Email Stopped Working After a DNS or Host Change
You moved your website to a new host or changed your domain's nameservers, and now email at your domain stopped arriving, bounces, or goes somewhere else. The website move usually took your email records with it.
Common signs of this issue
- Email at your domain stopped arriving within hours or a day of a website move, nameserver change, or DNS edit.
- People tell you their emails to you bounced back with an error, or simply never got a reply.
- You can still send email but are not receiving any, or the other way round.
- Email is arriving at an old mailbox on your previous host instead of your normal inbox, or into a new mailbox you didn't know existed.
- Your mail app keeps asking for your password or cannot connect after the change.
- Messages you send now land in customers' spam folders when they didn't before.
Safe checks you can do yourself
None of these require sharing passwords with anyone.
- Write down exactly what changed and when. Did you change nameservers (which moves all DNS to a new provider), or just edit a record? The answer tells you whether the whole set of email records may have been left behind.
- Look up your domain's MX records with a free tool such as MXToolbox's MX Lookup. MX records say which server receives your email. Compare the result with your email provider: Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 both show the records they expect in their admin consoles.
- In Google Workspace, sign in to the Admin console and check the domain setup status. In Microsoft 365, go to the admin center, then Settings > Domains, select your domain, and look for records flagged as missing or incorrect. Both tell you exactly which records to add.
- If you have access to your old DNS provider or old hosting account, look at its DNS zone and note every MX, TXT and CNAME record. Those are the records the new provider needs. A screenshot is enough for whoever makes the change.
- If your email used to be hosted with your old web host, ask before cancelling that account. Mailboxes there are usually deleted with the hosting plan, and old messages go with them.
- If your website is on cPanel hosting but your email is with Google or Microsoft, ask your host to confirm Email Routing is set to Remote Mail Exchanger. When it is set to local, mail sent from your own website — form notifications, for example — is delivered into an empty mailbox on the server instead of to your real inbox.
- Check your SPF record, a TXT record starting with
v=spf1, and your DKIM records. These usually do not stop email arriving, but when they are lost, your outgoing mail starts landing in spam. - Remember DNS changes take time to spread. If records were corrected recently, give it a few hours before deciding it did not work.
What this usually means
Your domain's DNS is a list of separate instructions. Some records point the website to a server. Others — the MX records — tell the world where to deliver email, and TXT records like SPF and DKIM vouch for the mail you send. When you change nameservers, the whole list moves to a new provider, and that provider only knows the records someone types in. Hosts often copy the website records and nothing else.
So the most common outcome is simple: the MX records are missing or point to the new host's own mail server, which has no mailbox for you. Incoming email bounces, or it is delivered somewhere you never look. Nothing is wrong with your email account itself — the post office just has the wrong address.
The fix is usually to put the correct records back at whichever provider now controls your DNS, using the values your email provider gives you. Email that bounced during the gap generally does not come back, but anything delivered to an old or local mailbox may still be recoverable if that account still exists.
What not to do
- Don't cancel your old hosting until you know your email is not stored there.
- Don't switch nameservers back and forth to test. Every change restarts the waiting time and can make things worse.
- Don't guess MX record values or copy them from a forum. Use the exact values your email provider's admin console shows.
- Don't delete TXT records you don't understand. Some are verification records that keep your email or other services connected.
- Don't give your email admin password to someone offering to fix DNS. Your host or developer can make DNS changes without it.
- Don't let the problem run over a weekend without telling customers another way to reach you. Bounced enquiries rarely get resent.
When to get help
If you are not sure which provider now controls your DNS, have no access to the old records, or your email and website are split across several companies, this is a good time to get someone who works with DNS regularly to sort it out in one pass. The fix is often small, but a wrong record can cut off email again, and someone experienced can also check that your SPF and DKIM setup was carried over so your messages keep reaching customers' inboxes.
Not sure what to do next?
Answer a few short questions and we'll point you to the safest next step — DIY, a freelancer, or a direct review. No passwords required.
Is this a business website? If this issue may be costing you leads, sales, or trust, you may want a direct review instead of trial and error.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my email stop working when I changed hosting?
Moving hosts often means moving DNS, and the new DNS provider may not have your email records. Without the right MX records, nobody's mail server knows where to deliver email for your domain.
What is an MX record?
It is the DNS record that tells other mail servers where to deliver email for your domain. If it is missing or wrong, incoming email bounces or goes to the wrong server.
Can I get back emails that bounced while my MX records were wrong?
Usually not. The sender got a bounce message and the email was not stored for you. Messages that were delivered to an old or local mailbox may still be there if that account exists.
How long does it take email to work again after fixing MX records?
Often within an hour or two, though it can take up to a day or two depending on how long the old records are cached. Most mail starts flowing well before that.
Does changing my website host affect Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?
Only through DNS. Your mailboxes stay with Google or Microsoft, but if the MX, SPF and verification records are not copied to the new DNS provider, email delivery breaks.
Why can I send email but not receive it?
Sending goes through your email provider directly, so it keeps working. Receiving depends on MX records in your DNS, so it is the part that breaks when those records are lost.