Setting up with another email provider

This guide is for email providers other than Gmail and Microsoft 365 — including Fastmail, Zoho Mail, ProtonMail, iCloud Mail, custom mail servers, or any provider that supports email forwarding.

The good news is that if your provider supports forwarding (most do), you can connect it to Jelly. The process has two parts:

• Set up forwarding so incoming emails arrive in Jelly

• Verify your domain (or individual address) so you can send replies

Let's walk through each part.

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Part 1: Setting Up Forwarding

Forwarding tells your email provider to send a copy of every incoming email to Jelly. The exact steps vary by provider, but the general approach is the same everywhere.

Find Your Jelly Forwarding Address

First, you need to know where to forward emails to.

1

Open Jelly

• Click your profile photo in the top-right corner

• Select Email Setup

2

Copy the forwarding address

• You'll see your forwarding address: [email protected]

• Copy this address — you'll need it in a moment

The General Approach

Most email providers have a forwarding option somewhere in their settings. You're looking for something that automatically sends copies of incoming mail to another address. Here's what to look for:

• A "Forwarding" section in settings

• "Mail rules" or "Filters" that can forward messages

• "Auto-forward" options

• "Email routing" settings

The key is to set up forwarding that:

• Applies to all incoming mail (not just specific senders or subjects)

• Keeps a copy in your original inbox (recommended, for backup)

• Forwards the original message, not a wrapped/quoted version

Provider-Specific Guidance

Here's how forwarding works in some common email providers. If yours isn't listed, the general approach should still apply — look for forwarding or filter options in your settings.

1

Fastmail

Fastmail has excellent forwarding support.

1. Go to Settings → Filters & Rules

2. Click Create a new rule

3. Leave the conditions empty (or set "All messages")

4. Under actions, choose Forward to and enter your Jelly address

5. Also select Keep the message so you have a backup

6. Save the rule

2

Zoho Mail

1. Go to Settings (gear icon) → Mail → Email forwarding

2. Click Add email address

3. Enter your Jelly forwarding address

4. Zoho will send a verification email — check your Jelly inbox and click the link

5. Once verified, enable forwarding and choose to keep a copy

3

ProtonMail

ProtonMail forwarding requires a paid plan (not available on free accounts).

1. Go to Settings → Forwarding

2. Click Add forwarding address

3. Enter your Jelly forwarding address

4. ProtonMail will send a verification — check Jelly and confirm

5. Go to Filters and create a filter that forwards all mail

Note: ProtonMail emails that are forwarded lose their encryption since Jelly isn't a ProtonMail recipient.

4

iCloud Mail

1. Go to iCloud.com → Mail → Settings (gear icon)

2. Click Forwarding

3. Enter your Jelly forwarding address

4. Choose whether to keep copies in iCloud

5

cPanel / Webmail (Hosting Providers)

If your email is hosted through a web hosting provider, you'll usually find forwarding in cPanel:

1. Log into cPanel

2. Look for Forwarders in the Email section

3. Click Add Forwarder

4. Enter the email address to forward from

5. Enter your Jelly address as the destination

6. You can usually choose to keep a copy

6

Custom Mail Servers (Postfix, Sendmail, etc.)

If you run your own mail server, you'll configure forwarding through your MTA configuration or mail aliases. The specifics depend on your setup. The goal is to add an alias or forwarding rule that sends copies to your Jelly address.

Test That Forwarding Works

Before moving on to the sending setup, verify that forwarding is working:

1

Send a test email

• Send a test email to your address from a different email account

2

Wait and check

• Wait a few seconds

• Check Jelly — the email should appear in your inbox

3

If it doesn't arrive

• Check Jelly's spam folder

• Verify the forwarding address is correct

• Make sure you saved your forwarding settings

• Check if your provider requires a confirmation step you might have missed

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Part 2: Verifying for Sending

Now that emails are arriving in Jelly, you need to be able to reply. This requires verification — proving to Jelly that you own the address you want to send from.

There are two options:

• Domain verification (recommended) — verify your entire domain via DNS

• Single-email verification (fallback) — verify just one address via email confirmation

Option A: Domain Verification (Recommended)

Domain verification is the best choice if you have access to your domain's DNS settings. It provides:

• Better deliverability — emails are properly authenticated and less likely to land in spam

• Cleaner appearance — no "sent via" notices in recipients' email clients

• Multiple addresses — once your domain is verified, you can send from any address at that domain

What you'll need:

• Access to wherever your domain's DNS is managed (your domain registrar, hosting provider, or a service like Cloudflare)

• The ability to add TXT and CNAME records

1

Start Domain Verification

1. In Jelly, go to Email Setup

2. Click Add Email Address

3. Enter the email address you want to send from (e.g., [email protected])

4. Choose Verify Domain

Jelly will show you the DNS records you need to add. Keep this page open — you'll need to copy these values.

2

Understand What You're Adding

You'll add two DNS records:

• DKIM Record (TXT type)

  • DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) cryptographically signs your outgoing emails.

  • Record example:

    • Type: TXT

    • Name/Host: something like 20250819154921pm._domainkey (Jelly provides this)

    • Value: a long string starting with k=rsa; p=... (Jelly provides this)

• Return Path Record (CNAME type)

  • Tells receiving servers where to send bounce notifications.

  • Record example:

    • Type: CNAME

    • Name/Host: something like jelly-bounces (Jelly provides this)

    • Value: via.letsjelly.com

3

Add the DNS Records

Log into wherever your domain's DNS is managed. Common places:

• Domain registrars: GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains, Hover, Porkbun

• DNS services: Cloudflare, AWS Route 53, DNSimple, DigitalOcean

• Hosting providers: If you have web hosting, DNS might be there

To add the TXT record:

1. Add a new record of type TXT

2. For the name/host field, enter the value from Jelly (just the part before your domain)

3. For the value/content field, paste the long string from Jelly

4. Save

To add the CNAME record:

1. Add a new record of type CNAME

2. For the name/host field, enter the value from Jelly

3. For the target/value field, enter via.letsjelly.com

4. Save

A common issue: Some DNS providers require a trailing dot after values (via.letsjelly.com.) and some don't accept it. If verification fails, try adding or removing the dot.

4

Verify in Jelly

1. After adding both records, return to Jelly's Email Setup

2. Click Verify Domain

DNS changes usually propagate quickly — often within seconds or minutes. If verification fails:

• Wait a few minutes and try again

• Double-check that you copied the values exactly

• Use a tool like DNS Checker to see if your records are visible globally

Option B: Single-Email Verification (Fallback)

If you can't access your domain's DNS settings (maybe someone else manages your domain, or you're using a service that doesn't give you DNS access), you can verify a single email address instead.

The tradeoff: Emails sent this way will show a "sent via" notice to some recipients. In Gmail, for example, the recipient might see:

From: [email protected] via letsjelly.com

This works perfectly fine — your emails will be delivered, and recipients can reply normally. But domain verification provides a cleaner experience.

1

Start single-email verification

1. In Jelly, go to Email Setup

2. Click Add Email Address

3. Enter the email address you want to verify

4. Choose Verify Email Address (not domain)

2

Confirm verification email

• Jelly will send a verification email to that address

• Since you've already set up forwarding, the verification email will arrive in Jelly

• Open the email and click the confirmation link

3

After verification

• Once confirmed, you can send from that address

• To send from another address on the same domain, you must verify each address separately unless the domain is verified

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Testing the Complete Setup

With forwarding and verification both complete, let's make sure everything works:

1

Test receiving

• From a personal email account, send a message to your team address. It should appear in Jelly within seconds.

2

Test sending

• In Jelly, reply to that test message and send it.

3

Check the result

In your personal email, verify that:

• The reply arrived

• The "From" address shows your team address (not a Jelly address)

• If you used domain verification, there's no "sent via" notice

• You can reply to it normally

If all of that works, you're all set.

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Adding More Addresses

Once your domain is verified, adding more addresses at that domain is easy — no additional DNS setup required. Just go to Email Setup, add the new address, and Jelly recognizes that the domain is already verified.

For addresses on a different domain, you'd need to verify that domain separately.

For more details, see Adding More Addresses.

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Troubleshooting

Forwarding Issues

Emails not arriving in Jelly:

• Verify forwarding is enabled and saved in your email provider

• Check you're using the correct Jelly forwarding address

• Look in Jelly's spam folder

• Some providers require a confirmation step — check if you missed it

• Try sending a simple plain-text test email

Provider requires confirmation but email isn't arriving:

• If your email provider sends a confirmation email and it's not appearing in Jelly, the forwarding might not be active yet. Check if there's a confirmation link you need to click in your original inbox first.

DNS Verification Issues

Verification keeps failing:

• Copy the values directly from Jelly — don't retype manually

• Check for trailing dots (try with and without)

• Make sure you're adding records to the correct domain

• Wait 10–15 minutes for DNS propagation

• Use an online DNS checker to verify your records are visible

Don't know where DNS is managed:

• Try logging into your domain registrar first. If DNS isn't there, check your hosting provider. If you use Cloudflare or a similar service, DNS is managed there.

Sending Issues

Emails going to spam:

• If using single-email verification, consider switching to domain verification

• Make sure both DNS records are correct

• Check your domain doesn't have conflicting email authentication records

• Give it some time — new senders sometimes need to build reputation

"Sent via" notice showing:

• This is expected if you used single-email verification. To remove it, switch to domain verification (requires DNS access).

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Next Steps

With email flowing, you can:

• Add more addresses: → Adding More Addresses

• Learn how the inbox works: → How the Inbox Works

• Set up automation: → Rules

Need help? We're here:

→ Contact Jelly Support