Configure the MX and A Records for cPanel Email
This article explains how to activate your cPanel Email service by configuring the correct MX and A records in your domain’s DNS settings.
To enable cPanel Email for your domain, you must add the required DNS records. These records ensure that incoming email is correctly routed to your cPanel mail server. Without them, email delivery to your domain will not work properly.
MX Record
The MX record specifies which mail server is responsible for receiving email for your domain.
| Name / Host / Alias | Record Type | Priority | Destination / MX Server |
|---|---|---|---|
|
( |
MX |
0 or 1 |
mail.( |
A Record
The A record maps the mail.(yourdomain.com) to the IP address of your cPanel email server. This ensures that email traffic is correctly directed to your mail server.
| Name / Host / Alias | Record Type | IP Address |
|---|---|---|
|
mail.( |
A |
(cPanel Email server IP address) ex. ( |
Instructions for specific DNS zone
The steps for adding MX and A records vary depending on where your domain’s DNS is managed. Follow the instructions that match your current DNS zone:
- Account Manager DNS
- cPanel DNS (by default, the MX and A record for cPanel email are already configured in cPanel DNS zone)
General instructions
Follow these steps if your DNS is hosted with another provider.
- Go to the DNS settings of your domain.
- Find the existing MX record for your domain.
- Update or add the MX record.
- If an MX record exists, replace its value with the cPanel Email MX record.
- If no MX record exists, create a new MX record using the cPanel Email MX record value.
- Do the same with the A record.
- Wait for the changes to take effect. DNS update may take up to 72 hours to work.