MX record lookup
See which mail servers receive email for a domain, in the order senders should try them.
Try
Read a domain’s mail routing
MX records point to the servers responsible for accepting email. Lower priority values are attempted first; multiple records provide fallback routing.
- Confirm that a domain can receive email
- Identify the active mail provider
- Check routing priority and DNS TTL
- Spot missing or incomplete mail setup
Step 1
Sender looks up MX
Before delivering, the sending server asks DNS which hosts accept mail for the domain.
Step 2
Lowest number first
Priority 10 is tried before 20. The number is order to try, not quality.
Step 3
Fallback on failure
If the first host refuses or times out, the next one down is tried.
Step 4
No MX, no delivery
A domain publishing no MX record cannot receive mail at all.
Common questions
- What is an MX record?
- A DNS record naming a server that accepts email for a domain. A domain can publish several.
- What does the priority number mean?
- The order to try, lowest first. A 10 is attempted before a 20. It is not a quality score.
- What if a domain has no MX record?
- It cannot receive email. A few senders fall back to the A record, but most mail systems will not.
- Why do different domains share the same MX host?
- They use a hosted provider. Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Fastmail route many domains through shared servers.
- What is TTL?
- How many seconds a resolver may cache the record before asking again. Lower values make changes take effect sooner.
Use these checks during signup
The API returns allow, review, or block with the reasons behind it.