Email is among those things that work, until they do not. And when all of a sudden your messages are not received or some other person claims they have never received your email, it can be frustrating in no time. The thing is, most people don’t think twice about how email actually finds its way from one inbox to another. But behind the scenes, there’s something called an MX record quietly doing its job.
MX stands for “Mail Exchange” and it tells the internet where your domain’s email should go. When it is not configured correctly, or is altered inadvertently, the emails may either end up being bounced, lost or not reaching their destination at all. It is like getting the wrong address on your mail box, although the house is the correct one, the mailman will not know where to place the letters.
The process of changing or administering MX records is very technical, however, it is not so bad once you get used to it. All you have to do is learn where to find and what not to crash up. And, also, it is better to have a basic idea of it to avoid panicking in case something goes wrong. A few simple tweaks can fix a lot of common email problems — you just have to know what to check.
MX records might sound complicated, but they’re basically just instructions that help email know where to go. MX stands for Mail Exchange, and it’s part of something called DNS—which is like the internet’s version of a contact list for websites and email systems.
Every domain (like yourwebsite.nl) has DNS settings, and one part of that is the MX record. That record tells the world which mail server should handle the email for that domain.
Let’s say someone sends you an email to info@yourdomain.com. When they check the MX record of your domain, their email server will determine where to deliver the mail. It is as though you are asking, where ought I to leave this letter? And the MX record replies, “Send it to mail.yourprovider.com.” If that record is missing or wrong, emails will just float around and never land.
There’s also this thing called priority. If you’ve got more than one mail server set up, each MX record gets a number—lower numbers mean higher priority. So the email will try the lowest number first. If that one doesn’t respond, it tries the next one. It’s like a backup plan in case something goes down, quite handy.
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Click HereEmail is a big part of daily life, whether you run a business or just use it for personal stuff. When your messages no longer come, or still worse, when they tell you they never received your messages, it can be a real problem. In case of businesses, it may translate to lost orders or frustrated customers.
For regular users, it might be job offers or school updates that never show up. Either way, email needs to work.
Things go wrong. Servers experience downtime. Internet hiccups happen. That’s why using more than one MX record is smart. You can set up a backup mail server that kicks in if the main one stops working. Most of the time, you won’t even notice it—but it’s there doing its job, keeping your emails flowing when it matters.
There are a few times when you’ll have to deal with MX records. Nothing dramatic, but worth knowing: You’re setting up a new email service
It will make life a lot easier in case something goes wrong or even before it happens, as you know how to check and adjust your MX records.
Before you start changing anything, it helps to actually know what you’re looking at. MX records are not that difficult when they are broken. They consist of a handful of parts and each part has its work. One out of place part can make emails begin to behave strangely–or disappear entirely. So, it can save you a great deal of frustration later on to be aware of what each piece does.
Here is a brief description of what you are likely to find in an MX record:
This is just the domain or subdomain you’re setting the MX record for. Most of the time it’s just the main domain, like example.com.However, in some cases, you may also be using a subdomain such as mail.example.com, which depends on how it is configured.
This bit informs the system of the first mail server to be attempted. The lower the numbers the better the priority. Then given two records with priority 10 and 20, email will always attempt 10 first. When that is down, it will proceed to the next one. It’s basically the order in which servers are used.
This is the actual address of the mail server. It’s usually something like mail.provider.com. It tells the internet where to send your email. And when this is wrong, the mail is not going anywhere–that is as plain as that.
It sounds rather dramatic but it only implies the duration of waiting time of the other DNS servers before trying to obtain information again. Shorter TTLs imply faster adoption of a change, however, it also generates more DNS traffic. The longer TTLs make things more stable, but the changes spread slower.
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Changes to MX records may be technically a bit difficult, however, once you get to know where you need to click and what you need to fill in, it is not that bad. You just need to take it step by step and you will be okay. The most frequent MX record tasks are easy to deal with in this way.
Before you can touch anything with MX records, you’ve got to know where your DNS is managed. That’s not always super obvious—especially if someone else set things up for you ages ago. At times it may be with your domain registrar, at times it may be your web hosting provider or it may be a third party service such as Cloudflare.
Where you log in will be determined by where your nameservers point. In the event of doubt, you can find out by using a WHOIS tool or by enquiring with whoever got your domain set up. When you have located the right place, you are most of the time in search of something called DNS Settings, Zone Editor, or DNS Management Panel..
Alright, so you’ve figured out where your DNS is managed, great start. Now it’s time to actually add an MX record. It doesn’t take long if you know what to fill in. Here’s how it usually goes:
Sometimes you just need to update your MX record. Maybe you’re switching email providers or moving things to a new server. Whatever the reason, editing an existing record is usually pretty straightforward.
At some point, you might come across an old MX record that’s no longer being used. Maybe it’s from a previous email setup, or it was You may come across an old MX record which is no longer in use at some point. Perhaps it was in an earlier email arrangement or it was incorporated in some experiment, and forgotten. In case you are cleaning things, and you really know are not used anymore, it is perfectly okay to take them away.
Critical: removing a record that is still in use can cause your email to break. No bounce message, no warning, only silence. That is why, when you are not sure enough about what a record does, it is better to ask somebody, or forget about it until you are certain.
You do not need to make it sound complex but some smart habits can prove helpful in taking care of your MX records. And this is what is worth remembering to make your email reliable and hassle free.
Always good to have a backup. The lowest priority number must be assigned to a primary mail server, and a second one with a higher number. In case the primary one fails, the backup one will ensure that things do not go down. It’s just a bit of insurance you’ll be glad you set up.
TTL controls how fast changes to your records spread. . When updating something or trying something new, TTL should remain low (at least 300 or 600 seconds) to bring the change online sooner. When all is fine you can bring it to around 3600 or above to prevent additional DNS traffic.
Check your MX records now and then. Make sure everything still points where it should. Use a test email tool once in a while just to confirm mail is arriving the way it’s supposed to.
MX records are just part of the picture. Also make sure your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set up right to help protect your domain from spoofing and spam issues. And it’s smart to check if your domain ended up on any blacklists—it happens more than you’d think.
If you’re managing a bunch of domains or things are changing often, look into ways to automate your record management. It saves time and avoids silly mistakes.
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Click HereEmail is a thing you hardly ever think much about, until it breaks down. And when it does it is often something little behind the scenes, such as an MX record, that causes the trouble. The good news? Making things work with MX records is not as difficult as it appears as soon as you know how they work and their locations.
MX records simply instruct the internet on where to forward your email. In case that information is not correct, your inbox has nothing. Adding, editing, or deleting MX entries can save you a lot of stress whether you are configuring a brand new email service, changing providers, or simply cleaning a few old records.
Remember- errors in this case will lead to mail bouncing or disappearance. However, when you do it step by step, check twice what you are modifying and allow DNS the time to store your modification, you will be all right. Such things as setting an appropriate TTL or maintaining a backup mail server should also be remembered. Those are little details that make the background keep running smoothly.
MX record management may not be glamorous, but it is one of the components of making your digital stuff concrete and reliable. And after you have done it a couple of times it becomes natural.
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Failure to have a MX record of your domain means that email messages addressed to you would not be delivered. In most cases, they will be sent back to the sender. It is as though there is no mail-box in your house–mail has nowhere to go.
Yes, and you should. It is a good idea to have a backup (or second) MX record. In case your primary mail server becomes unavailable, the backup can be used to ensure that things do not run amok. It is just to ensure that the priorities are established properly.
It relies on the TTL (Time to Live) setting. When it is configured to a low value (such as 300 seconds), a few minutes can be spent on changes. However, occasionally it can take a maximum of 24 hours before all things update around the internet.
You must, but not until the new one is tried and successful. It may be confusing or the mail may arrive in the wrong destination by leaving the old one active.
3600 seconds (1 hour) is quite normal to be used regularly. When you are making some changes or troubleshooting, you can lower it to 300 (5 minutes) to update faster and then put it back to normal.
Check twice everything, spelling, priorities, host name, and value. Another thing to remember is that your domain should not lack other significant resources such as SPF or DMARC. There are other times when it is something small.
Nope. MX records operate on the domain level. After being configured properly, any address within the domain (such as info@, support@, etc.) will be subject to the same.
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