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When our web development team helps clients change domains or update their websites, a common question we run into is how to point email MX records? MX records are important for accepting emails for the domain name. Maybe you are just learning about email MX records or maybe you just need a quick how-to on pointing them to the right domain. In this article, we’ll walk you through what these are and how to point email MX records.
What Are Email MX Records
MX is short for mail exchanger. This Domain Name System (DNS) record helps to point to the mail server you are using for your email for your domain name. MX Records can be pointed to a variety of mail servers to help with load balancing and cut out repetitive queries.
How do I set up MX records for email?
Pointing your MX records for email can be a bit tricky and may be different depending on which hosting account you are using for your website. So, to help get you started on the right track, we pulled together a few general steps that can be applied to most domain hosting accounts.
Step 1: Sign in to your Domain Host Account
Your domain host is usually where you purchased your domain. If you don’t know who your host is and need to find out, you can find your host by checking your billing records or using lookup.icann.org.
Step 2: Find Your Domain’s MX Records Page
In your domain host account, find the MX records management page, which may be in Mail Server Configuration, DNS Management, or Name Server Management. It could be possible that you may have to turn on advanced settings, but not all domains require this.
Step 3: Delete any Existing MX Entries
If you find any existing MX entries associated with your domain, you will need to delete them before adding new records.
Step 4: Add New MX Records
Here are the steps to direct your email by adding new MX records to your domain:
- Enter @ under Host Name,
- Then under Mail Server, you will need to enter the values for the mail servers you are trying to point to.
- Where it says Priority, enter the priority level value for each mail server.
- If there are TTL values, set them to 1hr, value=3600.
- Finally, review the new MX records before saving any changes.
Step 5: Check Your Google Admin Console
Go to your Google Admin console home page and find Domains. Under Domains, go to Manage domains and click on Set up Google MX records. Click on “I have completed these steps” and within 24-72 hours you should be receiving email messages to your email server.
Northwest Media Collective’s Web Design Team
Have any questions about pointing email MX records or others related to web development? Let us know! Our team of developers is here to help you optimize your existing website or help build your dream website into life.
