MX record
A DNS record that tells the world which service receives email for your domain, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
An MX record, short for mail exchanger record, is a DNS record that says where email for your domain should be delivered. When someone emails you@yourbusiness.com, their email server looks up your MX records and sends the message to the service listed there.
A domain can have more than one MX record, each with a priority number. Lower numbers are tried first.
Why it matters to a small business
If your MX records point to the wrong place, or go missing, email stops arriving, often with no warning. This commonly happens when:
- A website move replaces all DNS records and the MX records get left behind.
- Email moves to a new provider, but the MX records still point to the old one.
- A domain expires, and all records stop working.
MX records only handle incoming mail. Whether your outgoing mail is trusted depends on SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
Example
A dental office moves its email from an old hosting account to Microsoft 365. After copying the existing mail across, they change the MX record to the address Microsoft provides. New email starts arriving in Microsoft 365, and the old server can be retired once the change has spread.
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