Warning: This article is provided for instructional purposes only. Google Groups, Aliases and distribution groups are not supported for use. Zendesk does not support or guarantee this method works correctly or is able to troubleshoot any issues caused by the use of a Google Group. Use at your own risk. Post any issues you have in the comments section or try searching for a solution online. You can also view Google's documentation on this method if you get stuck.
Question
How do I use Google Groups as a support address?
Answer
To set up Google Groups as a support address, you need to be Gsuite administrator and a Zendesk Support administrator.
To set up within Gsuite admin console
- Navigate to the Gsuite Admin Console, while logged in as Admin, and click More controls. Then click the Google Groups icon at the bottom.
- Select the Group/email you are adding as a support address, and click Manage users info.
- Remove all users if there are any. From there, add your default support system address as the sole member (support@YOURSUBDOMAIN.zendesk.com).
- Remove the footer by going to Group Settings in the upper right. Then, on the left under Settings, click Email options and unselect the Email footer option.
- In Basic Permissions, make sure that POST is set to Public.
To add the email as a support address (Zendesk Support Side)
- Click the Admin icon (
) in the sidebar, then select Channels > Email. - Click Add Address.
- Select Connect other.
This circumvents an SMTP check that standard emails go through.
If you added the support address prior to setting up the forward, click Retry under the support address, to resend the verification email.
For more information about setting up a support address, see the article: Adding support addresses for users to submit tickets.
13 Comments
When did this become unsupported? This was how we were instructed to set up our email addresses when we first set up our account.
Some recent changes to Google Groups make it harder to get this going. One issue is the enforced footer.
Another option, which also has the benefit of not consuming a paid seat is to use Message Routing.
Administrators of a G Suite domain can follow this link:
https://admin.google.com/AdminHome?hl=en#AppDetails:service=email&flyout=default_routing And change the Envelope Recipient from
For those of you making the change, you'll be glad to know that this should be a painless transition, as the routing happens before the Group is hit, and you can actually remove the Group itself, if you don't want the history.
Thanks for sharing this, Allen!
Yes thanks Allen... that is very helpful. I've got a quick question regarding that setup... there is a chance that we will be rebranding our support site from olddomain.zendesk.com to newdomain.zendesk.com. In the interim I have email addresses as google groups for support@olddomain.com and support@newdomain.com all forwarding to my zendesk. I have versions of this set up for various departments, so there are emails on each domain for sales, billing, etc. Would there be any reason not to forward support@olddomain.com >> support@newdomain.com >> support@currentdomain.zendesk.com? (Just thinking down the road and looking for the fewest points that will have to be updated in the event of a change.)
Hey Jeff,
I would avoid adding extra "Jumps" in between servers and addresses if possible, and try to make the forward as direct as possible. I've seen our anti-spam service Cloudmark classify these as spam occasionally, and wouldn't want any loss of emails to occur. We've seen suspension due to mail loops with this occurring as well.
@Allen -- Thanks for posting! This is an awesome tip in itself!
Thanks Ryan!
Hi Allen
The message routing option works but when it is used zendesk doesn't send on behalf of our email server, i.e. the "via acme.zendesk.com" re-appears. I suspect this is because the original email arrives at zendesk addressed to support@acme.zendesk.com instead of support@acme.com as it does when a G Suite group is used.
Can you please confirm, and is there an option that will work with "send on behalf of" and avoid the group unsubscribe footer which Google now mandates for external group members?
Hi Robin, The appearance of the "via acme.zendesk.com" is a security measure on Gmail's side and can only be mitigated by steps that you or your users might take. There are a handful of factors that go into it appearing or not, adding an SPF and DKIM record for Zendesk are the only factors that can be controlled by you. Here is an article by Gmail about that feature. For any further questions you might have then you'll want to open a ticket at support@zendesk.com so that we can look at a specific ticket example. Feel free to mention this comment thread in your ticket.
We cannot avoid the use of Groups because of security reasons with IT, and also because we still need visibility within extended to a group of people, and not just one person.
We use the same set up as adding domain@company.zendesk.com as a member to the group, but we have also done it by connecting an external address and that seems to work.
What is the different between "connecting other" and "connecting external address"?
Hey Amber,
The Connect Other option can be used to add support addresses when the other options represent problems. In this case, Connect External may run into issues verifying your group email address so the Connect Other option can be used instead.
Both options have the same end result and will forward emails to your Support account.
Cheers!
Khajik,
I used to have the same issue. The trick to removing that footer is that you need to UNcheck the box for "Allow members external to this organization" on the Settings>Permissions>Basic permissions page, even though you need that box checked in order to add your support@{{your subdomain}}.zendesk.com address as a member of the group in the first place.
Screenshot:
Does groups/gmail messages limitations apply for both solutions (Using the routing option or the Groups option)?
Hey Rafael,
These limitations set by Google should still apply, yes.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
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