Email setup
How you set up email depends on where you are starting from. Find your situation below and follow that section. You choose for each address, so one domain can mix them. For example, support can live in Intray while a founder's own address stays with Google.
Email setup needs no code. Anyone who can sign in to your DNS provider, and to your mail provider if you have one, can do it.
Where are you starting from?
We have a new domain, or nobody reads email on it yet
Intray becomes the mail server for the domain. You add DNS records, create addresses such as support and info, and mail starts arriving. You do not need a mailbox anywhere else.
Our team already uses Google, Microsoft, or another provider
Keep your provider. For each address the team should share, such as support, you tell your provider to send a copy of new mail to Intray. Everyone's personal mailbox stays where it is.
We have one mailbox we want to bring in, with its old email
Intray signs in to that mailbox and imports the folders you choose, then keeps reading new mail from it. Nothing changes at your DNS provider.
| New domain | Existing provider | Existing mailbox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you do | Host the domain in Intray | Forward the shared addresses to Intray | Connect the mailbox to Intray |
| Where mail arrives first | Intray | Your provider, which sends Intray a copy | Your provider, and Intray reads it from there |
| Old email | Not imported | Not imported | Imported from the folders you choose |
| Replies are sent | From Intray | From Intray | Through your own mail server, after you turn it on |
| Changes at your DNS provider | Inbound mail (MX), DKIM, SPF, return path | DKIM, SPF, return path. MX stays unchanged | None |
New domain: host it in Intray
Add the domain
Open Settings and press Add domain. Enter a domain you own.
Add the DNS records
In the DNS dialog choose Host mail in Intray. Intray generates the record values. Copy each one to your DNS provider. If the dialog shows a Set up automatically with button for your DNS provider, press it and approve the records there.
Wait for Verified
Each row shows Verified once Intray sees the record. The page updates without a refresh. Recheck asks again. A domain that has not verified after 72 hours shows as stalled.
Add addresses
Press Add address. Intray suggests info, press, privacy, and support. An address needs no DNS of its own.
| Record | What it does | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Inbound mail (MX) | Delivers mail for the domain to Intray | To host |
| DKIM | Signs the mail you send | Yes |
| SPF | Allows Intray to send for the domain | Yes |
| Return path | Routes bounces back to Intray | Yes |
| DMARC | _dmarc TXT v=DMARC1; p=none; | Recommended |
The MX record moves all mail
Once you add the inbound mail record, mail for every address on the domain stops arriving at your current provider. If anyone still reads mail there, forward instead.
Existing provider: share an address with Intray
Your provider keeps receiving all mail for the domain. For each address the team should share, you add a rule at your provider that sends a copy of new mail to a private Intray address. That rule is called forwarding. Your MX records stay as they are, and nobody else's mailbox changes.
Verify the domain for sending
Add the domain and choose Keep current provider in the DNS dialog. Add the sending records only. They do not change where your mail arrives.
Generate a forwarding address
Open the address, choose Forward from current provider, and press Generate forwarding address. Intray creates a private address for this one address.
Add a forwarding rule at your provider
Forward your address to the forwarding address. Choose the option that keeps a copy in the original mailbox. Do not change your MX records.
Test forwarding
Press Test forwarding. Intray sends a test to your address and marks the forwarding address Verified when your provider forwards it back. Until then Intray rejects all other mail to the forwarding address.
What forwarding does not do
Forwarding delivers new incoming mail only. It does not sync mail history, read state, or mail you send from your current provider.
To rotate a forwarding address, press Generate new address, update the rule at your provider, test the new address, then revoke the old one. Intray refuses mail sent to a revoked address.
Existing mailbox: connect it with its history
Intray reads a mailbox you already have over IMAP. DNS and MX stay as they are, and mail keeps arriving where it does today.
Enter the mailbox details
In Settings, under Connected mailboxes, press Connect mailbox. Enter the email address, IMAP server, port, encryption, username, and password. Use an app password where your provider offers one.
Your browser seals the password
The password is encrypted in your browser before it leaves the page. Intray's servers receive ciphertext only.
Choose folders and start the import
Pick the folders to import, then press Start importing. Import never starts on its own.
Turn on sending, if you want it
Sending is separate and off by default. Under Address access, press Send code and enter the code that arrives in the mailbox. Save your SMTP details under Sending server (SMTP). Then press Turn on sending. Saving SMTP details alone does not enable sending.
| Encryption | Usual port |
|---|---|
| SSL/TLS | 993 |
| STARTTLS | 143 |
Steps for your mail provider
Find your provider from your MX records, or ask whoever pays for your email.
Best path: forward, set by an admin. An admin routing rule sends no verification message and works for group addresses such as support.
In the Google Admin console open Apps, Google Workspace, Gmail, then Routing. Find Email forwarding using recipient address map.
Map your address to the Intray forwarding address. Tick Also route to original destination so the mailbox keeps its copy.
Save, then press Test forwarding in Intray. Google can take a few minutes to apply a rule.
To connect the mailbox instead, use IMAP server imap.gmail.com, port 993, SSL/TLS. For sending, use smtp.gmail.com, port 465. The password is an app password, which needs 2-Step Verification. Google does not offer app passwords on accounts that use security keys only or Advanced Protection.
Steps for your DNS provider
If Intray shows a Set up automatically with button for your DNS provider, press it. You approve once at your DNS provider, the records are added for you, and Intray verifies them on its own. The button appears only when your provider supports it.
Otherwise add the records by hand. The two mistakes below cause most failed verifications.
- The name field. Most DNS providers add your domain to the name for you. Enter the name without your domain. If verification fails, look up the record and check for a doubled domain.
- A second SPF record. A name can hold one SPF record. If one already exists at the same name, add Intray's
includeto it. Do not create a second record.
Intray checks DNS from its side, so Verified means the record is public. Some providers take longer to publish a change.