By the end of this guide, customers starting a return will stay on your domain — returns.yourstore.com rather than an Onward address.

What this does and when it's useful

Your Return Portal works out of the box on an Onward-provided URL, so this is optional. A custom domain is worth setting up when you want the returns page to feel like part of your own store — the address bar shows your brand, and customers never appear to leave your site to send something back.

It changes the address only. Your return policies, resolutions, and settings all behave exactly as before.

Before you start

You need access to the DNS settings for your domain — Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Shopify, or wherever your domain is managed. If you're not sure who controls DNS for your domain, check with whoever looks after your website before going further.

Adding the record is the only step that happens outside Onward, and it's a single record.

Step 1: Choose a subdomain

Pick the address customers will use. Common choices:

returns.yourstore.com
portal.yourstore.com

Use a subdomain, not your root domain. Pointing yourstore.com itself at the Return Portal would take your storefront offline.

Step 2: Create the CNAME record with your DNS provider

In your DNS provider, add one new record:

Field	Value
Type	`CNAME`
Name / Host	The subdomain you chose — usually just `returns`. Some providers want the full `returns.yourstore.com` instead.
Target / Value / Points to	`domains.useonward.com`
Proxy status (Cloudflare)	DNS only — proxying must be off, at least until the domain verifies
TTL	Auto, or leave the default

So for returns.acme.com, the record is CNAME · returns · domains.useonward.com.

Step 3: Add the domain in Onward

Go to Settings > Returns > Setup and find Custom returns portal URL, then:

Click Add custom domain.
Type your full domain into the Custom domain field — for example returns.acme.com.
Check the DNS setup instructions shown in the dialog against what you entered at your provider. The dialog fills in the exact record as you type, so this is a good place to catch a typo.
Click Add domain.

[Screenshot: the Add custom domain dialog]

Verify it's working

The Custom returns portal URL setting shows your domain with a status icon beside it. Hover the icon for the label:

Status	What it means
DNS verification pending (yellow)	Onward can't confirm the record yet. Normal right after a DNS change.
Domain is active (green)	Verified and live. Your Return Portal is now served from your domain.
DNS verification failed (red)	Onward tried and couldn't verify. Fix the record, then use Retry verification from the actions menu beside the domain.

You don't need to sit and refresh the page. While the status is pending, Onward re-checks automatically every few seconds for up to an hour and the icon updates on its own. DNS changes take time to propagate — a few minutes is common, and some providers take considerably longer.

Once the status is green, open the domain in a browser and start a test return to confirm the portal loads on your address.

Changing or removing the domain

The actions menu (the ellipsis beside your domain) has:

Change — swap to a different domain. You'll need a CNAME record for the new one.
Remove — delete the custom domain and go back to the Onward-provided URL. You'll be asked to confirm.
Retry verification — appears only when verification has failed.

If you remove a custom domain, tidy up the CNAME record at your DNS provider too — it will otherwise point at Onward with nothing configured to answer for it.

Caveats and troubleshooting

If the status stays pending or fails, work through these in order:

Confirm the record type is CNAME — not A, AAAA, or TXT.
Check the target is exactly domains.useonward.com — no trailing characters, no typos.
Check for a conflicting record — there must be only one record for that hostname. An existing A record on returns will block the CNAME.
On Cloudflare, set the record to DNS only — a proxied record prevents verification. You can revisit proxying after the domain is active.
Give it longer — if the record is definitely correct, propagation may simply be slow. Leave it and check back later rather than deleting and re-adding.

If it's still failing after all of that, contact Onward support with the domain you're trying to use.

Related settings

Custom returns portal URL — the setting itself, and what it affects
Customer Return Portal URL — the Onward-provided address your portal uses by default
The Customer Return Portal — what customers see once they arrive

Setting up a custom Return Portal domain