An MX record tells other mail servers where to deliver email addressed to your domain. Each one holds a priority number and a server name, and senders try the lowest number first. Get it wrong and messages to you@yourdomain bounce or vanish, even while your website keeps working normally.
| Field | What it holds | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Priority (preference) | A whole number from 0 to 65535. Lower wins. | 10 |
| Mail server (exchange) | A host name, never an IP address or a CNAME alias | mx1.example.com. |
| Name (host) | The domain receiving the mail, usually @ for the root | @ |
Updated
If you own a small business site, the MX record is the one DNS entry that decides whether customer emails reach you. DNS (the internet's address book for domains) can point your website at one company and your inbox at another, and MX is the part for the inbox. Paste the records your DNS host shows into the checker below to see them sorted the way a sending server would try them, with mistakes flagged. For every other record type, see our DNS record types guide.
Paste MX records, one per line. Nothing leaves your browser: this page only reads what you paste, it does not look up your domain.
MX records
example.com. 3600 IN MX 10 mx1.example.com.
example.com. 3600 IN MX 10 mx2.example.com.
20 backup.example.net
5 192.0.2.10Always copy the exact value from your provider's admin screen. These are the forms each provider documents as of October 2026.
| Provider | Mail server | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace (current) | smtp.google.com | 1 |
| Google Workspace (before 2023) | Values starting with aspmx, still supported | As set up |
| Microsoft 365 | <your token>.mail.protection.outlook.com | Lower than any other MX |
| Domain that receives no mail (null MX) | . (a single dot) | 0 |
The server with 10 gets mail first. The one with 20 is only tried when the first cannot be reached.
example.com. 3600 IN MX 10 mail.example.com.
example.com. 3600 IN MX 20 backup.example.com.Priority 0 and a single dot tell senders this domain accepts no email. It must be the only MX record.
parked-example.com. 3600 IN MX 0 .On macOS or Linux, dig prints the records exactly as resolvers see them.
dig +short MX example.comYour A record or CNAME sends browsers to your website host. Your MX records send email somewhere else entirely, often a mailbox provider like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Moving your website to a new builder does not move your email, and it should not touch your MX records.
The most common way small businesses lose email is switching DNS to a new host and forgetting to copy the MX records across. Before you change nameservers, list every MX and TXT record so the new DNS host carries them over.
Several records with different numbers create a fallback chain. Large mail providers already run many machines behind one name, so their current setup instructions use a single MX.
Microsoft's DNS reference goes further and warns that several MX records can cause delivery problems, recommending one record that sends mail to one system.
Priority, called preference in the standards, ranks your mail servers. A sender tries the lowest number first and moves to higher numbers only if that server cannot be reached. Two servers with the same number share the load, because the sender must pick between them at random.
Senders fall back to the domain's own address records. The mail standard treats the domain as if it had one implicit MX with priority 0 pointing at itself, so mail goes to whatever server hosts your website, which usually does not accept it.
No. The exchange field must be a host name, and the DNS clarifications standard says that name must not be an alias. Point the MX at a name that has its own A or AAAA record instead.
As of October 2026, Google's help page lists a single record, smtp.google.com with priority 1. Accounts set up before 2023 may still have the older values starting with aspmx, and Google says those keep working.
Microsoft documents a target of the form your-token.mail.protection.outlook.com, where the token is specific to your domain and shown in the admin center under Domains. It asks for a priority lower than any other MX record you keep.
Resolvers keep the old answer until its TTL runs out, so the wait depends on the TTL that was set on the previous record. Some senders will still use the old server during that window, which is why both mailboxes should stay open for a day or two.
Related: DNS record types explained, SPF, DKIM and DMARC, DNS lookup, DNS propagation checker, Get a free business email.
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