My new client called me urgently: “My email is down. Please fix this as soon as possible.”
My client had asked me to build his website, so I had pointed his old domain name to my hosting server for the work environment, and his email stopped working. He had never mentioned the email under his old domain (i.e. client@domain.com). I panicked for a few minutes, but luckily I found out that his email was linked to G Suite (now called Google Workspace).
Here I will show you how to change the DNS settings for one email address or all emails under your own unique domain (i.e. you@yourowndomain.com). This setting can be found on your domain provider’s settings tab, where it’s usually called “Advanced DNS” or “Manage DNS”. Sometimes it’s called “Zone Editor” on your hosting provider’s settings tab, and it can be modified if your domain is linked to a hosting service.
Clear / Remove MX Records on Your DNS
First, check whether any MX records (Mail Exchange records) exist. If you find any, remove them.
I removed an MX record with “Priority: 0” and “mail.MYDOMAIN.com” from my cPanel. Make sure there are no MX records left in your DNS.
Add the Google Workspace / G Suite MX Records to Your DNS
Add the 5 MX records below, provided by Google Workspace / G Suite.
| Name | TTL | Type | Priority | Destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blank or @ | Default Value | MX | 1 | aspmx.l.google.com |
| Blank or @ | Default Value | MX | 5 | alt1.aspmx.l.google.com |
| Blank or @ | Default Value | MX | 5 | alt2.aspmx.l.google.com |
| Blank or @ | Default Value | MX | 10 | alt3.aspmx.l.google.com |
| Blank or @ | Default Value | MX | 10 | alt4.aspmx.l.google.com |
Example
As soon as the DNS records are saved, all emails for your own domain will be routed through Google Workspace / G Suite and land in your Gmail inbox.