Outgoing Email Settings
After configuring your Help Scout inbox to use a custom email address, the Account Owner and Administrators with permission to the inbox can also adjust the Outgoing Email settings. Whether you choose to use our servers to send or send through your email provider, you'll want to make sure you've configured these settings to help with email deliverability.
The option you choose for your outgoing email will depend on your organization's needs and requirements. This article will explain what those options are so that your team can decide which is best for you.
Note: You may need to reach out to your IT team, website developer, and/or your email administrator for technical help on these settings.
In this article
Change Outgoing Email Settings
From within the inbox, click the gear icon and choose Outgoing Email.
Alternatively, you can navigate using the top menu by choosing Manage > Inbox(es) > [Your Inbox] > Outgoing Email.
Send via Help Scout Servers (Use Help Scout)
All inboxes default to this setting, and by default Help Scout will send emails on your behalf when you reply to or start a new conversation. This means that the emails will show to your recipients as via helpscout.net or on behalf of your domain.
Note: If you are sending email from Help Scout servers to any Google or Yahoo email customer, your email may bounce unless you set up the DNS records as noted below. This is due to restrictions that Google and Yahoo put in place as of February 2024. See Google and Yahoo Email Authentication Requirements for more information on those changes.
Send as your domain from Help Scout servers
We will send the message as your custom email address directly, so your recipients will not see a via or on behalf of note in the email, if we're able to confirm that you have some DNS records set up so that recipient servers know that Help Scout is allowed to send as your domain. Check out Use DKIM to Help With Email Delivery for the details on what you'll need to set up.
You'll see the results of a system check for the CNAME records in the outgoing email settings. If you see the green Active badge next to DKIM — you're all set!
Send via Your Email Provider (Use Custom SMTP)
You may choose to use custom SMTP to improve email deliverability or to have more control over your outgoing email in general. Each time a reply or new email is sent, our servers will connect to your email provider and hand off the email to them — your email then will be sent to your recipient from your email provider's servers instead of Help Scout's servers.
If your email provider is Google Workspace or Gmail, Use Google OAuth to Send From Help Scout will help you connect Help Scout to your Google account.
Most other email providers offer a basic SMTP service you can use. For more help there, see Use SMTP to Send From Help Scout.
