Connecting Your Email

Before you can send any emails through xUpsell — whether it’s a campaign or a workflow automation — you need to connect an email provider. This page walks you through it.

Choose Your Provider#

xUpsell can send email through SendGrid, Outlook or Gmail. SendGrid is a professional email delivery service built for reliable, high-volume sending; Outlook and Gmail send from your own mailbox. SendGrid and Outlook both send email today, and Gmail connects too — with one limit described below.

All three appear in Settings → Mailbox management and all three have a working Connect account button.

Gmail is awaiting Google’s review. Google requires apps that send on your behalf to pass a verification process, and until xUpsell’s is approved only email addresses we’ve registered with Google in advance can connect. If yours isn’t one of them, Google stops the sign-in with “Access blocked: this app has not completed the Google verification process.” That’s Google, not xUpsell — nothing is wrong with your store. Use SendGrid or Outlook until it clears.

How Many SendGrid Accounts Can I Connect?#

The number of SendGrid accounts you can connect depends on your plan. This is separate from how many emails you can send.

The SendGrid card always shows where you stand — for example “1/2 Accounts connected”. When you reach your limit, the connect button changes to Upgrade to connect more and a warning banner appears at the top of the tab. To add more accounts, upgrade your plan in Settings → Plans & billing.

If you downgrade to a plan that allows fewer accounts than you already have connected, you’ll see a red banner telling you how many accounts are over the limit. Disconnect the extras or move back up a plan.

Your plan cards also list Gmail accounts and Outlook accounts quotas. Those are live — each provider has its own separate account limit per plan.

SendGrid Setup#

What You Need#

• A SendGrid account (you can create a free one)
• A SendGrid API key

Steps#

Step 1: Create a SendGrid account (skip if you already have one)

1. Go to sendgrid.com and sign up
2. Complete the verification steps

Step 2: Create a sender identity

SendGrid needs at least one verified sender before it can send email.

1. Log into your SendGrid dashboard
2. Go to Settings → Sender Authentication
3. Set up a sender identity (a verified “From” email address)

If you connect before creating a sender, xUpsell will let you know that no senders are available yet.

Step 3: Generate an API key

1. In your SendGrid dashboard, go to Settings → API Keys
2. Click Create API Key
3. Choose Full Access
4. Click Create & View
5. Copy the API key — SendGrid only shows it once. Save it somewhere safe.

Use Full Access. A “Mail Send only” key will be rejected when you connect. Besides sending, xUpsell reads your SendGrid profile and sender identities to set the connection up, and your domain, link-branding and unsubscribe settings to build the deliverability checklist. A restricted key can’t do that, and you’ll just see “Invalid or unauthorized API key”.

Step 4: Connect in xUpsell

1. Go to Settings → Mailbox management
2. On the SendGrid card, click Connect account
3. The Connect SendGrid account window opens
4. Paste your API key
5. Click Connect
6. SendGrid now shows as “Connected” ✅, with your verified sender listed

xUpsell checks the key with SendGrid before saving it, so you’ll know straight away if something’s wrong. A bad or restricted key gives you an invalid or unauthorized API key message, and if your SendGrid account has no sender identity yet you’ll see “No senders available. Please create a sender identity in SendGrid.” — go back to Step 2 and create one.

Domain Authentication (Recommended)#

For the best deliverability, authenticate your sending domain. xUpsell shows a deliverability checklist for each connected SendGrid account, right in Settings → Mailbox management, so you can see exactly what still needs to be set up.

The checklist covers:

• Domain authentication (SPF/DKIM) — proves you’re a legitimate sender
• Link branding — makes tracked links use your own domain
• DMARC record — adds an extra layer of sender verification
• Unsubscribe setup (List-Unsubscribe) — required for good inbox placement

Each item shows whether it’s Done or Missing, plus a Setup guide link that opens the right instructions in SendGrid or explains the DNS record you need. The checklist also shows an overall score — for example “50% complete • Medium risk” — which moves from High risk to Medium risk to Low risk to Ready as you tick items off. Once every item is Done, the checklist disappears from the tab.

What are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC? These are email authentication records you add to your domain’s DNS settings. They prove to email providers (like Gmail and Yahoo) that you’re a legitimate sender. Emails still send while these are incomplete, but they’re more likely to land in spam until the checklist is finished.

Unsubscribe links come from SendGrid, not from xUpsell. xUpsell sends your email exactly as you built it — it does not append an unsubscribe footer for you. Turn on Subscription Tracking in your SendGrid account (that’s the “Unsubscribe setup” checklist item) so SendGrid adds one, or include your own unsubscribe link in the email content.

Reviewing Your Connection#

After connecting, open Settings → Mailbox management to confirm everything looks right:

1. Your SendGrid card shows a green “Connected” status and a count such as “1/2 Accounts connected”
2. Your verified sender is listed, with a Verified or Unverified badge
3. If any deliverability steps are still missing, you’ll see a Setup incomplete badge and the deliverability checklist

Work through any missing checklist items to keep your emails out of spam.

The Email setup progress bar at the top of the tab has a single step — Connect email provider — and it ticks over as soon as one account is connected.

Which Account Do Your Emails Come From?#

If you have more than one email account connected — SendGrid, Outlook and Gmail all count, not just SendGrid — xUpsell sends through the first one that works. It doesn’t rotate between accounts and you can’t choose one per campaign, but if that first account fails (an expired key, revoked mailbox access, a provider outage) xUpsell automatically tries the next connected account instead, whichever provider it belongs to. The “From” address your customers see is the sending address on whichever account actually sent the email.

Because a failing account hands off to the next one automatically, connecting your preferred account first doesn’t guarantee that every email goes out from it. If only one “From” address is acceptable to you, keep just that one account connected. Otherwise, treat extra accounts as automatic backups — worth having, as long as you’re happy for customers to receive email from any of the addresses you’ve connected.

Managing Accounts#

You can disconnect a SendGrid account at any time from Settings → Mailbox management:

1. Find the sender listed under the SendGrid card
2. Click Disconnect on that row
3. The Disconnect SendGrid account? window appears — read the warning and click Disconnect to confirm

Important: Disconnecting an account stops all email workflows that use it. Any pending or scheduled emails on that account will not be sent.

Troubleshooting#

”Invalid API key” or connection failed#

”No senders available”#

You need at least one sender identity in SendGrid before connecting. In your SendGrid dashboard, go to Settings → Sender Authentication and create a verified sender, then reconnect.

”Emails going to spam”#

This is a deliverability issue, not a connection issue. Here’s how to fix it:

1. Complete the deliverability checklist — Finish domain authentication, link branding, DMARC, and unsubscribe setup shown in Settings → Mailbox management
2. Use a consistent “From” address — Don’t change your sender email frequently
3. Avoid spam trigger words — “FREE!!!”, “BUY NOW!!!”, excessive caps and punctuation
4. Make sure there’s an unsubscribe link — Turn on Subscription Tracking in SendGrid, or add your own unsubscribe link to the email. xUpsell doesn’t add one for you
5. Warm up your sending — Start with small batches and gradually increase volume

”Emails not delivering at all”#

1. Check that you’ve selected a plan. Until a plan is chosen in Settings → Plans & billing, all email and SMS sending is blocked — you’ll see a “No plan selected” banner on your Home page. The free plan counts, so simply selecting it unblocks sending
2. Check whether your plan’s send limit has been reached (a red “Send limit reached” banner appears on Home)
3. Verify the recipient email addresses are valid
4. Make sure the recipient is actually a subscriber with an email address on file
5. Make sure your SendGrid account is active and in good standing

Frequently Asked Questions#

Which email provider do I use?#

SendGrid or Outlook. Both connect and send today. Gmail is connectable too, but it’s waiting on Google’s verification review, so for now only addresses registered with Google in advance can complete the sign-in — everyone else is blocked by Google, not by xUpsell.

Can I connect more than one SendGrid account?#

Yes, up to your plan’s limit: free connects 1 account, Basic 2, Pro 3, and Premium is unlimited. When you hit the limit, the button changes to Upgrade to connect more. Note that emails always go out through the first connected account.

Do I need to verify my domain?#

It’s strongly recommended. Emails will still send without it, but they’re much more likely to land in spam. xUpsell’s built-in deliverability checklist walks you through every step.

My plan’s send limit and email deliverability — what’s the difference?#

They’re separate things:

• Your xUpsell plan limit — how many total sends (email + SMS combined) your plan allows: 100 on free, 500 on Basic, unlimited on Pro and Premium. Push notifications never count toward it
• Deliverability setup — the domain authentication steps that decide whether your emails land in the inbox instead of spam

Does xUpsell limit how many emails I can send per day?#

No. xUpsell only enforces your plan’s send total — there’s no separate daily cap. Any daily limit you run into comes from SendGrid’s own account limits, so check your SendGrid plan if sends start failing while you still have plan quota left.

I connected SendGrid but campaigns still won’t send. Why?#

Check these in order:

1. Have you selected a plan? Sending stays blocked until you do — look for a “No plan selected” banner on Home
2. Is your xUpsell send limit reached? (Check the Home page banner)
3. Is your SendGrid account active and your API key still valid? (Try reconnecting)
4. Is your campaign set to the right audience? (Must have at least 1 subscriber, and each recipient needs an email address on file)
5. Does your SendGrid card show “Connected” in Settings → Mailbox management?

Need help? Use the in-app Help widget (the floating button inside xUpsell) to reach our team.