What Is MX Record?

Why It Matters

MX records determine where email for your domain is delivered. When setting up domain forwarding, one of the biggest concerns is: “Will forwarding break my email?”

The short answer is no — if done correctly. MX records and A records serve different purposes and can point to different servers. But mistakes in DNS configuration can accidentally interfere with email delivery.

How It Works

An MX record contains:

• Name: The domain (e.g., example.com)
• Type: MX
• Priority: A number (lower = higher priority)
• Value: The hostname of the mail server

Example:

example.com.  MX  10  mail.example.com.
example.com.  MX  20  backup-mail.example.com.

When someone sends email to user@example.com, their mail server queries the MX records for example.com and delivers the message to the highest-priority mail server.

MX Records vs Domain Forwarding

Domain forwarding typically changes the A record (for web traffic) while leaving MX records untouched. This means:

• example.com in a browser → Domain Forward’s servers → redirect to destination
• user@example.com email → Your mail server (unchanged)

Common Mistakes

Using a CNAME at the apex domain. A CNAME at the apex is technically invalid and can interfere with MX records, because a CNAME means “this name is an alias for another name, ignore all other records here.” This can cause email delivery failures.

Accidentally deleting MX records. Some DNS management UIs make it easy to clear all records when changing configuration. Always verify MX records remain after DNS changes.

Not testing email after DNS changes. Send a test email to your domain after setting up forwarding to confirm delivery still works.