# How to connect an email provider

> Connect SMTP, Amazon SES, Mailgun, or SendGrid to your workspace, check the connection, send a test, choose the default provider, and set up bounce handling.

Product: Kelune CRM Cloud (hosted by us). Page: https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/getting-started/connect-email-provider

Kelune CRM Cloud sends your workspace's campaigns, automations, and sequences through an email provider that you connect. There is no shared sending server: until a provider is connected, the workspace sends no email.

You can connect any of these:

| Provider | What you need |
| --- | --- |
| **SMTP** | Any SMTP server: host, port, username, and password |
| **Amazon SES** | IAM credentials that can send email with SES, and a sender verified in SES |
| **Mailgun** | A Mailgun API key and your verified sending domain |
| **SendGrid** | A SendGrid API key and a verified sender |

> **Note:**
>
> You need the permission to manage email providers. The Owner, Admin, and Manager roles have it by default. How many providers a workspace can connect depends on its plan; see [How to check plans, usage, and billing](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/getting-started/plans-and-usage).

## Step 1: Choose the provider

1. Click **Settings** in the sidebar.
2. Under **Email**, click **Email providers**.
3. Click **Create email provider**.
4. Choose **SMTP**, **Amazon SES**, **Mailgun**, or **SendGrid**.

![The Create email provider drawer with the four providers to choose from](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/getting-started/connect-email-provider/choose-provider.webp)

To pick a different provider later in the form, click **Change** next to its name.

## Step 2: Set the sender

The **Sender** section comes first for every provider.

1. Leave **Enable connection** on. When it is off, nothing is sent through this provider.
2. Enter the **Sender email**: the From address this connection uses. Your provider must allow this address.
3. Enter the **Sender name** that recipients see.
4. Enter a **Reply-to** address if replies should go somewhere else.

![The Sender section with Enable connection, Sender email, Force sender email, Set the return-path, Sender name and Reply-to](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/getting-started/connect-email-provider/sender.webp)

| Option | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Force sender email** | Always sends from the sender email, even if a campaign sets another From address. On by default, because most providers only send from a verified address |
| **Set the return-path** | SMTP and Amazon SES only. Sends bounce notices to the sender email |
| **Force sender name** | Always uses this sender name, even if an email sets a different one |

## Step 3: Enter the connection details

The fields depend on the provider.

| Provider | Fields |
| --- | --- |
| **SMTP** | **SMTP host**, **SMTP port**, **Encryption** (**TLS**, **SSL**, or **None**), **Auto TLS**, **SMTP username**, **SMTP password** |
| **Amazon SES** | **Access key ID**, **Secret access key**, **Region** (where your sender is verified) |
| **Mailgun** | **API key**, **Domain**, **Region**: **US (api.mailgun.net)** or **EU (api.eu.mailgun.net)** |
| **SendGrid** | **API key** |

![The SMTP section with host, port, encryption, Auto TLS, username and password](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/getting-started/connect-email-provider/smtp-details.webp)

Credentials are stored encrypted and are never shown again after you save. Leave **Auto TLS** on unless your SMTP server has trouble with TLS.

## Step 4: Verify and save

1. Click **Verify** at the top of the drawer. A working connection shows "Connection successful!".
2. Click **Create**.

The provider appears on **Email providers** with its **Type** and **Status**.

![The Email providers page with one active SMTP provider marked Default](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/getting-started/connect-email-provider/email-providers.webp)

## Send a test email

1. On **Email providers**, click the **More** button (the three dots) next to the count at the top.
2. Click **Send test**.
3. In **Send through**, keep **Workspace default** or choose one provider.
4. Enter the **Recipient** address.
5. Click **Send**.

## Choose the default provider

The first provider you connect becomes the default, marked **Default** in the **Status** column. Campaigns that send with **Global email** use the default provider.

To change it, click the star button (**Set as default sender**) in another provider's row. A campaign can also choose one provider in its **Subject & sender** step.

## Set up bounce handling

Bounce handling stops email to addresses that bounce and to people who mark your email as spam. It works with Amazon SES, Mailgun, and SendGrid.

1. Click **Settings**, then **Bounce handling**.
2. Choose your provider's tab.
3. Click **Copy URL** under **Receiver URL**.
4. Follow the **Configuration guide** on the page to paste that URL into your provider's console.
5. For Mailgun or SendGrid, paste the signing key the guide names and click **Save**.

![The Bounce handling page on the Amazon SES tab with the receiver URL, the configuration guide and signature verification](https://kelunecrm.com/images/docs/cloud/getting-started/connect-email-provider/bounce-handling.webp)

Amazon SES signs its reports, so it needs no key. For Mailgun and SendGrid, the key makes sure only your provider can stop email to your contacts.

> **Caution:**
>
> The Receiver URL contains a secret key. Keep it private. If it leaks, click **Regenerate URL** and paste the new URL into your provider's console. The old URL stops working.

> **Note:**
>
> SMTP cannot report bounces or spam complaints after a message is accepted. To stop emailing bad addresses automatically, send through Amazon SES, Mailgun, or SendGrid.

## Troubleshooting

**Verify fails.** Check the host, port, and encryption for SMTP, or the key and region for the other providers. A port and encryption pair that does not match (for example, port 465 with TLS) is a common cause.

**Email is rejected or lands in spam.** Your sending domain needs SPF and DKIM records, and ideally a DMARC record, set up with your provider. Kelune CRM Cloud does not manage DNS; your provider's console lists the records to add.

**Amazon SES sends only to some addresses.** A new SES account is in the sandbox and sends only to verified addresses. Ask AWS for production access.

**The limit message appears when you click Create email provider.** The plan's provider limit is reached. Delete a provider you no longer use, or upgrade.

## Where to go next

- [How to import contacts](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/getting-started/import-contacts)
- [How to send your first campaign](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/getting-started/first-campaign)
- [How to set global email settings](https://kelunecrm.com/docs/cloud/email-campaigns/global-email-settings)