When you subscribe to iCloud+, you can use up to five custom domains to send and receive email with iCloud.

From 20th September 2021, if you have an iCloud+ subscription, you can personalise your email account to take advantage of your personal domain name.

So instead of gardeningsupplies@gmail.com you could have hello@gardeningsupplies.com.

Before you start

Before you can configure iCloud Custom Mail Domains, you need to register a domain.
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By registering your own custom domain, it’s a much more professional looking email address and guaranteed to boost your reputation.

Plus, it makes it easier for your to separate your personal and work email addresses – but using the same inbox.

What restrictions are there?

After you setup your domain, you can add any existing email addresses you already own.

You can also create new addresses, and you can use these new addresses for other services like FaceTime, Calendar, or to sign into website using your Apple ID.

It’s possible to add up to five domains per person, and create three separate email addresses per domain.

If you have Family Sharing activated, you can also share your email domain with them. Each family member can manage their own email addresses. Of course, this could be a good solution for small family businesses, but it’s really intended for personal use.

Before you start

1. First, make sure you have an active iCloud+ subscription.
2. You need to have already registered a domain with a domain registrar – example AWS Route 53 or Go Daddy.

How to

1. Next, go to iCloud.com/settings/customdomain
2. Click on Add a domain you own
   
   
   
3. Choose either Only You or You and Your Family
   
   
   
4. Enter the domain you want to use
   
   
   
5. If you already have an email at this domain, specify it now, otherwise set a new one up later.
   This is important to ensure that you continue to receive emails during the transition from your current provider.
   
   
   
   If so, you’ll need to access your existing email address to verify it before you can switch providers.
   
   
   
   
6. Next you’ll need to update your domain registrar’s setting.
   This is a bit technical, so you may need to consult your domain registrar’s helpdesk if you’ve never done this before.
   
   
   
   You’ll be shown a list of domain records you’ll need to update.
   
   
   
7. Finally, you can finish setting up the domain.
   
   
   

Example – AWS Route 53

Configuring the domain name might be a bit daunting for some people, but if you’ve registered with Route 53, here’s an example of the Zone Records you’ll need to copy and paste.

1. Add (or update) the MX records.

You’ll need to include the priority as a number before each server record and include each server on a new line.

iCloud is simple, but some other provided (e.g. Gmail) may have multiple records displayed here with different piority. Essentially if one server is busy and can’t receive your email, the next server will receive it instead.

2. Add (or update) the TXT records

The two separate TXT records that Apple provides are used by recipients of any emails that you send to verify that Apple is authorised to send emails using your domain on your behalf. It’s a bit like a public authorisation.

Because you may have multiple different services which require authorisation, you might already have an existing TXT record. You may only have one TXT per domain (or subdomain).

To include multiple TXT entries:

• Put each entry on a separate line; and
• Enclose your entry in double quotation marks ( ” )

3. Add the CNAME record

Next, you’ll want to use the values that Apple provides, but create a CNAME record by referencing the host and the value keys separately.

4. Confirm the changes are correct

Afterwards, check all the settings are correct, and make sure that you haven’t inadvertently broken other important zone records which may impact other domain services such as your Website, or Mail Chimp campaigns, etc.

The changes you’ll want to see are highlighted below.