{"id":117123,"date":"2021-04-27T15:36:49","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T20:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=117123"},"modified":"2024-06-25T18:44:26","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T23:44:26","slug":"how-to-change-mail-exchange-mx-records-in-wordpress","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/case-studies\/resources\/how-to-change-mail-exchange-mx-records-in-wordpress\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Change Mail Exchange (MX) Records in WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Email is still a critical part of doing business, whether you\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/how-to-send-a-custom-welcome-email-in-wordpress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sending welcome messages<\/a> to customers or internal memos to employees. For that reason, you may have considered moving to a more reliable email provider, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/workspace.google.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google Workspace<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.office.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Microsoft Office 365<\/a>. However, simply signing up for these services isn\u2019t enough.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To make full use of them, you\u2019ll need to update your Mail Exchange (MX) records. These records are part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/learning\/dns\/what-is-dns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Domain Name System (DNS)<\/a>, and tell devices on the internet where to route your email messages. Changing them is a fairly simple process, but it can seem complex if you\u2019ve never done it before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this article, we\u2019ll explore what MX records are and why you might need to change them. Then we\u2019ll walk you through the process step by step. Let\u2019s dive in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Change MX Records?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The MX records for your site tell your email client where to route your messages. In most cases, you won\u2019t need to worry about them too much. However, there are some specific situations when you might need to change or update them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These scenarios include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Switching email providers to a solution such as <a href=\"https:\/\/workspace.google.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Google Workspace<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.office.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Office 365<\/a> (instead of maintaining email hosting through your web host provider)<\/li><li>Changing to an SMTP or other type of email provider<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, you should only need to access or edit your MX records if you are changing email providers or rerouting your mail to another server. These situations <em>do <\/em>happen, however, and knowing how to change your records can make them go much more quickly and smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Change MX Records With Domain.com (In 3 Steps)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many different domain registrars, <a href=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/what-is-wordpress-hosting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">web hosts<\/a>, and email providers on the market. The process of changing your MX records and the specific steps involved will vary based on who is handling your email hosting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To give you an example of what this process generally looks like, however, we\u2019re going to focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.domain.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Domain.com<\/a>. This is one of the most popular domain registrars on the market, and is representative of how changing your MX records will work with most providers. Let\u2019s take a look!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 1: Select Your Domain Name<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The first thing you\u2019ll need to do is log in to your Domain.com account. Then you can click on <em>DNS &amp; Nameservers <\/em>in the sidebar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have multiple domains registered, you\u2019ll want to double-check that the correct one is selected at the top of the screen. Then you can proceed to the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 2: Enter the New MX Record<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you\u2019re on the <em>DNS &amp; Nameservers<\/em> screen, scroll down the page until you locate the MX records for your domain. These will be marked with an \u201cMX\u201d next to them. Click on the \u2018more options\u2019 symbol (three dots) next to the first record, and select the <em>Edit <\/em>option.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the window that pops up next, enter your new MX record into the <em>Content <\/em>box. You can also fill out the other fields as needed, using the information specified by your email provider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step 3: Update Your DNS Records<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When you\u2019ve entered all the information requested by your new provider, click on the <em>Update DNS<\/em> button. Then you can repeat the above process for any other MX records on your domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to Expect After Changing Your MX Records<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep in mind that once you\u2019ve updated your MX records (or made any other tweaks to your DNS records), it can take up to 48 hours for those changes to take effect. During this time, you may experience some issues sending or receiving email.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is normal, and you shouldn\u2019t worry about it until after those 48 hours have passed. If you\u2019re still having problems after that, you can contact your hosting provider. This also means it\u2019s a good idea to schedule your MX records update for a time when your email can safely be unavailable (such as during a weekend).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Create Your Best Site With WP Engine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Using a dedicated, secure, and powerful email provider can make operating your website or business <em>much<\/em> more pleasant and efficient. However, getting this service set up does require a few steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of these steps is to update your MX records. These DNS records can be updated from most web hosts\u2019 control panels, and the process is fairly straightforward:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Select your domain name.<\/li><li>Enter the new MX records, and any other fields required by your email provider.<\/li><li>Update the DNS with your changes (this process can take up to 48 hours).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>That takes care of email, but if you want to kick your entire site up a notch, WP Engine can help. We offer the best-dedicated <a href=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WordPress hosting<\/a> in the business, along with <a href=\"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">resources for users and developers<\/a> of all levels!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Email is still a critical part of doing business, whether you\u2019re sending welcome messages to customers or internal memos to employees. For that reason, you may have considered moving to a more reliable email provider, such as Google Workspace or Microsoft Office 365. However, simply signing up for these services isn\u2019t enough.&nbsp; To make full<span class=\"tile__ellipses\">&hellip;<\/span><span class=\"tile__ellipses--animated\"><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":297,"featured_media":0,"template":"","resource-topic":[901],"resource-role":[899],"resource-type":[916],"class_list":["post-117123","resource","type-resource","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Change Mail Exchange (MX) Records in WordPress | WP Engine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out our guide on how to change mail exchange (MX) records in your WordPress site to manage email routing and improve delivery.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Change 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