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Set up MX records so you can receive email

Point your domain's mail exchange records at your mailbox provider.

15 min

why this matters

With no MX records, every reply to your campaigns and every 'contact us' message bounces — and receivers treat a domain that cannot accept mail with suspicion.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Get the records from your provider

    Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 both publish the exact hostnames and priorities in their setup pages.

  2. 2

    Publish them, lowest priority number first

    The lower number is tried first; the others are backups.

    MX  @  1   aspmx.l.google.com
MX  @  5   alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
MX  @  10  alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
  3. 3

    Delete stale records

    Old MX records from a previous provider will silently swallow mail. Remove every one that isn't in the new list.

  4. 4

    Set up a monitored inbox

    Make sure someone actually reads postmaster@ and abuse@ — providers use them to reach you about deliverability problems.

how to check it worked

  • dig +short MX example.com lists only your provider's hosts
  • A message sent from an outside address arrives
Re-scan my site

related guides

Publish an SPF record

Tell mailbox providers which servers are allowed to send email as your domain.

Merge multiple SPF records into one

Two SPF records is a permanent failure — combine them.

Set your SPF enforcement correctly

Replace +all or a missing all mechanism with -all.

Get SPF back under the 10-lookup limit

Flatten or consolidate includes so SPF stops returning permerror.