If your website still works but email stops arriving after a DNS change, the most likely issue is that one or more email records were changed, removed, or added in the wrong place.
Email depends on DNS just like your website does, but it uses different records. The most sensitive one is the MX record, which tells the internet where to deliver incoming mail for your domain.
DNS Changes Can Affect Email Even If You Were Working on the Website
Many people change DNS because they are launching a new website, moving hosting, changing nameservers, or connecting a domain to a new platform. During that process, it is easy to focus on the website and forget that email records also live in DNS.
If you changed nameservers, your domain may now be using a different DNS zone. The old email records may still exist in the previous account, but they are no longer active.
That can make the website load correctly while email fails.
Check the MX Records First
MX records tell incoming mail where to go.
If your domain has no MX records, incoming mail has no proper delivery route. If the MX records point to the wrong provider, messages may go somewhere else. If the new email provider has no matching mailbox, messages may bounce.
Check:
- Are there MX records for the domain?
- Do they match your current email provider?
- Were old MX records copied when nameservers changed?
- Are there conflicting MX records from different providers?
- Were mailboxes created before the MX records were changed?
If you are not sure what the MX records should be, check the email provider’s setup instructions.
Confirm Where DNS Is Actually Managed
Changing records in the wrong place is common.
Your domain may be registered in one account, pointed to nameservers somewhere else, and using email from a third provider. The active nameservers determine which DNS records are live.
If your domain uses Tech Help Canada Hosting DNS, sign in to the Tech Help Canada Hosting portal and open the domain’s DNS records. If the nameservers point to another DNS provider, make the email changes there instead.
If you are unsure, look up the domain’s nameservers first. Then edit DNS at the provider those nameservers belong to.
Check SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC usually affect sending and trust more than basic receiving, but they still deserve a check after a DNS change.
If you changed nameservers and did not copy TXT or CNAME records, your domain may have lost email authentication. That can cause outgoing messages to land in spam or fail checks with some recipients.
Check whether your new DNS zone includes:
- SPF TXT record
- DKIM records required by your email provider
- DMARC TXT record
- Autodiscover or mail configuration records, if required
Copying only the MX record may not be enough for a complete email setup.
Make Sure the Mailbox Exists
Incoming mail cannot be delivered properly if the destination mailbox has not been created.
For example, if your domain is changed to send email to Microsoft 365 but hello@yourbusiness.ca does not exist there as a mailbox, alias, or shared mailbox, messages may bounce or fail.
Check the actual addresses people use:
- Owner or staff mailboxes
info@contact@billing@support@- Addresses used by forms, invoices, booking tools, or directories
Role-based addresses are easy to miss during a move.
Check Spam, Quarantine, and Forwarding
Sometimes mail is arriving, but not in the inbox you expect.
Check:
- Spam or junk folders
- Quarantine areas
- Mail forwarding rules
- Inbox rules
- Shared mailbox access
- Storage limits
- Disabled users or expired subscriptions
If one address works and another does not, the issue may be mailbox-specific rather than DNS-wide.
Allow Time for DNS Updates
DNS changes can take time to reach different networks. Some senders may use the new records quickly while others still see older records for a while.
That said, do not wait a full day if the records are clearly missing or wrong. Fix obvious errors first, then allow time for the corrected records to spread.
What to Do Next
Work through the issue in this order:
- Confirm the domain is active.
- Confirm the active nameservers.
- Open the live DNS provider.
- Check MX records.
- Confirm the mailboxes exist.
- Check SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and related records.
- Send test messages from outside providers.
- Check spam, quarantine, and forwarding.
Avoid changing unrelated website records while troubleshooting email. Keep the problem narrow so you can see which change fixed it.
If you are setting up domain-based email for your business, you can explore Microsoft 365 through Tech Help Canada Hosting.
I can suggest related Tech Help Canada articles based on the topic you’re reading now.
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