When Invoice Emails Are Held
When your workspace sends from its own domain and that domain can’t be used safely, Keito holds invoice emails instead of sending them. It never switches to the Keito address on its own, so a client never receives an invoice from an address you didn’t choose.
How you know emails are held
- Email sender card: in Invoices > Configure > Messages, a notice says “Invoice emails are held”, gives the reason and what to do next, and shows a reference you can quote to support.
- Invoices pages: a banner says “Invoice emails from your domain are held” with a Review the email sender link. Owners and administrators also see how many invoice emails were held in the last 30 days.
- Send and resend dialogs: “This email cannot be sent right now”, with the reason. Sending is disabled until an owner or administrator resolves it.
- Invoice activity: each held email is recorded on the invoice with its reason and a support reference.
- Keito API: a send is refused with the error code
invoice_email_held.
Reasons and what to do
| What Keito says | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The ownership record for this domain has not been found | The _keito-verification TXT record was removed or changed. |
Publish the record again with the value from Keito, then Check DNS. |
| The authentication (DKIM) records for this domain are not healthy | A DKIM CNAME record is missing, points elsewhere, or the email provider reports DKIM failed. | Restore the three CNAME records exactly as shown, then Check DNS. |
| The latest checks of your domain are too old | Recent checks couldn’t confirm the domain, often because your DNS servers didn’t answer. | Keito checks again automatically. Select Check DNS to check now, or choose the standard Keito sender. |
| This sender domain is not ready yet, or No sender domain is connected | The domain is paused, still being set up, or was disconnected with emails set to hold. | Activate the domain when it shows Ready, set up a domain, or choose the standard Keito sender. |
| This workspace’s plan no longer includes sending from your own domain | The workspace is no longer on the Business plan. | Choose the standard Keito sender to resume now, or upgrade to Business to keep your domain. |
| Sending from your own domain is switched off for this workspace right now | Keito has turned off custom sender domains for the workspace. | Choose the standard Keito sender to resume now, or contact support. |
| Sending from this domain was paused by the email provider | The email provider paused sending for your workspace, for example after many bounces or complaints. | Contact support and quote the reference. See Paused by the email provider. |
| Invoice email is suspended for this workspace | No invoice email is sent from any address. | Contact support. Choosing another sender doesn’t resume it. |
| The custom sender no longer matches its domain | The saved sender and the domain disagree. | Choose a sender again on the Email sender card. |
| The email provider refused Keito’s access, or is not configured | A problem on Keito’s side. Nothing in your DNS needs to change. | Contact support with the reference. While the last successful check is recent, emails keep sending. |
Paused or needs attention
A domain with a problem shows one of two statuses:
- Needs attention: the domain is still active, but a check failed or is out of date. Invoice emails are held until a check passes, then sending resumes from your domain by itself.
- Paused: Keito stopped using the domain, for example because a record was removed or changed, the plan changed, or you chose the standard Keito sender. After the cause is fixed, the next check returns the domain to Ready within about 15 minutes, or sooner with Check DNS. Then select Use this sender for invoice emails to send from it again. Keito doesn’t switch back automatically.
Paused by the email provider
The email provider can pause sending for a workspace, for example after a high rate of bounces or spam complaints. While that pause is in place:
- invoice emails stay held until Keito support has reviewed the pause;
- you can’t switch to the standard Keito sender, set up or replace a domain, or activate one; and
- you can still disconnect the domain, but future invoice emails stay held.
The pause ends when the email provider enables sending again and Keito sees it, or when support lifts it after review. If your domain is verified again by then, it shows Ready: activate it to resume sending.
Resume sending
Use whichever exit fits:
- Fix the cause shown on the card and select Check DNS. Activate the domain again if it shows Ready.
- Use the standard Keito sender. This works on every plan, so you never need to upgrade to release held email. It isn’t available while the email provider’s pause is under review.
- Disconnect the domain and choose the standard Keito sender for future emails.
Held emails aren’t sent automatically after you resume. Check the activity on the affected invoices and send or resend them. Scheduled reminders try again on their next run.