What is a Google MX Record and How Do You Set It Up?

Google MX records provide a way to direct Google and other search engines to your mail server. Without these records, mail from your domain is often rejected as spam or sent to the spam folder. This is because other email servers won’t accept email from your domain if they don’t have an MX record pointing to it.

Moreover, setting up Google MX records also helps you from gaining the reputation of being a spammer. For this reason, establishing this record is essential for anyone who uses Gmail or any other Google account for their business or personal account.



What Exactly Is an MX Record?

MX stands for Mail eXchange. It’s a DNS record that tells email servers where to send messages for your domain. In other words, it’s used to route emails destined for your domain.

There can be multiple MX records for a single domain. This is because you may have more than one mail server handling email for your domain. Each mail server will have its own MX record. The records will be given a priority number so that email servers know which server to try first, second, third, and so on.

If one mail server is down, the email will be routed to the next available mail server according to the MX record priorities.

Different MX Record Values

There are different values that can be used for MX records. The most common values are:

How to Add Gmail MX Records to a New Domain

If you're setting up a new domain, you'll need to add Google's MX records to your DNS settings. This process is different for each domain registrar, but the steps are generally similar.

Step 1: Sign in to your domain host account

Log in to your account with your domain registrar. Locate the DNS management page. This is sometimes called "DNS Settings," "DNS Management" or something similar. Add the MX records provided by Google to your DNS settings. 

Copy the MX records provided by Google.

Add the MX records one by one, ensuring that each record has its own unique priority number. 

The priority numbers tell Gmail which MX record to attempt first if there are multiple records with the same hostname.

And that's it! You've successfully added Google's MX records to your new domain.



Step 3: Verify that the MX records were added correctly

After you've added the MX records, wait a few hours for the changes to propagate across the internet. It will take up to 48 hours for the MX records to be fully propagated.



Email Authentication

Email authentication is a method of verifying that an email message is really from the sender. It's important to set up email authentication for your domain because it helps prevent your emails from being marked as spam.

There are two main types of email authentication: SPF and DKIM.

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is an email authentication method that identifies which mail servers are allowed to send emails on behalf of your domain. 

• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an email authentication method that uses cryptographic signatures to verify that an email message has not been tampered with.

You can set up both SPF and DKIM for your domain in order to fully authenticate your emails.



Final Thoughts

Google MX Records are important for routing emails destined for your domain. There can be multiple MX records for a single domain, each with its own priority number. You'll also need to set up SPF and DKIM for email authentication.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.