Google Workspace: Gmail on your own domain

1Create an account

Open Google Workspace pricing (opens in a new tab) and start the 14-day free trial.

• Enter your business name and the number of employees.
• Check that your country is right.
• In the next steps, enter your email address and your existing domain, for example yourcompany.com.

2Choose a plan and the number of accounts

Choose a plan and the number of users.

• “Business Starter” - usually enough for business email with documents and video meetings.
• “Business Standard” - if you need meeting recordings, 2 TB per user or a choice of where your data is stored.
• The number of users is the number of accounts, that is mailboxes.
• The Annual Plan is cheaper than the Flexible Plan.
• The free trial lasts 14 days and covers up to 10 users.

Check the source: Google help on Business editions, as of October 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)Check the source: Google help on the free trial, as of October 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

3Add payment

Before you start using it, finish setting up payment.

• In the United States you can pay by credit or debit card or from a bank account (direct debit).
• You are not charged during the free trial.
• If you don’t add payment by the end of the trial, the account is suspended.
• Your PDF invoice is in the Admin console: “Billing” → “Payment accounts” → “View invoices” → “Documents”.
• Google also emails you a PDF invoice at the start of each month.

Check the source: Google help on invoices, as of October 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)Check the source: Google help on payment options, as of October 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

4Send us the verification record

In the Admin console, open “Manage domains” (opens in a new tab), click “Verify domain” and then “Get started”.

• Choose the company where your domain is, or “My domain uses a different host”, and click “Continue”.
• In the “TXT record” section, copy the “Value” that starts with “google-site-verification=”.
• Paste it into the field below, mark whether you already have email on the domain and click “Send email”.
• Need several addresses, for example info@? Add them first in “Users” (opens in a new tab) → “Add new user”, because emails to an address without an account bounce back to the sender.
• You don’t share your password.

Check the source: Google help on verifying a domain with a TXT record, as of October 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)Check the source: Google help on adding users, as of October 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

Subject: Google Workspace TXT record for [domain name]

Hi,

Here is the record to verify [domain name] in Google Workspace:

- Type: TXT
- Name: @
- Value: [google-site-verification=…]

Email on the domain: not sure.

Could you add it, together with the MX and SPF records for email at Google?

Thanks,
[name, company]

5Confirm the domain and activate Gmail

When we tell you the records are added, go back to the console and finish the verification.

• Click “Come back here and confirm…”, then “Confirm”.
• If that window is gone, open “Manage domains” (opens in a new tab) again and click “Verify domain”.
• After confirming, click “Activate Gmail” and follow the steps on the screen.
• Switching email to Google can take up to 72 hours. Until then, emails go where they went before.

Check the source: Google help on MX records, as of October 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)Check the source: Google help on changing MX records, as of October 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

6Generate the DKIM key and send it to us

24-72 hours after activating Gmail, open “Apps” → “Google Workspace” → “Gmail” (opens in a new tab) in the console and click “Authenticate email”.

• In the “Selected domain” menu, choose your domain and click “Generate New Record”.
• Choose the key length “2048”, keep the prefix “google” and click “Generate”.
• Copy the “TXT record value” that starts with “v=DKIM1”, paste it into the field below and click “Send email”.
• If you see an error, try again the next day.
• Don’t click “Start authentication” yet.

Check the source: Google help on DKIM, as of October 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

Subject: Google Workspace DKIM key for [domain name]

Hi,

Here is the DKIM key from the Google console for [domain name]:

- Type: TXT
- Name: google._domainkey
- Value: [v=DKIM1; …]

Could you add it, together with the DMARC record? Let me know when to click “Start authentication”.

Thanks,
[name, company]

7Turn on DKIM authentication

When we tell you the key is in the domain, open the Gmail settings (opens in a new tab) in the console and click “Authenticate email”.

• In the “Selected domain” menu, choose your domain and click “Start authentication”.
• When everything works, the status at the top changes to “Authenticating email with DKIM”.
• The message “You must update the DNS records for this domain” may stay for up to 48 hours. You don’t need to do anything about it.

Check the source: Google help on DKIM, as of October 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)