# Email: connecting Zipchat to your Inbox

### Step 1: Set Up the Email Functionality

Go to your Chat Settings, and under the Email section, click on Activate.\
Once inside, you’ll see two sections:

* Receiving Emails
* Sending Emails

#### Receiving Emails

To enable your AI to receive emails, you first need to connect your existing support inbox to ZipChat. Here’s how:

1. In the Receiving Emails section, you’ll find a unique ZipChat email address.
2. Set up a forwarding rule from your current support email to this ZipChat address.

Forwarding instructions vary depending on your provider.\
In the Chat Settings > Email Setup, you’ll find specific guides for:

* Shopify Email
* Gmail
* Microsoft Outlook
* cPanel

Once forwarding is set up, any email sent to your support address will be automatically routed to ZipChat, where the AI can process and respond.

#### Sending Emails

By default, replies from the AI are sent from your ZipChat email address. However, to ensure the best deliverability and avoid spam filters, we recommend connecting your own custom domain.

Here’s how:

1. Go to Chat Settings > Setup, under the Send Emails section.
2. Click on Add Domain and enter your domain.
3. Once added, click again on Add Domain to confirm.
4. Then click Verify to start the DNS configuration process.

The DNS setup steps depend on your provider.\
We provide specific instructions for:

* Shopify
* GoDaddy
* Namecheap
* Cloudflare

Once DNS records are correctly configured, your AI will send emails directly from your custom domain.

***

If you have any questions or need assistance at any point, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at <support@zipchat.ai>.

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