A mail exchanger record (MX record) is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System that specifies a mail server responsible for accepting email messages on behalf of a recipient’s domain, and a preference value used to prioritize mail delivery if multiple mail servers are available. The set of MX records of a domain name specifies how email should be routed with the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.
Option 1: Change the MX Record to Point to Your Server Hostname
If you have your domain name pointed elsewhere, but you wish to have your mail handled by your web hosting provider (e.g. SiteGround.com), you can easily achieve this by pointing your domain’s MX (Mail eXchange) record to your host.
To point your mail service to us, you should change the MX record of your domain to point to your server’s hostname. For example, if your account is hosted on sitegroundXXX.com, then you should change your MX record to:sitegroundXXX.com.
Don’t forget to put a dot at the end, however, there are many hosts which don’t require the . (dot) at the end.
From the hosting panel or dashboard, you can check which server hosts your account from your Customer Area: My Account Section -> Manage. You can see our illustrated tutorial about where to find the correct DNS settings for the specific domain name.
Option 2: Create a Subdomain and Point the MX Record to It
You should also create a subdomain something like mail.yourdomainname.com and point its A record to the IP of the server where you have hosted your website. Now you can change the MX record to point to the new subdomain:mail.yourdomainname.com.
The IP of the server, where your account is hosted, can also be found in your Customer Area or hosting area: My Account Section -> Manage.
If you don’t know how to edit your DNS settings, please contact the host/registrar via customer support system and ask for further assistance. Once you have pointed your MX record to its new location, please allow up to 48 hours for the DNS change to fully propagate.
Option 3: Point Your MX Record to an External Mail Exchange
If you wanted to use the e-mail service from some other company or some other business email service provider like Google or Microsoft then you will have to point your MX records to their server and then that may also require some other changes in the MX configuration process.
1. This can be easily done through your cPanel -> MX Entry.
2. Select the domain name for which you want to alter the MX record from the drop-down menu.
3. The default MX records configuration will be loaded.
If you made any changes in the DNS setting then changes and configuration could be restored by clicking on the Revert Default button. (The options and features could be different with different host and plan)
Clicking on the Set Google MX button automatically configures the required MX records for Google App of the Google Business Email.
Please note that after the MX record is set, you need to wait up to 48 hours for the DNS change to propagate.
Please, feel free to contact us if you have any questions or recommendations about this post.
Related Post: How to Setup Google Apps for Your Domain
