Every email has two sender addresses:
- From address – The email address visible to recipients in their inbox.
- MAIL FROM address – The technical return address (also called Envelope Sender, Envelope From, Bounce Address, or Return Path). Mail servers use this address to process bounces and error notifications.
Recipients usually only see the MAIL FROM address if they view the source code of the email.
Why configure a custom MAIL FROM address?
By default, Applaud emails may show an Amazon SES regional domain (for example, us-west-2.amazonses.com or eu-central-1.amazonses.com) as the MAIL FROM address. Configuring a custom MAIL FROM domain makes your emails look more professional and aligned with your organization’s branding.
For example:
- Default:
region.amazonses.com - Custom:
applaudmail.mycompany.com
Procedure
-
Choose a MAIL FROM address domain
The subdomain you choose must:
- Be a subdomain of your verified email-sending domain (for example,
applaudmail.mycompany.comfor the domainmycompany.com). - Not be a domain that you use to receive email.
- Be a subdomain of your verified email-sending domain (for example,
-
Publish DNS records for the MAIL FROM domain
In your domain registrar’s DNS settings, add the following records:
Name (example) Type Value applaudmail.mycompany.comMX US region: 10 feedback-smtp.us-west-2.amazonses.comEU region:10 feedback-smtp.eu-central-1.amazonses.comapplaudmail.mycompany.comTXT "v=spf1 include:amazonses.com ~all"Use a new subdomain for MAIL FROM so you don’t overwrite SPF records for your root domain or other subdomains.
Outcome
Once configured, your recipients will see your chosen MAIL FROM subdomain instead of the default Amazon SES domain, improving trust and branding.