Add the Email Domain DNS Records at Your Provider

Keito’s setup gives you four records to publish: one TXT record and three CNAME records. This page explains how to enter them at common DNS providers. Provider screens change often, so each section names the menu to look for and links to the provider’s own instructions.

Find who hosts your DNS

Add the records where your domain’s DNS is hosted. That is often your domain registrar, but not always: if your domain uses Cloudflare’s nameservers, for example, add them at Cloudflare even if you bought the domain elsewhere. Records added at a provider that doesn’t host your DNS have no effect.

Microsoft’s Find your domain registrar or DNS hosting provider explains how to check. If someone else manages your DNS, select Download setup sheet in Keito and send them the file.

The records you add

Copy every host and value from Keito with its Copy buttons. The examples below use acme.example:

Type Host shown in Keito Value
TXT _keito-verification.acme.example keito-domain-verification=<value shown in Keito>
CNAME <token-1>._domainkey.acme.example <token-1>.dkim.amazonses.com
CNAME <token-2>._domainkey.acme.example <token-2>.dkim.amazonses.com
CNAME <token-3>._domainkey.acme.example <token-3>.dkim.amazonses.com

Add the TXT record first. Keito shows the CNAME records once it has found the TXT record.

Enter the host correctly

Keito shows full host names. Most DNS providers add your domain to whatever you type in the host or name field, so you type only the part before your domain:

Host shown in Keito Your DNS zone Type this in the host field
_keito-verification.acme.example acme.example _keito-verification
<token-1>._domainkey.acme.example acme.example <token-1>._domainkey
_keito-verification.billing.acme.example acme.example _keito-verification.billing
<token-1>._domainkey.billing.acme.example acme.example <token-1>._domainkey.billing

If you’re not sure whether your provider adds the domain, save the record and look at the name it shows. If it reads _keito-verification.acme.example.acme.example, the domain was added twice: edit the record and remove the extra domain.

Enter the values exactly

  • TXT value: paste it exactly. Most providers add quotation marks for you. Don’t add a second pair, and don’t split the value into several strings.
  • CNAME value: paste the full target, ending in dkim.amazonses.com. If Keito later reports Points elsewhere and the target shown ends in your own domain, your provider added the domain to the target too. Re-enter it exactly, or with a trailing dot if your provider supports one.
  • TTL: Keito suggests 300 seconds for the TXT record and 1800 seconds for the CNAME records. Your provider’s default is fine.

Cloudflare

  1. In the Cloudflare dashboard, open your domain and go to DNS > Records.
  2. Select Add record, choose the type, and enter the host part in Name and the value in Content (TXT) or Target (CNAME).
  3. For each CNAME record, set Proxy status to DNS only (a grey cloud). Cloudflare doesn’t allow DKIM records for dkim.amazonses.com to be proxied, but check the setting anyway.
  4. Save each record.

Cloudflare’s CNAME flattening can hide the CNAME record from lookups, and verification then fails. If your zone uses Flatten all CNAMEs, or a record has the per-record flatten option turned on, turn it off for Keito’s three DKIM hosts.

Cloudflare’s guides: Manage DNS records, Proxy status, and Cannot verify a domain with a CNAME.

GoDaddy

  1. Open your Domain Portfolio, choose the domain, and open its DNS records.
  2. Select Add New Record and choose TXT or CNAME.
  3. In Name, enter only the host part, without your domain. In Value, paste the value.
  4. Save. Domains with Domain Protection ask for a verification code first.

GoDaddy’s guides: Add a TXT record and Add a CNAME record.

Namecheap

  1. In Domain List, select Manage next to the domain, then open Advanced DNS.
  2. Under Host Records, select Add New Record and choose TXT Record or CNAME Record.
  3. In Host, enter only the host part. Namecheap adds the domain for you. Paste the value in Value or Target.
  4. Select the check mark to save.

These steps apply when the domain uses Namecheap BasicDNS, PremiumDNS, or FreeDNS. With Namecheap web hosting DNS, add the records in cPanel instead. Namecheap’s guides: Add TXT, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records and Create a CNAME record.

Squarespace Domains, including former Google Domains

  1. Open the Domains dashboard, select the domain, and open DNS.
  2. In the custom records section, add a record, choose TXT or CNAME, and enter the host part. Squarespace adds your domain to the name for you.
  3. Save. Squarespace may ask for your password or a two-factor code before you edit DNS.

Domains moved from Google Domains are managed the same way. Squarespace’s guides: Edit your domain’s DNS records and Adding TXT records.

Microsoft 365 and Azure DNS

Microsoft 365: if Microsoft hosts your domain’s DNS, go to Settings > Domains in the Microsoft 365 admin center, select the domain, open DNS records, and select Add records. If there is no option to add records, your DNS is hosted somewhere else; add them there. See Add or edit DNS records.

Azure DNS: in the Azure portal, open the DNS zone and add a record set for each record. Use the relative name, such as _keito-verification, choose the type, and enter the value. A CNAME record set holds only one record, so each DKIM host needs its own record set. See Manage DNS record sets and records with Azure DNS.

Keito’s DKIM selectors don’t clash with Microsoft 365’s own DKIM records, which use selector1._domainkey and selector2._domainkey.

Amazon Route 53

  1. In the Route 53 console, open Hosted zones and select the public hosted zone for your domain.
  2. Select Create record.
  3. In Record name, enter the host part. Choose TXT or CNAME as the record type and paste the value.
  4. Select Create records.

Route 53 expects TXT values in double quotation marks, for example "keito-domain-verification=<value shown in Keito>". Keito reads the value correctly with or without one pair of quotes. Changes reach Route 53’s servers within about a minute. See Creating records by using the Amazon Route 53 console.

IONOS

  1. Open Domains & SSL, select the domain, and open its DNS settings.
  2. Select Add record and choose TXT or CNAME.
  3. In Host name, enter only the host part. For a CNAME record, enter the full target in Points to.
  4. Save.

These steps apply when the domain uses IONOS nameservers. IONOS’s guides: Managing TXT records and Configuring a CNAME record.

Wix

  1. Go to Domains, open Domain Actions next to the domain, and select Manage DNS Records.
  2. In the TXT section or the CNAME (Aliases) section, select Add Record.
  3. Enter the host part in Host Name and paste the value, then select Save.

You can edit DNS records in Wix only when the domain uses Wix’s nameservers. Wix’s guides: Adding or updating TXT records and Adding or updating CNAME records.

Any other provider

Every DNS provider can host these records. Look for a section called DNS, DNS records, Zone editor, or Advanced DNS, then:

  1. Add a TXT record with the host _keito-verification, plus any subdomain part, and the ownership value from Keito.
  2. After Keito shows them, add three CNAME records with the _domainkey hosts and the targets from Keito.
  3. Make sure no other record already exists at those exact host names. A host with a CNAME record can’t hold any other record.
  4. Save the changes and return to Keito.

Don’t change your MX, SPF, or DMARC records. Keito doesn’t need them changed. If your provider refuses a host name, for example because it contains an underscore, ask the provider’s support team how to add records for _keito-verification and _domainkey names.

Next: Verify, test, and activate.