Hosting glossary
MX record
MX records point to your email provider's mail servers. If they're wrong or missing, email to your domain bounces or goes astray.
A domain can have several MX records, each with a priority number. The lowest number is tried first; the others are back-ups.
Example: your website is with one host and your email is with Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. When you move the website, the MX records must keep pointing at your email provider. If the new host's default records replace them, new email goes to the wrong place.
When you change email provider, the MX records are switched at the planned moment, after your new mailboxes are set up, so new mail lands in the right place.
What it means for your price: your MX records decide which provider you're paying per mailbox. You can use the email included with your hosting, or a separate service, and move between them by changing MX records, without changing your email address.
How to check yours: a free MX lookup shows where your email is delivered.
Also called
- Mail exchanger record
See also: Move my email
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Related terms
- DNS (domain name system)The internet's address book: it turns your domain name into the server address.
- SPFA DNS record listing which servers may send email for your domain.
- MailboxOne email account with its own storage and login, such as you@yourbusiness.co.uk.
- IMAPThe way most email apps read mail, keeping it in sync on every device.