Shopify customer support email: how to set it up
Shopify sends your order emails but doesn't host a mailbox. Here is how to give your store one support address customers can write to and get replies from, with the exact Shopify settings and DNS records.
By Max Lindberg · · 6 min read
Shopify sends your order emails, but it doesn't host a mailbox: you need an address on your own domain that lives at an email host (or, on a Shopify-managed domain, a forward to one). Then you set that address as the Sender email in Settings > Notifications and authenticate your domain, so customers see it on every notification and their replies reach you.
Below are the two email settings Shopify has, the choice between forwarding and hosting, the exact records to add, and what the customer sees when you reply.
The two addresses Shopify uses
Shopify's help keeps two settings apart, and customer email follows only one of them.
| Setting | Where | What Shopify uses it for |
|---|---|---|
| Store email | Settings > General | How Shopify contacts you about your account; where exports of products, orders and customers are sent. |
| Sender email | Settings > Notifications | The customer-facing address: the From address on notifications, order confirmations and marketing email; the address customers can contact you on directly; where contact form submissions from your online store are delivered. |
Your support address belongs in Sender email. Store email can stay as the owner's own address.
Customer notifications are the automated emails Shopify sends about orders, shipping and accounts, such as the order confirmation when a customer orders and the shipping confirmation when you fulfil. Shopify's help says most are sent automatically and can't be turned off, so every one of them carries your Sender email.
Step 1: choose the address
Use an address on your store's domain, such as support@ or help@ followed by your domain. Two things to avoid, both from Shopify's help:
- "no-reply" and similar. Some email hosts automatically reject addresses containing "no-reply", "do-not-reply" or "noreply".
- A Gmail, Yahoo or other free address. You can't add authentication records to their domains, so Shopify rewrites the sender to its own address (see Step 4). Its help suggests using your own domain instead.
Step 2: decide where the mail lives
Shopify's help is direct: "Email hosting isn't provided on Shopify." You have two ways to get mail for your address.
| Your domain | Option | Can you receive at the address? | Can you reply from it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bought through or transferred to Shopify | Forwarding in Shopify | Yes, forwarded to one existing inbox per address | No: replies show the receiving inbox's address |
| Bought through or transferred to Shopify | Email hosting: Google Workspace or Zoho Mail built in, others through DNS records | Yes | Yes |
| Bought elsewhere (third-party) | Email hosting from your host, set up in your domain provider's DNS | Yes | Yes |
Forwarding is free and unlimited on a Shopify-managed domain. On a third-party domain you can't create forwarding addresses in the Shopify admin; your domain provider may offer forwarding or hosting.
Hosting is the option that lets the whole team answer from the support address. If you already pay for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, see shared mailboxes in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 shared mailboxes for how to give several people access.
One warning from Shopify's help: forwarding set up on a Shopify domain is affected once MX records are added for a host. Plan for that before you switch.
Setting up forwarding on a Shopify-managed domain
In Settings > Domains, click the domain, then Add forwarding email in the Email forwarding section.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Forwarding email address | Only the part before the @, for example support. This is the address customers write to. |
| Receiving email address | The full address of the existing inbox that gets the mail. If you reply to a forwarded email, this is the address the customer sees. |
Shopify then recommends a TXT record so forwarded mail arrives. In Settings > Domains, click the domain, then Manage under DNS settings, Add custom record, TXT Record:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | @ |
| TXT value | v=spf1 include:_spf.hostedemail.com ~all |
The receiving inbox can't be at a host that enforces DKIM; Shopify names AOL and Yahoo as examples.
Step 3: set the Sender email
In Settings > Notifications, enter your support address in the Sender email section and click Save. If you use forwarding, enter the forwarding address you just created. If the custom domain is cancelled or expires, Shopify's help notes you can no longer use its forwarded address as the Sender email.
Step 4: authenticate the domain
Since 1 February 2024, Shopify's help says, Gmail and Yahoo require an authenticated domain and a DMARC record to send from a branded address. Without them, Shopify rewrites your sender to store+123@shopifyemail.com, where the number is unique to your store.
- Domain bought through Shopify: DKIM, SPF and DMARC are set up for you. A
v=DMARC1; p=nonerecord is added if you have none. - Domain on Cloudflare, GoDaddy or IONOS: in Settings > Notifications, under Sender email, click Email domain authentication, then Authenticate automatically. This sets the CNAME records but not DMARC; add that yourself.
- Any other domain: add every CNAME record shown in the same place at your domain provider. The number of records varies; add all of them. Then click I updated DNS records.
The DMARC record, added at your domain provider:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | TXT |
| Name | _dmarc (some providers add the domain part themselves) |
| Value | v=DMARC1; p=none; |
Your domain must have only one DMARC record; two make validation fail and the sender is rewritten. If an existing record contains adkim=s or aspf=s, Shopify recommends removing them or changing them to adkim=r and aspf=r. The CNAME records handle SPF for the sender address, so no separate SPF record is needed for that.
DNS changes can take up to 48 hours. Adding CNAME records needs an active paid plan, and removing them later sends your sender back to the shopifyemail.com address.
Step 5: test it
- From an account that isn't the receiving inbox, email your support address and check it arrives.
- Place a test order and check the confirmation's From address is your support address, not
store+…@shopifyemail.com. - Reply to that confirmation as the customer would, and check where the reply lands.
- Send the contact form on your store and check it reaches the same inbox.
If customers say they get no confirmation at all, Shopify's help first points to their spam folder; order confirmation email not received covers the rest.
Which address the customer sees when you reply
| Your setup | The customer's reply comes from |
|---|---|
| Forwarding only, you answer in the receiving inbox | The receiving inbox's address, for example a personal Gmail |
| Hosting at Google Workspace, Zoho Mail or another host | Your support address |
Forwarding alone is fine for receiving. For replies that come from your store, not from a personal account, you need hosting. Once the address works, put it in your store's policies too: Shopify store policies for support.
Where Corresso comes in
Corresso doesn't replace your email host. You forward your support address to Corresso, and replies go out from your own address through your Google account (Connect Google) or your provider's mail server, so customers see the same address as on their order confirmation.
Every email gets a reply drafted from documents your store approved, such as your returns policy and shipping page, and a person reads and sends each one. With Shopify connected (read-only), the customer's orders appear beside the email; refunds and cancellations stay in your Shopify admin. How it works, and Corresso for Shopify stores.