MX records tell sending mail servers where to deliver messages for your domain. Use the exact hostnames and priorities supplied by your email provider.
Add the records
- Open the DNS manager at the provider hosting your authoritative DNS. For a zone managed in ArkHost, open Domains → DNS Manager and edit the domain.
- Add an MX record for the intended domain, commonly shown as
@. - Enter the priority and mail-server hostname supplied by the provider. Do not enter an IP address or web URL.
- Save the record and repeat only for any additional MX records required by that provider.
For ArkHost Hosted Email, copy the current values from your service's Setup tab. For Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, use the values in your own administrator setup instructions rather than guessing a target from your domain name.
Priorities and conflicts
Lower priority numbers are tried first. A value such as 10 is not inherently a backup server; its role depends on the other MX records. Multiple records provide useful redundancy only when all listed servers are configured to accept and handle mail for the domain.
Remove obsolete MX records as part of an agreed migration. Leaving an old provider listed as a backup can deliver some mail there or cause delivery failures.
Validate the result
An MX target must resolve directly to A or AAAA address records, not to a CNAME alias. DNS editors vary in whether they require a final dot on a hostname, so check the saved value.
Use an MX lookup tool to verify the published records, then send and receive a test message. Cached records can remain until their previous TTL expires. SPF, DKIM and DMARC are separate records and should also match the active sending services.
