Diagnose Gmail issues with G Suite Toolbox
Why This Matters
Picture this: Your main business email, which your clients trust and your team relies on, suddenly starts playing hide and seek. Messages you send end up in spam folders. Important emails go missing without so much as a bounce-back. Or perhaps, even worse, you’re left in the dark, having no idea whether your carefully crafted pitch landed at all.
If you’re running your emails through Gmail on a custom domain (especially if your site is built on Squarespace), you expect things to just… work. When they don’t, business screeches to a halt. That “Sorry, I never got your message!” reply from a client is more than an inconvenience. It’s a trust destroyer. Add the time wasted trawling help forums, panicking over DNS records, and second-guessing what you tweaked last Wednesday, and you’re looking at lost hours, frustrated colleagues, and the underlying fear that you might have binned an important sale.
This is the real cost of email trouble on a modern website: lost deals, a tarnished brand, and more rummaging around in settings than anyone should ever have to do.
Common Pitfalls
Most people fall into the same handful of bear traps, time and again:
- Assuming that if Gmail was working yesterday, it will just keep working today
- Believing Squarespace “handles it all” with your domain and email (spoiler: not always)
- Thinking MX records are an optional extra for nerds, rather than the critical signposts that tell mail where to go
- Trying to fix things without a clue what those cryptic DNS terms mean, which often makes things worse
- Blindly following random advice from forums (Bob from 2014 was probably well-meaning, but your domain doesn’t owe him anything)
The G Suite Toolbox provides a clear diagnosis of what’s actually wrong. Even so, people can freeze when confronted with cryptic error messages or become overwhelmed by the different tools available.
Step-by-Step Fix
Let’s get this sorted, properly.
1. Understand What MX Records Do (and Why You Should Care)
Every domain name has a set of instructions called DNS records, which tell the world how to interact with it. MX (Mail Exchange) records act as the “postcode” for your domain’s emails: they say which servers should receive your mail.
If your MX records are missing or incorrect, your emails are more likely to wander off, get delivered to the digital equivalent of a skip, or flat-out vanish.
Think of MX records as the postal sorting office address for your business. If you change address (for example, switching email services) but don’t tell Royal Mail, well… good luck with your post. Keep a note of who hosts your DNS records. Often, this is your domain registrar (like GoDaddy or 123 Reg), not Squarespace itself.
2. Gather Your Tools (and Your Logins)
Before you hit “test” on any tool, make sure you have:
- Your primary domain name to hand (the one that should receive emails)
- Access to your domain registrar or DNS host’s control panel (where you edit your MX records)
- Admin rights for your Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) account
Write these down. If your domain is registered through Squarespace, head to the Squarespace Domains panel. If not, you’ll need to go wherever you bought your domain.
Don’t just guess your account logins or fire off password resets in all directions. Double-check who manages what before you change anything. Even big companies get tripped up here.
3. Run the G Suite Toolbox MX Lookup
Open G Suite Toolbox MX Lookup in a fresh browser tab. This tool helps you check your email routing:
- Enter your domain (e.g.
yourcompany.com) - Click “Run Checks”
- Wait a moment for the results
You’ll see traffic-light style indicators:
- A green tick means all is well (or was, about three minutes ago)
- A red cross or yellow warning triangle signals something is wrong
Scroll through the list. Pay attention to any failed checks, especially ones about MX records not matching Google’s requirements.
Don’t panic if you see jargon like “SPF” or “DKIM” in the results. These matter for email security, but the main focus for simple deliverability is the MX record row. Snap a screenshot of the results before making changes, just in case you need to show tech support later.
4. Fix Any MX Record Issues in Your DNS Dashboard
If the tool flags “MX records do not point to Google” or mentions missing entries, it’s time to make some changes.
Head to your domain registrar or DNS host. Look for a section marked “DNS Settings” or “Manage Records”. Find the section labeled “MX”.
Google’s MX records (as of this writing!) are:
| Priority | Server |
|---|---|
| 1 | ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM |
| 5 | ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM |
| 5 | ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM |
| 10 | ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM |
| 10 | ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM |
Replace any old or incorrect ones with these. Remove any rogue records from competitors, your previous host, or random leftovers.
Don’t just add Google’s MX records. Delete anything that doesn’t belong to Google. Old entries from previous providers can cause serious issues. Click “Save” with confidence after double-checking spelling and priorities.
5. Check Your SPF, DKIM and Email Forwarding Settings
The G Suite Toolbox often shows yellow warnings about SPF or DKIM issues. These aren’t strictly necessary for basic delivery, but they have a huge impact on whether your emails land in inboxes or get shunted to spam.
- SPF records authorise Google’s servers to send email for your domain.
- DKIM is a digital signature proving emails are from you, not an imposter.
Google provides automated wizards for both:
Follow their steps for your DNS provider. If you use email forwarding rules (e.g. sales@ forwards to your personal Gmail), keep in mind these can break SPF/DKIM validation and cause confusing problems.
If you’re unsure, copy your SPF and DKIM records to a file before editing, so you can restore them if needed. Spread changes out: fix MX first, wait for it to settle, then tackle SPF and DKIM. Taking it step by step saves time and avoids confusion.
6. Test Delivery and Troubleshoot with the Toolbox Extras
Once records are set up, send a test email from your Google Workspace out to another account (Gmail, Yahoo, even Hotmail for the truly nostalgic). See where it lands. If it still goes to spam, head back to the G Suite Toolbox.
Make use of:
- Email Header Analyzer: Copy-paste the raw source of a problematic email (look for “Show original” in Gmail) and paste it into the tool. It will show you where delays, errors, or authentication failures happened.
- Gmail Sender Tester: Send an outgoing test to the provided email and review the score and any delivery advice.
Tweak SPF and DKIM as suggested if problems persist.
Don’t expect changes to take effect instantly. DNS can take minutes or even hours to update worldwide (sometimes up to 48 hours, depending on the host). For quicker testing, clear your browser cache, or, if you’re comfortable, dig into your computer’s DNS cache with the command line.
What Most People Miss
One key point is that getting MX records “correct” isn’t a single task you do and forget. Web hosts, domain registrars, and Google sometimes change requirements or update documentation. What worked six months ago might now be “legacy,” “deprecated,” or simply out of date.
If you ever change website hosts, rebuild your Squarespace site and reconnect domains, or update your DNS settings, you risk undoing your previous work. Always double-check. Don’t rely on memory alone.
Too many people give up after seeing a cryptic error, thinking they need advanced technical knowledge. In reality, you can read the error messages, follow the steps, and ask for help when you need it.
If you’re not sure what you’re doing, screenshot everything before you make changes. Having “before and after” images makes it much easier to ask someone for advice than simply saying “Emails are gone and I touched a thing and HELP!”
Jargon Buster
Even experienced web folks stumble on techy phrases that pop up in the G Suite Toolbox. Here’s your cheat sheet:
- MX Record: The “mail exchange” address for your domain; says where inbound emails should go.
- DNS: The phone book for the web, matching friendly domain names to addresses and records.
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework): A record confirming that certain servers are allowed to send mail for your domain.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): A digital signature adding proof your sent emails are really, truly you.
- Header: The “envelope” of an email, packed with info about its route, timing, sender, and more.
- Domain Registrar: The company you bought your domain name from. This may be different from your website builder (like Squarespace).
- Propagation: The lag between changing a DNS record and the whole world recognising the update.
- TTL (Time To Live): How long DNS caches are supposed to keep hold of old data before checking for updates.
The Bigger Picture
Email deliverability is one of those invisible gears that keeps your business running. When it works, it’s boring. When it fails, everyone notices. By taking the time to understand and regularly check your MX records, you protect your communications and build trust.
- Avoid business-crippling outages caused by domain or record changes
- Increase the trustworthiness of your communications (less chance of being marked as a spammer)
- Save hours (and money) chasing phantom glitches
- Build confidence in your technical skills (or at least know what questions to ask IT support)
It helps to make this a regular task, similar to performing maintenance on your business’s online presence.
Wrap-Up
Sorting your Gmail setup on Squarespace is more than a simple technical exercise. This work protects your ability to do business reliably, day in and day out. The G Suite Toolbox gives you the tools and confidence to spot and fix most email problems quickly.
Key takeaways:
- Always know where your DNS is managed
- Use G Suite Toolbox to get clear answers, not guesswork
- Double-check and document changes—screenshots are your safety net
- Error messages are there to help; treat them as guides, not obstacles
Want more helpful systems like this? Join Pixelhaze Academy for free at https://www.pixelhaze.academy/membership. Your inbox and your business will benefit.