Just bought a domain at GoDaddy? Here's the GoDaddy domain email choice, Microsoft 365 or a separate host, every DNS record to add in GoDaddy's screen, and the GoDaddy traps that break setups.
You've just paid for the domain. Before the confirmation screen has settled, GoDaddy is offering you email to go with it: Microsoft 365, priced per mailbox, per month. That's one way to get GoDaddy domain email. It isn't the only one.
There's no need to decide at checkout. A domain works fine with no email attached, and you can point it at any email host later. This page lays out both routes fairly, then walks through GoDaddy's DNS screen record by record, using JustEmails as the worked example (those are the records we can vouch for; we'd be guessing at anyone else's).
For what MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC actually do, see our custom domain email setup guide. This page sticks to GoDaddy's screen and its quirks.
As of 8 October 2026, GoDaddy's email sales page (godaddy.com/email/professional-business-email) lists four plans, and all four are Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy, priced per mailbox per month. List prices are shown as $8.99 for Email Essentials (10 GB) and $19.99 for Secure Business Professional, which adds the desktop Office apps. First-year prices are lower. Each plan card is marked "For 1st 1-year term", and three of the four add "Auto-renew pricing applies to each active mailbox". GoDaddy's checkout terms, not the plan cards, govern what you commit to — read them.
GoDaddy also has Professional Email powered by Titan, which appears in its help center rather than on that sales page.
Buy Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy if you want Outlook, Teams, a shared calendar and the Office apps on one bill. We don't do calendar or contacts, and we don't make mobile apps. If your team lives in that stuff, buy it and close this tab.
Use a separate email host if what you mostly need is mailboxes, maybe on more than one domain. Per-mailbox pricing grows with every person, and with every domain that needs its own mailbox. Five mailboxes on Email Essentials at the list price shown on 8 October 2026 comes to $539.40 a year (5 × $8.99 × 12). Give a second domain its own mailboxes and that number climbs again.
JustEmails is $49 a year, flat, for unlimited custom domains and unlimited mailboxes with a unified inbox across all of them — additional team members are $2 per member per month, and storage beyond the included 10 GB is $99 a year per 100 GB. Our breakdown of what a custom domain email address really costs puts the main options side by side.
Ignore the first-year number on any per-mailbox plan. The renewal price is the one you'll pay for years, so that's the one to compare.
And don't let checkout choose your email for you. You're ten seconds from owning a domain, and nobody makes a calm purchasing decision ten seconds from owning anything. Sleep on it. The domain doesn't mind.
1. Is the domain's DNS actually at GoDaddy? You can only add, edit or delete records in your GoDaddy account if the domain uses GoDaddy nameservers. If it points at another provider's nameservers, every change below has to happen at that provider instead. (If that provider is Cloudflare, you're in luck: our dashboard adds all the records there in one click.)
2. Does the domain have Domain Protection? If it does, GoDaddy asks you to verify your identity when you add, edit or delete records: a 2-step verification code by SMS or authenticator app (once 2SV has been on for at least 24 hours), or a one-time password sent to your account email. Have that inbox open before you start.
3. Have you added the domain in JustEmails? Three of the values below are unique to your domain: the DKIM key, the verification token and the MTA-STS id. Our dashboard shows them once the domain is added. Copy them from there, never from a guide (this one included).
This is what our setup screen asks for; on GoDaddy two of them are edits of records that already exist, so the steps below take those first.
| Type | Name / host | Value | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| MX | @ (the domain) | mail1.justemails.app priority 10 | Delivers incoming mail to us |
| TXT | @ | v=spf1 a:mail1.justemails.app ~all | SPF: lets us send for the domain |
| TXT | dkim._domainkey | v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=… (unique per domain) | DKIM signature key |
| TXT | arc._domainkey | v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=… (same key as DKIM) | Signs forwarded mail |
| TXT | _dmarc | v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:dmarc@justemails.app | DMARC policy |
| TXT | @ | justemails-verify=… (from the dashboard) | Proves the domain is yours |
| TXT | _mta-sts | v=STSv1; id=… (from the dashboard) | Turns on enforced encryption |
| CNAME | mta-sts | mta-sts.justemails.app | Hosts the encryption policy |
One SPF record only. If the domain already has an SPF record (GoDaddy's own email leaves one), edit it rather than adding a second. With two, both stop working.
DMARC works the same way. A domain can carry exactly one
_dmarcTXT record, so if one is already there — plenty of registrars and email products add one for you — edit it to our value instead of adding a second.
The two edits are the SPF record, if GoDaddy's email left one, and the _dmarc record on newer domains. Steps 4 and 5 cover both.
Every button name below comes from GoDaddy's current help pages.
Sign in and go to your Domain Portfolio. Select the domain to open its Domain Settings page, then select DNS to see its records.
Before deleting anything, write down or screenshot every MX record that's there. GoDaddy is blunt about this: once deleted, records can't be recovered. If something goes sideways, your copy is how you put it back.
Tick the checkbox next to each old MX record and select Delete (or select Delete next to a single record), then select Delete Records to confirm. GoDaddy removes them from the zone file immediately.
What you'll find depends on which GoDaddy email the domain had:
| GoDaddy email | MX records it leaves |
|---|---|
| Professional Email powered by Titan | smtp.secureserver.net (priority 0) and mailstore1.secureserver.net (priority 10) |
| Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy | yourdomain-com.mail.protection.outlook.com |
| Microsoft 365 with Advanced Email Security | mx1-us1.ppe-hosted.com and mx2-us1.ppe-hosted.com |
GoDaddy's own Microsoft 365 troubleshooting also mentions MX records left behind by its older email. Any MX record that isn't ours goes. If you see no MX records at all, skip ahead.
This step annoys us more than it probably should. It exists only because registrars write records into your zone on your behalf, without asking, and then leave them sitting there long after you've stopped paying for the product that needed them. A stale MX record is an easy one to miss, and it stops mail arriving even when every other record is right.
GoDaddy warns that deleting them can interrupt any email service still connected to the domain. That's rather the point, but if anyone still reads mail in a GoDaddy mailbox, bring it across first (our migration tool pulls it in over IMAP).
Look for a TXT record on @ starting v=spf1 (GoDaddy's email uses v=spf1 include:secureserver.net -all). If one exists, select Edit next to it and replace the value with ours: v=spf1 a:mail1.justemails.app ~all. That's the right value if you're leaving GoDaddy email entirely. If some other service also sends mail as your domain, it has to go into this same record. Never a second one.
Since April 2025, GoDaddy adds a default DMARC record to new domains: a TXT on _dmarc reading v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; adkim=r; aspf=r; rua=mailto:dmarc_rua@onsecureserver.net;. Select Edit and replace it with ours from the table. GoDaddy says customers keep full control of their DMARC records, so this is expected, not a hack. No _dmarc record? Add it in step 7.
Select Add New Record and choose MX from the Type menu. Name: @. Priority: 10 (a lower number means more preferred). Value: mail1.justemails.app. Leave TTL at the default of 1 hour. That's the only MX record you need; don't add a backup.
The TXT records go in the same way: Add New Record for one, or Add More Records to queue several at once, then choose TXT. The Name field takes the host without the domain, so type dkim._domainkey, not dkim._domainkey.yourdomain.com. Add, in order:
dkim._domainkey, with the DKIM value from your dashboardarc._domainkey, with the same key_dmarc, only if step 5 found none@, with your justemails-verify=… token_mta-sts, with your v=STSv1; id=… valuePaste each value exactly as the dashboard shows it. GoDaddy accepts up to 1,024 ASCII characters in a TXT value (512 for SPF). Leave TTL at the default.
Two TXT records on @ (SPF and verification) is fine, by the way. Two SPF records is the problem.
Choose CNAME, set Name to mta-sts, Value to mta-sts.justemails.app, TTL at the default. GoDaddy won't accept a CNAME whose name is already used by another record, so if it refuses, look for something already called mta-sts.
If you queued records with Add More Records, select Save All Records; for a single record, Save. With Domain Protection on, expect to verify your identity again here.
Our dashboard checks each record and shows which are still missing. DNS changes usually show up within minutes and can take a few hours. GoDaddy's own estimate is more cautious: most DNS changes take effect within an hour, but some can take up to 48 hours to update globally. To watch a single record spread, select the world icon in the Propagation column next to it.
Still missing after a few hours? Check for the full domain typed into the Name field, records queued but never saved, or nameservers pointing away from GoDaddy (so you edited a zone nobody reads).
Once everything's verified, we keep watching. If your SPF, DKIM, DMARC or MX record changes or disappears later, we detect it and email you. Handy on a registrar whose email products write DNS records for you.
Check the sending ceiling before you move a whole team onto the new address: a freshly verified domain is limited to no more than 50 emails a day in its first week, 200 a day in its second, and up to 500 a day from day 15, counted from the day the domain verified. So verify the domain first and bring the heavy senders across a couple of weeks later, rather than the other way round.
Mail-app settings — the hostname, the ports, what goes in the username field — are in the general setup guide.
A gripe, while we're here. Every registrar names its buttons slightly differently, renames them every so often, and the screenshots in every guide on the internet go stale quietly rather than loudly. If GoDaddy's screen and this page disagree, trust the screen.
Duplicate DMARC records. Because GoDaddy adds _dmarc by default, adding ours as a new record leaves the domain with two. Edit, don't add. And since GoDaddy's default policy is quarantine from day one, mail sent from the domain before your SPF and DKIM are in place can land in spam. Add the records before you start sending. GoDaddy says domains bought before April 2025 will get the default record in future, so check for _dmarc on older domains too.
Two SPF records. GoDaddy adds v=spf1 include:secureserver.net -all automatically when the domain, DNS and email sit in the same GoDaddy account. GoDaddy itself warns that with multiple SPF records, your email might not be delivered.
Leftover MX records. If the domain is connected to a GoDaddy email service, GoDaddy adds MX records itself. Leave them next to ours and some or all incoming mail keeps going to GoDaddy, depending on the priority numbers, so it lands in a mailbox you no longer check.
Titan's DKIM records. Newer Titan domains also carry two DKIM CNAMEs, secureserver1._domainkey and secureserver2._domainkey. They don't clash with our dkim._domainkey.
Microsoft 365's autodiscover record. Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy can leave an autodiscover CNAME pointing to autodiscover.outlook.com. It's a Microsoft 365 leftover, not one of our records.
A record that won't delete. GoDaddy's advice is to check that the domain has no forwarding set up and that your Website Security IP address is correct. GoDaddy appears to mean domain forwarding here, not email forwarding.
Old email forwarding. GoDaddy no longer bundles email-forwarding credits with a domain (the Workspace Email that powered them has been retired), so leftover forwarding records mostly turn up on older domains. If you find any, delete them as in step 3.
The NS records. Leave them alone. GoDaddy won't let you edit or delete them on a domain using its nameservers anyway.
Yes. Buying a domain from GoDaddy doesn't tie you to its email, and the domain can go without email entirely until you pick a host. To use a different provider, leave the domain registered at GoDaddy, remove any MX records a GoDaddy email product created, and enter the new host's MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records in GoDaddy's DNS screen.
You do. If GoDaddy's MX records stay next to the new host's, some or all of your incoming mail can keep going to GoDaddy instead. Old MX records are also easy to miss, because every other record can be right while mail still goes astray. Save a copy before deleting them, since GoDaddy can't restore deleted records.
GoDaddy began adding a default _dmarc TXT record with a quarantine policy to new domains in April 2025, and says older domains will get one in the future. A domain can only use one _dmarc record, so change the one GoDaddy created to your host's value instead of creating another. Put your SPF and DKIM records in place before sending from the domain, since a quarantine policy that applies from the start can send unauthenticated mail to spam.
Usually within minutes, occasionally a few hours. GoDaddy's own estimate is longer: within an hour for most changes, and up to 48 hours to reach everywhere. Our dashboard tells you which records it still can't find. If one hasn't appeared after a few hours, look for a Name field that includes the full domain, records added to the queue but not saved, or nameservers pointing somewhere other than GoDaddy.
Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy is billed per mailbox per month, so the cost rises with every person (and every domain that needs its own mailbox). With JustEmails you pay $49 a year, one flat price for unlimited domains and mailboxes, and 10 GB of storage comes included, with more available to buy. Whichever you choose, compare what each costs at renewal, not in the first year.
Add your domain in JustEmails, copy the values into GoDaddy's DNS screen, and the dashboard tells you when every record is in. It's $49 a year for every domain and every mailbox on the account. Details are on our pricing page.
Set aside fifteen minutes. Most of that is waiting for DNS, not working.