Email Stopped After Changing Nameservers? Which Records to Put Back
Changing your domain’s nameservers moves every one of its settings to a new company in one go, and if the new company doesn’t have your email records, your email stops. It often happens when a new website is built: the web designer or website builder asks you to point your nameservers at them, and nobody copies the email settings across. The emails are not lost yet, but the clock is ticking.
What nameservers are
Your domain’s settings (its DNS records) live with one company at a time. The nameservers say which company. They are often, but not always, the company you bought the domain from.
Among those records are the ones that make your email work. When you change nameservers, the old company’s records stop being used straight away, and the new company’s records take over. If the new company only set up your website, your email records are simply missing.
The records email needs
Swipe sideways to see the whole table.
| Record | What it does | If it’s missing |
|---|---|---|
| MX | Tells the world where to deliver your email | Email to you stops arriving |
SPF (a TXT record starting v=spf1) |
Lists who may send as your domain | Your emails start going to spam or bouncing |
DKIM (TXT or CNAME, name contains _domainkey) |
Signs your emails so they can be checked | Emails go to spam; DMARC fails |
DMARC (TXT at _dmarc) |
Says what to do with emails that fail the checks | Less protection; some big providers are stricter |
| Autodiscover (CNAME), Microsoft 365 only | Lets Outlook and phones find your mailbox | Outlook keeps asking for a password or can’t set up |
| Verification TXT records | Prove to Microsoft, Google or others that you own the domain | Usually nothing at once; problems later |
How to fix it
- Find out who holds your nameservers now. Search for a free “nameserver lookup” or “NS lookup” tool and enter your domain. It shows names such as
ns1.wix.comorcosmos.dns-parking.com; that is the company whose settings now count. - Get the list of records your email needs. Your email provider publishes it:
- Microsoft 365: admin centre, Settings, Domains, choose your domain, DNS records.
- Google Workspace: the Admin console shows the MX records to use, and the DKIM record under Gmail authentication.
- Others: the provider’s help pages, or ask them. If your old DNS company still shows your old records, those are the best copy of all.
- Add each record at the company that now holds your nameservers, exactly as given. Keep to one SPF record; if the new company already added one for the website, combine the two.
- Or point the nameservers back, if the old company still has every record and the website can be pointed at its new home with a single record instead. Ask whoever built the website.
- Wait, then test. Changes usually show within an hour, but can take up to 24 to 48 hours everywhere. Then send an email to yourself from a personal Gmail address, and send one from your business address to that Gmail address.
My guide to checking your email is set up correctly has a 10-minute check you can do once the records are back.
What happened to emails sent while the records were missing
- Most sending servers keep trying for a while, typically a day or more and some for up to five days, before giving up. If you put the MX record back quickly, most of those emails will still arrive, late.
- After that, the sender gets a bounce saying the email couldn’t be delivered. They may not try again, so tell your regular contacts if the outage lasted more than a day or two.
- If the new company added its own MX record, emails may have been delivered to a mailbox there that nobody reads. Ask them, and check before you delete anything.
- Emails you sent will have gone out, but may have landed in spam while SPF and DKIM were missing.
How to stop it happening again
- Before anyone changes your nameservers, write down every DNS record, or ask them to copy them across first. My guide to switching email provider without losing emails has a checklist.
- Keep a note of which company holds your domain, your nameservers and your email, and who has the logins.
- If you use addresses such as info@ or sales@, check they still arrive after any change; my guide to email aliases after a migration explains why they are often the first to go missing.
Where to go from here
- What is SPF, DKIM and DMARC?, for what each email record does.
- Switching email provider? How to move without losing emails.
- How to check your email is set up correctly.
Need help fixing this?
I provide:
- Free initial assessment
- Clear explanation of the issue
- Fixed-price solutions
- UK-based support
Tell me your domain and when the nameservers changed, and I’ll find which records are missing and put your email back.