Google Workspace (Formerly G Suite) Troubleshooting
HostGator includes tools to automatically set up Google Workspace; however, if errors still occur after this, a number of things could be the cause. This article contains troubleshooting and advanced configuration information for the DNS records and additional features which are available in Google mail to help users transition or correct errors that may have occurred after initial setup.
- Google Workspace DNS records.⤵
- Google Workspace Mail Limits.⤵
- Import and Organize Messages From Other Accounts⤵
- Import Contacts Into Google Workspace⤵
- Browsers Support by Google⤵
Google Workspace DNS Settings
The full functionality of Google Workspace requires that the DNS for your domain be configured to point its MX records to Google. In addition to this, you will need to have a properly configured SPF record and point certain subdomains to Google so that your Google Workspace features may be accessed through your domain. If you're using HostGator name servers, you will need to make these changes in two different places on your cPanel. If you are hosting your DNS somewhere else, then you will need to contact your DNS provider if you need assistance with creating or modifying these records.
Google Workspace mailing limits differ from the mail limits of HostGator servers. Here is a complete list of limits for Google Workspace for both external and internal emailing:
| Limit Type | Description | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Messages per day | Total daily mail limit. | 2,000 |
| Messages auto-forwarded | Messages automatically forwarded from another account to your google account. | 10,000 |
| Auto-forward mail filters | Account filters that automatically forward mail to other accounts. | 20 |
| Recipients per message | Addresses in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields of a single email. | 2,000 (500 external email addresses) |
| Recipients per message (sent via SMTP by POP or IMAP users) | Addresses in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields of a single email sent from an external email client such as Outlook. | 99 |
| Total recipients per day | The total number of addresses used in all emails sent that day; 5 emails sent to 10 addresses count as 50 recipients. | 10,000 |
| External recipients per day | Email addresses outside your primary domain, including domain aliases and alternate domains. | 3,000 |
| Unique recipients per day | Individual addresses count once a day; 5 emails sent to the same 10 addresses count as 10 unique recipients. | 3,000 (2,000 external) |
These limits are imposed by Google for the well-being of their systems and the safety of your accounts. These limits are subject to change without notice and may be referenced additionally at Google's support site, where any updates or changes to this policy should be documented.
Here is a complete list of the MX records required by Google Workspace:
| Name/Host/Alias | Time to Live (TTL) | Record Type | Priority | Value/Answer/Destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blank or @ | 3600 | MX | 1 | ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM. |
| Blank or @ | 3600 | MX | 5 | ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM. |
| Blank or @ | 3600 | MX | 5 | ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM. |
| Blank or @ | 3600 | MX | 10 | ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM. |
| Blank or @ | 3600 | MX | 10 | ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM. |
In order to configure these records correctly in your HostGator cPanel, you only need to know the priority and the destination. To begin, click the icon labeled MX Entry in cPanel. Once in the MX Entry editor, select the domain you wish to work on from the Domain dropdown box in the Select a Domain section.
In the section labeled Add New Record, enter the priority and destination from each of the five required MX records and click Add New Record. After this is done, ensure to delete any records that are not on this list, such as the previously existing MX record for your domain, by clicking Delete next to the unwanted record.
Once you have both added the required MX records and deleted all other records, return to the top of the page to the Email Routing section. Select Remote Mail Exchanger and then click Change. It is very important that this step is performed last as editing the MX records by either adding or deleting records can cause this setting to be reset.
Here is a complete list of the TXT and CNAME records recommended by Google:
| Name/Host/Alias | Time to Live (TTL) | Record Type | Value/Answer/Destination |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your domain | 14400 | TXT | v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all |
| 14400 | CNAME | ghs.google.com. | |
| calendar | 14400 | CNAME | ghs.google.com. |
| docs | 14400 | CNAME | ghs.google.com. |
| sites | 14400 | CNAME | ghs.google.com. |
| contacts | 14400 | CNAME | ghs.google.com. |
For proper configuration of these DNS records, the information from all four fields will be necessary. To create or edit these records, please click the icon on your cPanel home page labeled Advanced DNS Editor. Once there, select the domain you wish to implement these records for from the Domain dropdown box in the Select a Domain section of the editor.
To create each record, you will scroll down to the Add a Record section to enter the Name, TTL, Type, and Destination or TXT Data. For the TXT record, you would enter the full domain name followed by a period, for example, "example.net." without the quotation marks. For the CNAME records, after you tab or click out of the Name field, cPanel will automatically append the rest of the domain name to complete the Name field. Once all four fields are set correctly, click the Add a Record button.
If you receive an error indicating that the record already exists, you may scroll down to examine the Zone File Records section to find the existing file. After finding the correct record, if any of the 4 fields are incorrect, you may click Edit next to the record and alter it to match the correct Google settings.
Google Workspace will allow you to import messages from previous mail accounts into your Google Workspace email with their Mail Fetcher feature. When doing this, it is recommended that you first set up filtering and labels for your Gmail account so that the email you import is easy to locate and sort. Follow these steps to set up sorting for your external email address before importing mail:
- Click the Gear icon, then select Settings.
- Click the Labels tab at the top of the page.
- Click the Create New Label button near the bottom of the page.
- Select a name for the label. (For example, when fetching mail from myname@domain.com, you may wish to call the label "MyName at Domain.com").
- Click the Filters tab at the top of the page.
- Click the Create New Filter link under the existing filters.
- In the To: field, enter the email address you intend to import.
- Click Create Filter With This Search >>.
- Select Skip Inbox if you do not wish these messages to be mixed with your normal messages.
- Select Apply Label and select the label you have just created.
- Click Create Filter.
Once this is complete, you should proceed to follow the instructions for setting up Google Mail for HostGator accounts provided here. Additional information, instructions for removing an imported account, and additional Google support are available at Google's support site.
Google Workspace can import contact files in a CSV format, allowing you to transfer or import CSV files generated by other services. To do so, simply follow these instructions:
- Create a custom CSV file, or export the address book from your other webmail provider or email client as a CSV file.
- Sign in to Gmail.
- Click Gmail at the top-left corner of your Gmail page, then choose Contacts.
- Click the More button above the contacts list and select Import.
- Click the Choose File button.
- Select the file you'd like to upload and click the Import button.
After the import is complete, Gmail will display the number of contacts imported. If any errors are generated by this process, it may indicate that the CSV file needs to be edited or may be otherwise invalid.
Notes:
- These CSV files work with Outlook, Outlook Express, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Eudora, and some other email providers. But the CSV files that these applications produce might not contain all of the supported contact fields. For example, when Outlook exports to a CSV file, it omits data including attachments, distribution lists, contact pictures, the "file as" field, the "alias" field, and text formatting in the "notes" field. Google Contacts doesn't have a way to know what was omitted, so we suggest that you manually copy over any important information in these fields after you import your contacts. Google Contacts doesn't support rich text formatting or unlimited length in the "notes" field.
- When you're unable to import a certain field from the CSV, a warning should appear to let you know so that you can fix it manually.
- The maximum size for a contact is 128 KB. If a contact exceeds this size, the "notes" field might be truncated.
Google offers full support for Chrome with all Google Workspace services, and additionally offers support for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari for all services except the following:
- Offline access to Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and Slides requires Chrome
- Desktop Notifications for Gmail require Chrome
All browsers used to access Google Workspace must have cookies and JavaScript enabled to use Google Workspace.