How To Set Up Custom Email Domains On iCloud

One of the lesser known services that Apple launched recently is actually the ability to use custom domain names for iCloud Mail. For those unfamiliar, iCloud Mail is basically Apple’s own email service and platform, similar to Google’s Gmail, Yahoo, and so on.

Like most free email services, Apple provides users with their own address but it ends with @icloud.com. In many ways this isn’t a bad thing because it saves users from having to pay for their own domain and set it up. However, the downside is that like millions of other users, your email will be somewhat generic.

If you plan to use the email for work or professional reasons, it might not necessarily look very professional to be using a free email account, so there is a reason why some people choose to have a custom domain. The good news is that iCloud Mail now supports custom domains, so here’s what you need to do to set it up.

First Things First

Before you can set up a custom domain for iCloud Mail, there are several things you need to know and have done first:

• Have an iCloud+ subscription (this is basically a paid iCloud storage plan)
• You must have a primary iCloud Mail address already (how to create a primary iCloud Mail address)
• You must have registered the domain beforehand
• Your custom domain must already be able to receive emails (this is required for verification)
• The device you send or receive email on using the custom domain must be iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and/or macOS 12 Monterey or later

Setting Up A Custom Domain For iCloud Mail

1. Go to icloud.com/settings
2. Under Custom Email Domain, click “Manage
3. Choose whether or not this domain is just for you or for your family
4. Enter the domain name you want to use and click “Continue”
5. Unless you plan to add more than one custom domain, click “Add email address”
6. Confirm the email address is correct
7. You will then be sent a verification email to the address you provided
8. Open the email and click the “Verify” button
9. Log into your domain registrar’s website
10. Go to the settings where you can update your MX records
11. Apple advises you to delete your existing MX records and fill them in using information on this support page
12. Once all the information is changed and saved, go back to iCloud Settings and click “Finish Set Up”
13. Confirm your DNS records have been updated
14. If you run into a DKIM error message, don’t worry, this is because DNS records can take a while to propagate through the system so this can take minutes or an entire day, so keep trying
15. Once that’s done, you’ll have to specify a default outgoing email address (basically the email address that people will see when they receive email from you)
16. You should also receive a confirmation email from iCloud to let you know the setup has been successful, and also receive notification prompts on your associated devices asking if you want to associate the new custom domain with iMessage and FaceTime

Keep in mind that at this time of writing, this is a relatively new feature as iOS and iPadOS 15 was released not too long ago, and macOS 12 Monterey has yet to be released. We suggest that maybe you don’t use this service as your daily driver until you’re confident that you can send and receive emails without a hitch.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, General
Tags: icloud