How to set up Google Postmaster Tools for your domain

With Postmaster Tools you can get access to valuable data about emails you've sent to Gmail and Googles other email services. This includes data about spam complaints and domain reputation.

In order to access the reports in Postmaster Tools you need to verify that you own the domain in question. To do that you need a few things:

A Google account
Access to DNS for your domain

Create a Google account

If you don't already have a Google account you can create one by going to https://postmaster.google.com where you'll be greeted by the login dialog. Use the "Create account" link there to create your Google account (or log in if you already have one).

Add a domain to Postmaster Tools

Inside Postmaster Tools adding a new domain is a matter of clicking the red button in the bottom right with a plus sign - make sure you're logged in with the account you want to add the domain to (look in the top right corner to verify your account).

Enter your domain name in the dialog that pops up. We recommend adding your top level domain (ie without any subdomains) as that gives you the widest access (including to subdomains). So you want to enter emailsherpa.net - not www.emailsherpa.net or mail.emailsherpa.net).

If Google hasn't already verified your domain ownership (which you might already have done in Google Search Console), you'll be asked to add a TXT record to your DNS for the domain.

Add a DNS record for the domain

How you actually add that value depends on your DNS provider, ie the service that hosts your domain name. Since most providers have their own ways of doing things, the following steps are somewhat vague. In general the process is:

Log into your DNS provider and find the domain in question.
Somewhere under the domain settings, you should find a place where you can add a TXT record. If you're lucky the button is named exactly that, or if you're a bit more unluck, you might be looking for "Edit zone" or something to that effect.
Create the TXT record.

Example using Gandi.net

For this example, I am using gandi.net to give you a sense of the process.

After logging in, I find the domain I need to modify. Under "DNS Records" I click the "Add" button. I then choose "TXT" as the type of record I want to add.

In the fields that appear I enter the following:

TTL/Unit: Leave them at the defaults
Name: For domain verification this values is blank, so we leave it at the default @.
Text value: This is where we enter the value from Postmaster Tools. In this case we copy and paste
```
google-site-verification=j9VssTREi_TngZbbyJyQWHHWXTii2lgWYROtttUQbNQ
```

And finally, click the "Create" button and voila, your DNS record has been created.

Verify the changes in Postmaster Tools

Head back to Postmaster Tools and click the "Verify" button. If everything is correct, you should be greeted by the "Complete" dialog.

In some cases, you might need to wait a bit before your DNS record changes take hold. If that's the case, you won't get the above message, but don't worry; just come back a little later and try again.

Future logins

Going forward you'll find the Google Postmaster Login at https://postmaster.google.com, giving you easy access to your domains.