How to Send Email From Your Custom Address
Updated June 26, 2026
Forwarding takes care of incoming mail — but a custom address is only half as useful if you can't send from it too. The good news: you can send and reply as you@yourdomain.com from the apps you already use, without ever opening a separate inbox.
Sending and replying — you get both
There's no difference under the hood. Once your custom address is set up as a From option, you can start a brand-new email or reply to one, and the recipient sees it coming from your domain either way. No new mailbox to check, no second app to juggle.
From Gmail
Gmail has a built-in feature called “Send mail as” (Settings → Accounts and Import → “Send mail as”). Add your custom address once, and it appears in the From dropdown whenever you write or reply. Your Routr dashboard gives you the exact values to paste, so it's a quick, one-time setup.
From Apple Mail, your iPhone, or another app
Outside Gmail, you send through SMTP — a standard your mail app already understands. In your dashboard you'll generate a set of credentials and enter these settings:
- Server: smtp.improvmx.com
- Port: 587 (STARTTLS)
- Username & password: generated in your Routr dashboard
That's all it takes — your custom address becomes a sending account in Apple Mail, the iPhone Mail app, Thunderbird, or any client that supports SMTP.
Will my mail land in spam?
This is the part people worry about, and it's handled for you. Routr signs every outgoing message with DKIM and sets up a DMARC policy on your domain. Together with the SPF record from your initial setup, these tell receiving servers your mail is genuinely from you — so it reaches the inbox, not the spam folder, and looks every bit as legitimate as it is.
The short version
- Set your address up once in Gmail, or generate SMTP credentials for any other app.
- Choose your custom address as the From address when you write or reply.
- DKIM and DMARC keep it out of spam — nothing extra to configure.
New to all this? Start with forwarding your custom email to Gmail, then come back here to set up sending.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send brand-new emails, or only reply?
Both. Once you're set up, your custom address works like any other From address — you can start a fresh email or reply to one, and it goes out as you@yourdomain.com either way.
Do I need a separate inbox or password to send?
No separate inbox. With Gmail you use your normal account; with other apps you generate one set of SMTP credentials in your Routr dashboard. That's the only new password, and you set it up just once.
Does sending work on my phone?
Yes. The Gmail and Apple Mail apps both let you send as your custom address once it's configured, so you can reply on the go just like from your desk.
Why isn't Outlook supported for sending?
Routr sends through ImprovMX, which isn't compatible with Outlook's SMTP. You can still receive your mail in Outlook — but to send as your custom address, Gmail, Apple Mail, or another standard client is the way to go.
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