In this first method, I’ll show you how to set up Gmail with your custom email for free.
With this method, you’ll be able to link your custom domain name to a regular free Gmail account (e.g. username@gmail.com). Then, you’ll be able to send/receive emails using your custom domain from your regular Gmail account.
When you compose a new message, you can choose between your free @gmail.com address and your gmail custom domain. If you receive an email at your custom domain, Gmail will automatically respond using that email:
Some important notes about this method
While the Gmail part of this method is 100% free, there are some caveats to this method in that you’ll need to already have email hosting to make it work. Typically, you would get this through your web host if you have a website.
For example, if you host your website with Bluehost, Bluehost also helps you create your own custom email address as part of its service (this is the email hosting part).
If you don’t own a domain, here’s a quick tool you can use to find out if the domain name you’re interested in is available
Once you set up your email address with Bluehost, the method in this tutorial would let you use Gmail to send/receive those emails at no extra cost. Unfortunately, already having this email hosting is a basic requirement for the free method.
For both creating your website and setting up the custom email account to use with Gmail, we recommend Bluehost. Plans start at just $2.75 per month and that includes hosting your website, hosting your email account, plus a free domain name.
If you don’t need a website, another option would be to purchase email hosting through your domain registrar. For example, if you registered your domain through Namecheap, Namecheap sells a cheap email hosting service starting at just $0.79 $0.46 per month.
For the rest of this tutorial, we’ll use Bluehost for our example screenshots. However, the same basic principles will apply to any host – the interface will just be a little different.
1. Create a regular free Gmail account
To get started, create a regular free Gmail account – e.g. username@gmail.com. If you already have a Gmail account, you can use your existing account.
However, remember that the emails for your custom domain will be mixed in with any emails to your regular Gmail account, so it might be simpler to create a separate account if you’re already receiving a lot of email at your Gmail address.
2. Create your custom email address via your email hosting
Next, you need to create your custom email address using your email hosting if you haven’t done so already. E.g. you@yoursite.com
If you’re using Bluehost, you can use Bluehost’s email account tool to create your email address from the Email & Office tab:
If your email hosting is elsewhere, you’ll want to consult your service’s documentation or reach out to their support if you can’t find your POP3 information.
Then:
- Open the Gmail settings by clicking the gear icon in the top-right corner and selecting See all settings.
- Go to the Accounts and Import tab.
- Find the Check mail from other accounts setting.
- Click Add a mail account.That should open a popup with multiple steps.
In the first step, enter your custom email address – e.g.
you@yoursite.com:4. Allow Gmail to send emails using SMTP
At this point, new emails to your custom domain should show up in your Gmail account. However, you won’t be able to reply to them from your custom email domain yet.
To fix that, you need to configure your Gmail account to send through your custom email’s SMTP server. Typically, you’ll find your email’s SMTP server information at the same spot where you found the POP3 information:Once you have your SMTP information:
- Go back to the Accounts and Import area in your Gmail account’s settings.
- Find the Send mail as setting.
- Click Add another email.This will open another popup window that has multiple steps.
On the first screen:
- Enter your name.
- Enter the custom email address that you’re using.
- Check the box for Treat as an alias.
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