save.
4. Connect in Shopify. In Settings > Domains, click Connect existing, enter the domain and click Next.
5. Verify if asked. If Shopify asks for extra verification, add a TXT record named shopify_verification with the value Shopify shows, then click I updated DNS records.

Before you start, check GoDaddy for domain forwarding or a parked page on the domain. Either can override your new records, so turn them off. If the DNS page says your nameservers aren't GoDaddy's, the records live wherever the nameservers point, such as Cloudflare, and you edit them there.

Set the primary domain and check SSL

Once connected, your store can answer on several addresses: yourstore.com, www.yourstore.com and your .myshopify.com address. Pick one as the primary domain in Settings > Domains. Shopify sends visitors who type any redirect domain to the primary one, so search engines see a single address. Set any other domains you own, such as a misspelling or an old brand name, as redirect domains rather than aliases.

Shopify issues a free TLS (SSL) certificate automatically once the A and CNAME records point to it. It can take up to 48 hours, and you may see "SSL pending" in the meantime. If it still isn't issued after 48 hours, check two things: that the A and CNAME records are exactly right, and whether your domain has CAA records. If it does, they must allow letsencrypt.org, pki.goog and ssl.com, or the certificate can't be issued.

Setting up business email

Shopify doesn't host email. Your inbox lives with an email provider, such as the one your registrar sells or a business suite like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Here is how the options compare:

Forwarding through Shopify only works on domains managed by Shopify. Go to Settings > Domains, select the domain, and click Add forwarding email in the Email forwarding section. You can create as many addresses as you like, each forwarding to one inbox. Replies come from your personal inbox, not from your domain, which is why I move clients to proper email hosting as soon as they answer customer emails every day.

The rule that protects your inbox: email is delivered using MX records, and the store uses A and CNAME records. When you connect the store, change only the records in the table above. Don't delete MX, TXT or other CNAME records you don't recognize, because one of them may be what keeps your email working.

Authenticate your sender email

Your order confirmations, shipping updates and customer account sign-in codes are sent from your store's sender email. Shopify keeps two addresses apart:

• Store email, set in Settings > General, is where Shopify contacts you and sends exports.
• Sender email, set in Settings > Notifications, is the From address on customer emails and receives contact form messages.

To make the sender email trustworthy, authenticate your domain:

1. Set the address. Go to Settings > Notifications, enter your address in the Sender email section and click Save. Avoid "no-reply" addresses.
2. Start authentication. Click the option to authenticate your domain. If your DNS is on Cloudflare, GoDaddy or IONOS, Shopify can do it automatically. Domains bought in Shopify are set up for you.
3. Add the CNAME records. Otherwise, copy every CNAME record Shopify shows into your DNS. The number varies, so add all of them.
4. Add a DMARC record. Gmail and Yahoo require one for branded sending. Shopify suggests v=DMARC1; p=none; as a TXT record named _dmarc. Your domain must have only one DMARC record, so edit the existing one if there is one.
5. Wait and check. Verification can take up to 48 hours.

Common mistakes

1. Deleting MX records while "cleaning up" DNS, which stops incoming email.
2. Leaving an old AAAA record, so some visitors still see the old site.
3. Registrar forwarding left on, which overrides the new records.
4. Adding a second DMARC record instead of editing the existing one.
5. Wrong primary domain, such as leaving the .myshopify.com address as primary after launch.
6. Editing records repeatedly during the wait, which makes problems harder to trace.

Domain and email checklist

• Screenshot of your existing DNS records saved before any change.
• A record set to 23.227.38.65, AAAA set to Shopify's IPv6 address, www CNAME set to shops.myshopify.com.
• Domain added in Settings > Domains and showing as connected.
• Primary domain chosen; other domains set to redirect.
• SSL issued (no "SSL pending" message).
• MX records untouched, and a test email sent to your domain arrives.
• Sender email set in Settings > Notifications and the domain authenticated.
• One DMARC record in place.
• A test order placed, with the confirmation arriving from your own address.

Next steps

Once the domain and email work, test the rest of the store before you remove private mode. My guide on testing your Shopify store before going live covers the full routine. If you're moving a domain from an older site, set up URL redirects too, so old links and search rankings carry over.

DNS is one of those jobs that is quick when you know it and stressful when you don't. If you'd like it done for you as part of a store build, my Shopify development work starts from $300, or send me your store and I'll check your domain and email setup for free.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Connecting a third-party domain manually, Shopify Help Center
2. Connecting a GoDaddy domain to Shopify, Shopify Help Center
3. Email forwarding, Shopify Help Center
4. Setting up your email, Shopify Help Center
5. TLS (SSL) certificates, Shopify Help Center
6. Buying a domain through Shopify, Shopify Help Center

Related services and work

Written by Ashraf Siddik

I'm a Shopify developer and CRO specialist. I have built and improved Shopify stores since 2018, completed more than 1,000 projects, and hold a 4.96 average rating across 719 client reviews.

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