Email records lost after moving your domain or DNS host

What it means

Your DNS records live at your DNS host, the company whose nameservers your domain points to. It is often your registrar or web host, but it can be another service such as Cloudflare.

When you change DNS host (or move to a registrar or web host that also takes over DNS), the new host starts with an empty or default zone. Unless someone copies every record, the email ones are lost:

• MX records (where your email is received)
• SPF (TXT on the domain)
• DKIM (TXT or CNAME at selector._domainkey)
• DMARC (TXT at _dmarc)
• Records for your newsletter or shop tool, and verification TXT records

Why it matters

Without MX, you stop receiving email. Without SPF and DKIM, the emails you send go to spam or are rejected, especially with a DMARC policy. It often happens right after a website redesign, and nobody links the two at first.

How to check

• Use the Domain scanner at /domain-scanner: missing MX, SPF, DKIM or DMARC show up at once.
• Send a test email from the home page to see which checks now fail.
• Find your current nameservers:

  dig NS yourdomain.com

  Make sure you edit DNS at that company, not at the old one.

How to fix it

1. Recover the old records. Try in this order:
   • The old DNS host may still show your zone in its panel, or let you export it.
   • The old nameservers may still answer: dig TXT yourdomain.com @ns1.old-dns-host.com.
   • Your email provider's admin page lists the records it needs (MX, SPF, DKIM).
2. Recreate the MX records first, exactly as your email provider gives them, with the right priorities.
3. Recreate SPF, DKIM and DMARC. If you cannot find the DKIM key, generate a new one in your provider's admin page and publish it.
4. Add the other records: newsletter tool, CRM, autodiscover, verification TXT records.
5. Check every name and value once more. Typos are common when copying by hand.

Before your next move

• Export or screenshot the full DNS zone before changing anything.
• Create all records at the new host before switching nameservers.
• Compare the old and new zones record by record, then switch.
• Keep the old account open for a few days in case something was forgotten.

What is not in the zone

The reverse DNS (PTR) of your own mail server is set by the company that owns the IP address, not in your domain's zone. If you also changed server, ask the new hosting company to set it.

Check that it is fixed

DNS changes can take from a few minutes to a few hours to be visible. Run the Domain scanner again: MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC should all be found. Then send a test email from the Delivmail home page and check that everything passes, and send yourself an email from an outside address to confirm receiving works.