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How to send email from your own domain

Make customer emails come from an address like hello@yourbusiness.com, and get customers' replies back in Otto.

Updated 2026-10-17

Without a domain of your own, Otto's emails to customers come from your business's name at Otto's address. That works, but the customer sees a domain they do not know. With a verified domain the same emails come from your own address, for example "Smith Plumbing" hello@smithplumbing.com. Only an owner or admin can set this up.

It is in Settings → Email (under Connections).

Add your domain

  1. Open Settings and choose Email.
  2. Under Sending domain, type Your domain, for example yourbusiness.com, and press Add domain.
  3. Otto shows three records. Press Copy beside each and add them where your domain's DNS is kept (the company you bought the domain from). If you bought the domain through Otto's Website page, press Add the records for me instead: the change waits in Reviews for your yes.
  4. Press Check now. While the records are not yet seen it shows Waiting for DNS; DNS changes can take a few hours. Otto also checks on its own.
  5. Once verified, set the From name and the From address (the part before the @, such as hello) and press Save.

Until the domain is verified, email keeps going out exactly as it does today. The panel says Will send as and then Sending as with the address customers will see. Press Remove to go back to Otto's address.

How customer replies come back

When a customer replies to an email Otto sent, such as an invoice or an outreach email, the reply comes back into Otto:

  • it goes on that customer's timeline in Contacts,
  • you get a notice, and
  • it is forwarded to the person who sent the original email.

Automatic replies, such as out-of-office messages, are kept but not forwarded. Replies are shown as plain text and attachments are left out.

The Email settings show Replies come back into Otto with On, or Not set up on this server where it has not been switched on.

If it doesn't work

  • "This business already has a sending domain. Remove it to use another."
  • "The address before the @ can use letters, numbers, dots and hyphens, such as hello."
  • "Otto does not manage the DNS for … Add the records where you bought it."
  • "These records are already waiting in Reviews."
  • "Sending from your own domain is not set up on this server" — this Otto server cannot add domains yet; write to us.