How to set up a custom SMTP inbox
Overview
When sending an email you have the choice to send emails using your own dedicated SMTP server. An SMTP server is a mail server that you can use to send an email. It stores your messages and ensures that your messages are either delivered or returned to you with a failure message.
You can set up a custom SMTP inbox in Front, meaning you want to use your own server to send messages. Follow the instructions below to set up a custom SMTP inbox.
Please note if you are updating an existing inbox you'll want to open the existing inbox's settings and can skip to Part 2 once on the inbox's settings page.
Instructions
Follow the steps below if your Front account was created after Apr 17, 2023 (your settings sidebar has both an Inboxes and Channels section).
Receive email with forwarding
Step 1
Click the gear icon on the top right of Front and into the Company or Personal settings tab, depending on which space you are working with. Admins can also access user settings by following these steps.
Step 2
Click on Inboxes on the left menu and Add an individual inbox or Add a shared inbox, depending on which space you're in.
Step 3
Fill out the name and description of your inbox. Click Create.
Step 4
When following the steps to add a channel, choose Other email client from the channel menu.
Step 5
Enter the email address and click Continue.
Step 6
Click the dropdown menu and choose the inbox that conversations will go to by default and click Save changes.
Step 7
In the Channels tab of the sidebar, click on the channel, then click settings to open the channel settings. Click on View Setup Instructions for steps to validate email forwarding from your email provider to the Front forwarding address on the screen. Click Send Email. Once you receive the test email, this means the redirect is working.
Step 8
In the channel settings, scroll down and expand the Custom SMTP submenu, and toggle on Enable.
Step 9
Complete the Host, Port, Login and Password fields, as well as specifying if you want to Connect with SSL/TLS (recommended) then test your connection. For Gmail/Office 365, your host would be smtp.gmail.com or smtp.office365.com over port 587. You may also want to generate an app password in Gmail or Office 365 if you're utilizing 2FA in either platform.
Step 10
Complete the remainder of the inbox settings, and click Save.
Instructions [legacy]
Follow the steps below if your Front account was created before Apr 17, 2023 (your settings sidebar has an Inboxes section and does not have a Channels section).
Receive email with forwarding
Step 1
Click the gear icon on the top right of Front and into the Company or Personal settings tab, depending on which space you are working with. Admins can also access user settings by following these steps.
Step 2
Click on Inboxes on the left menu and Add an individual inbox or Add a shared inbox, depending on which space you're in.
Step 3
Fill out the name and description of your inbox. Click Create.
Step 4
Choose Other email client from the channel menu.
Step 5
Input your email address and click Next.
Step 6
Follow the steps on the screen to set up email forwarding from your email provider to the Front forwarding address on the screen. Click Test setup or Do this later. Once you receive the test email, this means the redirect is working.
Send email with Custom SMTP
Step 7
In the Channels tab of the inbox, click on the channel to open the channel settings. Scroll down and expand the Custom SMTP submenu, and toggle on Enable.
Step 8
Complete the Host, Port, Login and Password fields, as well as specifying if you want to Connect with SSL/TLS (recommended) then test your connection. For Gmail/Office 365, your host would be smtp.gmail.com or smtp.office365.com over port 587. You may also want to generate an app password in Gmail or Office 365 if you're utilizing 2FA in either platform.
Step 9
Choose the teammate access for this inbox, and whether you'd like to add this inbox to teammates' sidebars.
Step 10
Complete the remainder of the inbox settings, and click Finish.
FAQ
Why should I set up custom SMTP?
Since the emails are sent from your specified SMTP channel, you have full control over the emails that are being sent via Front. Also, if you are unable to set up the SPF/DKIM DNS records that are required for Front, you can set up custom SMTP to send via your own mail servers, where you will have full control over the DNS records.
Will the emails I send from Front show in my custom server?
Depending on your custom email server's settings and configurations, the emails you send from Front may or may not be saved on your own server outside of Front. You'll want to consult your email service provider regarding what configurations are supported.
For example, setting up a custom SMTP with Microsoft's cloud-based Office/Microsoft 365 mailboxes will allow sent emails to be reflected in the respective inbox's Sent folder. This is not the case with Microsoft's on-prem products though.
Pricing
This feature is available on all plans.
7 replies
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Hi! Is this an administrator only function?
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Hi Nick Kwan,
Yes, only admins have access to this option. I will add the admin-only tag. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
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If we want to set this up for all users, is there a way to set it up at the account level? Or do we need to set it up for each user individually?
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Nate Schwandt Each user individually.
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This is on the same topic. We are using a CRM which automatically adds any email sent to a customer within the CRM to the activity for that customer. However this doesn't work for our team using Front, even if I setup their inboxes with the custom SMTP of our email server.
The emails also do not appear in the sent folder of the web-based email client for that email provider (Rackspace), so it seems like there is a disconnect somewhere.
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What are the source addresses that'll be connecting?
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sonitadmin Front sends email using a large pool of IP addresses that aren't publicly shared. Front customers on a Prime or Enterprise billing plan may be migrated to a list of static IP addresses upon request.