Talk to our team

Documentation

✉️ Email Delivery

Documentation, reference material and tutorials for CRM-NG SMTP Email: setup guides for every mail service, troubleshooting, and one article per error message.

Error: Domain is not activated (SendLayer)

Updated

By Duane GarnerChief Executive Officer (CEO)
Summarize: Claude ChatGPT View Markdown
On this page

SendLayer has not confirmed the DNS records for your sending domain. Add the records it lists, verify them, and send from that domain.

This article is for sites using the SendLayer mailer where a send fails because the sending domain is not activated.

The error as you see it

Domain is not activated (sometimes with the domain name, for example "The domain example.com is not activated")

Shown by the SendLayer mailer, in the failed-send banner, in Tools → Debug Events and in the Email Log.

What this error means

SendLayer sends mail only from domains you have added to your SendLayer account and proved you own. You prove it by adding a few DNS records that SendLayer gives you (they also set up SPF, DKIM and a return-path for your mail). Until SendLayer finds those records, the domain stays inactive and any email from it is refused. The domain checked is the one in your From Email.

Common causes

  • The DNS records were never added, or were added at the wrong place (for example at the registrar while your DNS is hosted elsewhere, such as Cloudflare).
  • The records were added recently and DNS has not spread yet. This can take from minutes to a day or two.
  • The records were typed wrongly. Common slips are adding the domain twice (em.example.com.example.com) or turning on a proxy for a CNAME record.
  • The From Email uses a different domain from the one you added in SendLayer.
  • The records were removed during a DNS move, so the domain became inactive again.

How to fix

  1. Open your sending domains

    Sign in to https://app.sendlayer.com/ and open the domain settings (the dashboard currently lists them under Settings → Sending Domains; look for the page that shows your domain and its DNS records).

  2. Read the records

    Open the domain. SendLayer lists each record's type, name and value, and which ones it has not found.

  3. Add them at your DNS host

    Sign in where your domain's DNS is managed. Add each record exactly as shown. If your DNS host adds the domain automatically, enter only the part before it as the name. For Cloudflare, set CNAME records to DNS only (grey cloud).

  4. Verify in SendLayer

    Return to the domain page and use its verify or check button. Wait and retry if records are still missing; DNS changes can take time.

  5. Match the plugin

    In CRM-NG SMTP → Settings → General, make sure From Email uses the activated domain. Tick Force From Email so other plugins cannot change it. Press Save Settings.

  6. Send a test

    Go to CRM-NG SMTP → Tools → Email Test, fill in Send To and press Send Email.

Verify it worked

The domain shows as verified or active in SendLayer, and the test page reports "Test email sent successfully! Check your inbox to confirm delivery." The "Deliverability and domain authentication" section on the test page should also find your SPF record.

Notes

  • You can check whether a record is visible on the internet with any public DNS lookup tool before asking SendLayer to verify again. See Verifying your DNS records.
  • If the account itself is unverified, fix that first: Account not verified.
Go to Top