# How to use a custom domain for your file sharing links

Connect a subdomain you own, add the DNS records Tarkle shows you, and open your links on your own address.

A custom domain puts your file transfer and file request links on an address you own, like files.yourstudio.com, instead of a tarkle.com address. It is available on every plan, including Free, and each workspace can connect one. You need access to the DNS records of your domain at your domain provider.

## Connect your domain

1. **Open Domains.** In your workspace, open **Settings**, then **Domains**. You can also go straight to [Domains](/dashboard/settings/domains).
2. **Start adding.** Click **Add domain**.
3. **Pick the destination.** Choose **Workspace domain**, then click **Continue**.
4. **Enter a subdomain.** Type it in the **Domain** field, for example `files.yourstudio.com`, and click **Create**.
5. **Read the DNS records.** The **Verifying** dialog shows a table with **Type**, **Name** and **Value**.
6. **Add the records at your domain provider.** Create each record exactly as shown.
7. **Check the status.** Click **Refresh / check**.

When everything is found, the dialog closes and you see "Custom domain verified and connected." Closing the dialog earlier does not remove the domain. It stays in the list, and you can check it again from its row.

## Which domains are accepted

Enter a subdomain with at least three parts. A bare domain such as yourstudio.com is refused with "Please enter a subdomain." Leave out `http://` or `https://`, because Tarkle removes them for you. The text "www" is refused anywhere in the domain, with the message "Please remove the www subdomain."

A domain can be connected only once. It is refused if another workspace already has it, and also if another Tarkle page already uses it. A workspace can hold one custom domain. While it has one, **Workspace domain** is unavailable in the Add domain dialog with the note "A workspace domain is already connected.", so delete the current domain before you add a different one.

Only the workspace owner, or a team member whose role can add, edit and delete settings, sees the **Add domain** button and can add or delete a domain. Members without that permission do not see the **Edit** and **Delete** actions on the domain's row.

## Status badges

The **Status** column shows one of three words.

- **Active:** the domain is verified and connected.
- **Pending:** the domain is not active yet, for example while DNS changes are still arriving.
- **Action required:** the DNS records on the domain do not match what Tarkle expects. Open the domain's row to compare the records with your provider.

If only the email records are not verified, an **Action required** badge appears next to the domain name, and the **Status** column still shows **Active** or **Pending**. The next section explains the email records.

Pending domains are checked automatically. The wait between checks grows from about five minutes to about 30 minutes, and automatic checks stop after 8 attempts. To check right away, click the domain's row to open it, then click **Refresh**. A refresh also starts the automatic checks again. Do not send the new link to clients before the row shows **Active**.

## Which links use your domain

When the row shows **Active**, your [file transfer](https://tarkle.com/help/file-sharing/how-to-create-a-file-transfer) pages and file request pages open on your domain.

## Send notification emails from your domain

On [Pro and Agency](/pricing), adding a workspace domain also registers it for sending email. Notification emails then come from your domain, as described in [Send email from your own domain](https://tarkle.com/features/custom-email-sending). The email records appear in the same table as the web records, and **Action required** shows next to the domain until they are verified. Add the email records, then open the domain's row and click **Refresh**. On Free, only the web domain is connected and no email records appear.

## Edit or delete the domain

Open the three-dot menu on the domain's row and choose **Edit** or **Delete**.

- **Edit** removes the current domain the same way **Delete** does, then adds the new one, so verification starts again. Links that used the old domain may stop working.
- **Delete** removes the domain and its email sending domain. You confirm by typing the domain name. Links shared on the deleted domain stop opening, and deleting the domain turns Stripe off for the workspace.

## Backup address and workspace URL

The **Vanity URL** row in **Domains** shows your backup address on tarkle.page, with a **Copy URL** button. If the row says **Unavailable**, the workspace owner can click **Edit workspace URL**. Changing your workspace URL breaks existing transfer and request links. Read [How to change your Tarkle workspace URL](https://tarkle.com/help/account/how-to-change-your-tarkle-workspace-slug) before you change it.

## Run all of Tarkle on your domain

The Agency plan can also run on an address you own, like cloud.acme.com. That is a separate setup from the workspace domain above, described in [How do I use my own domain with the Agency plan?](https://tarkle.com/help/agency-plan/agency-organization-domain).

## What happens next

Once the row shows **Active**, share your usual file transfer and file request links. They open on your own address. If you later change or delete the domain, read the section on editing and deleting above first.

## Related articles

- [How do I use my own domain with the Agency plan?](https://tarkle.com/help/agency-plan/agency-organization-domain)
- [How do I use my own domain for a brand page?](https://tarkle.com/help/branding/use-your-own-domain)
- [Send email from your own domain](https://tarkle.com/features/custom-email-sending)
- [Backup links on tarkle.page](https://tarkle.com/features/tarkle-page-links)

Source: https://tarkle.com/help/getting-started/how-to-use-custom-domain-for-links