Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: Preventing Website Email Outages When Updating Your DNS Records. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Preventing Website Email Outages When Updating Your DNS Records

Updating your domain's DNS records is often necessary when migrating your website, changing hosting providers, or verifying ownership of a third-party service. However, because your email delivery relies on specific DNS entries—specifically MX records—an incorrect change can cause your business email to stop arriving or prevent your emails from being delivered to clients. This guide walks you through how to update your DNS records safely without disrupting your email service.

Detailed Instructions

1. Lower Your TTL Values

Before making any DNS changes, lower the Time to Live (TTL) value on your records to a short interval, such as 300 seconds (5 minutes). This ensures changes propagate quickly and reduces the window for potential email outages.

1. Log in to your domain registrar or DNS management portal.
2. Navigate to the DNS Management or Zone Editor section.
3. Locate your existing records and change the TTL to 300 seconds.
4. Save the changes and wait for the current TTL period to expire before proceeding.

2. Backup Your Current DNS Records

Before changing any settings, take a screenshot or export a list of your current DNS zone file. This ensures you can revert to a working configuration if email delivery stops.

1. Log in to your domain registrar or DNS management portal.
2. Navigate to the DNS Management or Zone Editor section.
3. Locate your MX records. Note the priority value and the mail server address (e.g., mail.example.com or aspmx.l.google.com).
4. Save these details in a secure document.

3. Update Your Records Carefully

When updating records for a new website or server, avoid deleting your MX records unless you are intentionally moving your email service to a new provider.

1. Click Add Record or Edit next to the record you wish to change.
2. If changing your website's IP address, update only the A record for your root domain (@) and your www subdomain.
3. Leave your MX records untouched unless you are also migrating your email.
4. Click Save or Update Record to apply the change.

4. Configure Email Authentication

To prevent your emails from being marked as spam after a DNS change, ensure your SPF and DKIM records are correct.

1. Add or update your TXT record for SPF to include your web server and email provider.
2. Ensure your DKIM public key is published as a TXT record.
3. Consider adding a DMARC record to tell receiving servers how to handle authentication failures.

Troubleshooting

Email is not arriving after a DNS update

1. Check that your MX records still point to the correct mail server.
2. Verify that the priority numbers are set correctly (lower numbers have higher priority).
3. Use a DNS lookup tool to confirm that the changes have propagated globally.
4. Check your email provider's admin console for any delivery errors or bounce messages.

Emails are being marked as spam

1. Analyse your SPF record to ensure it includes all servers authorised to send mail for your domain.
2. Verify that your DKIM signature is active and matching.
3. Wait 24–48 hours for full DNS propagation across Australian and international ISPs.

If you have followed these steps and are still experiencing email delivery issues, you can Open a Ticket with our Brisbane support team.

Still Having Issues?