How to Set Up MX Records for Your Email

An MX record (mail exchanger) tells other mail servers which server accepts email for your domain. This guide shows how to move your domain’s email to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 while your website stays here, and how to move it back to Blue Arctic.

Step 1: Check and save your current MX records

1. Log in to cPanel.
2. Click Websites in the sidebar, click Manage next to your domain, and open the DNS tab. If you see a Zone Editor icon instead, click it, then Manage next to your domain. Or type DNS in cPanel’s search box (Ctrl+K or Cmd+K). If you can’t find it, open a support ticket.
3. Find the MX records in the list. Each has a priority (lower numbers are tried first) and a destination (the mail server).
4. Take a screenshot of the MX records listed there, or write down each priority and destination, so you can put them back.

Step 2: Change the MX record

Google Workspace

1. Create your users’ mailboxes in Google Workspace.
2. On the DNS tab, edit the existing MX record.
3. Set its priority to 1 and its destination to smtp.google.com, then save it.
4. Delete any other MX records.
5. Add include:_spf.google.com to your domain’s SPF record. Your domain must have only one SPF record. See How to Set Up SPF, DKIM and DMARC in cPanel.
6. Go to Step 3 and set email routing.

Microsoft 365

1. Add your users in Microsoft 365.
2. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, select Show all, then Settings > Domains, and select your domain.
3. Select DNS records, then Manage DNS, and select Continue.
4. On the Add DNS records page, make sure Exchange and Exchange Online Protection is selected. If Microsoft offers to add the records for you, choose to add them yourself.
5. Expand MX Records and copy the value. It’s unique to your domain.
6. On the DNS tab in cPanel, edit the existing MX record.
7. Set its priority to 0, paste the Microsoft value as its destination, and save it.
8. Delete any other MX records.
9. Add the other records Microsoft lists, such as the autodiscover CNAME. See How to Set Up DNS for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
10. Add include:spf.protection.outlook.com to your one SPF record instead of creating a second one.
11. Go to Step 3 and set email routing.

Step 3: Set email routing

Email routing tells our server whether to accept mail for your domain itself. cPanel decides this from its own copy of your records, not your live DNS, so set it even if your DNS is elsewhere.

Ask us in a support ticket to set your domain’s email routing to Remote Mail Exchanger (mailboxes at Google or Microsoft) or Local Mail Exchanger (mailboxes at Blue Arctic). If you’re not sure, tell us.

If your cPanel has Email Routing (search for it), you can do it yourself: select your domain, choose Remote or Local Mail Exchanger (never Backup Mail Exchanger or Automatically Detect Configuration), and click Change.

Move email back to Blue Arctic

1. Make sure your mailboxes exist in cPanel, then have email routing set to Local Mail Exchanger (see Step 3). Wait until that’s done.
2. On the DNS tab, replace the outside MX records with the MX values you saved in Step 1. If you don’t have them, ask us for the right value.

How to tell it worked

1. Use a public DNS checker (search for “DNS propagation checker”) to look up your MX record. It should show the new value.
2. Send a test message from a different account, such as a personal address. It should arrive in the right mailbox.
3. If your email is at Google or Microsoft, also test your website’s contact form.

If a test doesn’t arrive yet, try again in a few hours. MX changes can take up to 72 hours to reach everyone. See How Long DNS Changes Take.

Troubleshooting

• Email still arrives at the old provider: keep the old mailboxes open until mail stops arriving there.
• Contact-form emails from your website never arrive: email routing is probably still set to Local Mail Exchanger. Have it changed to Remote Mail Exchanger (Step 3).
• Your change has no effect: your domain may not use Blue Arctic’s nameservers. Edit the MX records at your DNS provider instead, and still set email routing (Step 3).
• Email bounces after the change: check the mailbox exists at your new provider. To undo it, have routing set back to Local first, then put back the MX values you saved in Step 1.

Still need help?

Open a support ticket from the Client Portal at my.bluearctic.com. Include your domain, the email address affected, which email provider you use, the exact error text, a screenshot, and what you already tried. Never include a password.