What Are MX Records? A Plain-English Guide for Business Email

If you have ever set up email on your own domain, you have met MX records - even if no one explained what they actually are. They are one of the most important pieces of your email setup, and understanding them takes about two minutes. Here is the plain-English version.

What is an MX record?

MX stands for Mail Exchange. An MX record is an entry in your domain's DNS that tells the internet where to deliver email sent to your domain. When someone emails you@yourcompany.com, their mail server looks up your domain's MX records to find which server should receive the message.

Think of it as the forwarding address for your domain's post. Change the MX records, and you change which mail system receives your email.

Why they matter

Get MX records right and mail flows perfectly. Get them wrong and messages bounce or vanish. That is why MX records are the key step when you set up or switch an email provider - and why changing them is the moment mail delivery moves from your old system to your new one.

How MX records work

An MX record has two main parts:

The mail server it points to (for example, your email provider's server)
A priority number - lower numbers are tried first, with higher numbers as backups

You can have several MX records for redundancy: if the primary server is unavailable, mail is delivered to the next one in line.

Setting them up

When you set up business email on your domain, your provider gives you the exact MX values to add. The process is:

Log in to your DNS provider (where your domain is managed)
Remove any old MX records
Add the new MX records exactly as provided
Save and wait for the change to take effect (often minutes, sometimes a few hours)

We cover the full setup in how to set up business email with a custom domain.

Common mistakes to avoid

Leaving old MX records in place - conflicting records split your mail between systems
Typos in the server name - even one wrong character breaks delivery
Switching MX records before your new mailboxes are ready - incoming mail has nowhere to go
Forgetting SPF, DKIM and DMARC - MX handles delivery, but these handle authentication and deliverability

Don't forget authentication

MX records get mail to your server; SPF, DKIM and DMARC prove your outgoing mail is genuine so it lands in the inbox. Set both up together - see email authentication explained.

We handle it for you

Editing DNS can feel daunting. With DigiCloudMail, we give you the exact records and guide you through it - or set them up on your behalf, so your email just works.

Setting up or switching email? Contact us and we will get your MX records right.