Manage DNS Records in Mailchimp

When you purchase a domain, we automatically set up the Domain Name System (DNS) records you need to send authenticated email or publish your Mailchimp website and landing pages. However, certain other tasks, like setting up an email inbox or publishing web content on third-party platforms, may require you to make changes to those records.

In this article, we'll learn how to update DNS records in Mailchimp.

Before you start

• This is an advanced feature and is recommended for users familiar with domain management. Contact your developer or hire a Mailchimp Expert who can help.
• Publishing a website or landing page on a custom domain requires a paid Websites & Commerce plan. To find out what features are included in each plan, check out our pricing page.
• If your purchased domain is in use with a Mailchimp website, changing the existing A record or the CNAME record for the 'www' subdomain will prevent the website from loading.
• Mailchimp's DNS service supports only 1 A record or AAAA record per domain or subdomain.
• SOA, PTR, ALIAS, and DNAME records cannot be created with Mailchimp's DNS service.
• TTL (Time to Live) is set to 300 seconds (5 minutes) for all domains managed by Mailchimp. This cannot be changed.
• If you need to manage your WHOIS record, transfer or forward your domain, pause or resume automatic domain renewal, or change domain nameservers, contact our Support team for assistance.
• To learn more about how DNS and domains work, check out the Mailchimp Glossary.

Create a subdomain

For your website or landing page to be available on the internet, certain DNS records must be present. When you add a subdomain to your domain's records through your domain management page, we'll automatically create these necessary records for you.

To create a subdomain, follow these steps.

1. Click the Website icon.
   
2. Click Domains.
   
3. In the Your Mailchimp Custom Domains section, find the domain you want to work with and click Manage Domain.
   
4. Type in the subdomain you want to create and click Add.
   

After you add a subdomain on this page, they'll appear in the Initializing status while we create your DNS records for you. When they’re Ready, you can use them with your website or landing pages in Mailchimp.

If you want to delete the subdomain and its settings from your domain records, click Remove.

Add DNS record presets

To make updating records for your domain quick and simple, we've included some record presets you can use to do things like set up Google Workspace for receiving email. You can also recover your website and email default records in case you change or delete them.

In this section, we'll go over how to add different presets to your DNS records in Mailchimp.

Add presets for Google Workspace

Google Workspace provides features like business email inboxing, which you can use with your purchased domain in Mailchimp to send and receive email. Our presets help streamline this process by adding the required MX and verification records.

To add presets for Google Workspace, follow these steps.

1. Click the Website icon.
   
2. Click Domains.
   
3. In the Your Mailchimp Custom Domains section, find the domain you want to work with and click Manage Domain.
   
4. Scroll to Additional Settings and click Advanced DNS Settings.
   

5. Click the Add a record drop-down and choose Google Workspace/G Suite MX Records.
   

6. Click Add Record.
   

7. Click the Add a record drop-down and choose Google Workspace/G Suite Verification.
   

8. In Google Workspace, copy the unique verification record value.

9. Enter your Google Workspace/G Suite Verification Record and click Add Record.
   

That's all you'll need to do in Mailchimp. Be sure to finish the verification process in Google Workspace to connect it to your domain.

Add presets for websites and landing pages

The Website Defaults preset adds or overwrites A and CNAME records, which are required to use your domain or subdomain with landing pages or your website in Mailchimp.

To add the presets for websites, follow these steps.

1. Click the Website icon.
   
2. Click Domains.
   
3. In the Your Mailchimp Custom Domains section, find the domain you want to work with and click Manage Domain.
4. Scroll to Additional Settings and click Advanced DNS Settings.
5. Click the Add a record drop-down and select Website Defaults.
   
   If you want to use a subdomain for publishing landing pages or your website, choose Mailchimp subdomain.

6. Click Add Record.
   

   If you're using a subdomain, enter the Subdomain and click Add Record.
   

That's it! You’ve successfully added the A record for your domain and the CNAME record for your www subdomain.

Add presets for email

The Email Defaults preset will add or overwrite DKIM records that are required to use your domain for sending authenticated email through our platform.

To add the Email Sending Defaults preset, follow these steps.

1. Click the Website icon.
   
2. Click Domains.
   
3. In the Your Mailchimp Custom Domains section, find the domain you want to work with and click Manage Domain.
4. Scroll to Additional Settings and click Advanced DNS Settings.
5. Click the Add a record drop-down and select Email Sending Defaults.
   
6. Click Add Record.
   

There you go! You’ve successfully added the DKIM records for your domain.

Add a custom DNS record

To add a single DNS record for your domain or subdomain, follow these steps.

1. Click the Website icon.
   
2. Click Domains.
   

3. In the Your Mailchimp Custom Domains section, find the domain you want to work with and click Manage Domain.
   

4. Scroll to Additional Settings and click Advanced DNS Settings.
   

5. Click the Add a record drop-down and choose the custom record type you want to add.
   

6. In the Name field, type @.
   
   The @ symbol represents your domain. If you're updating a subdomain, a prefix like www or sale would go here instead.
   

7. Enter the information you wish to use with the domain record into the available value fields.
   

8. Click Add Record.
   

That's it! If the record is properly formatted and does not conflict with existing records, it will be added to your DNS settings. These records will be active and available within 5 minutes.

Edit a DNS record

To edit an existing domain record, follow these steps.

1. Click the Website icon.
   
2. Click Domains.
   

3. In the Your Mailchimp Custom Domains section, find the domain you want to work with and click Manage Domain.
   

4. Scroll to Additional Settings and click Advanced DNS Settings.
   

5. Click the Edit icon next to the record you want to change.
   

6. Make your changes as needed and click Save.
   

That's all there is to it. If the record is properly formatted and does not conflict with existing records, the record will be updated in your DNS settings. These records will be active and available within 5 minutes.

Delete a DNS record

To delete a domain record, follow these steps.

1. Click the Website icon.
   
2. Click Domains.
   

3. In the Your Mailchimp Custom Domains section, find the domain you want to work with and click Manage Domain.
   

4. Scroll to Additional Settings and click Advanced DNS Settings.
   

5. Click the Edit icon next to the record you want to delete.
   

6. Click Delete.
   

7. In the Delete Record pop-up modal, type DELETE in all caps and click Delete Record.
   

Manage other domain settings

If you purchase a domain in Mailchimp, here are some other tasks our Support team may be able to help you with.

• Change domain nameservers
• Transfer third-party domains to Mailchimp
• Update WHOIS records
• Add forwarding or masked forwarding to your domain
• Update your Google Workspace billing information

You can contact our Support team directly from the Domains Overview page in your account.