Use our MX record checker to instantly see which mail servers handle your email. Verify DNS settings to ensure smooth delivery and prevent bounce issues
An MX record lookup shows which mail servers accept email for a domain and in what order they are tried. Use it to confirm a new email provider is set up, to find out who hosts a domain's email, or to diagnose mail that bounces or never arrives.
An MX (mail exchange) record is a DNS record that names a mail server for a domain, together with a priority number. When someone emails [email protected], their mail server looks up the MX records for example.com and delivers to the server with the lowest priority number, falling back to the others if it can't connect.
example.com for [email protected].From a terminal, the equivalent is dig example.com MX or nslookup -type=mx example.com.
0 . is a "null MX": the domain explicitly does not accept email.The hostnames usually reveal the provider:
| MX hostname looks like | Email provider |
|---|---|
smtp.google.com or aspmx.l.google.com | Google Workspace / Gmail |
example-com.mail.protection.outlook.com | Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online |
mx.zoho.com, mx2.zoho.com | Zoho Mail |
mail.protonmail.ch | Proton Mail |
mail.example.com and point the MX at that.As many as your email provider tells you to publish. Some providers use one hostname that is highly available behind the scenes; others give two or more with different priorities. Don't add a backup MX unless it is actually configured to accept your mail.
Copy the values your provider gives you. Only the relative order matters: a record with priority 10 is tried before one with 20, and records with equal priority are used in turn.
Until the old record's TTL expires in every resolver's cache, often between a few minutes and a day. Lowering the TTL before you switch provider shortens the overlap.
No. An MX record must point to a hostname, and that hostname must have an A or AAAA record. It also must not be a CNAME.