Fix · Domains and DNS

Email stopped working after I changed DNS

UrgentNot checked against the vendor's current screens

What you may see

I changed website DNS and now email does not arrive

Most likely cause

Moving nameservers or replacing records removed the MX and TXT records that the mailboxes need.

Check first (about two minutes)

Find the old records: a screenshot or export from before, or your email provider's setup page.

The fix prompt

What you type here never leaves your browser. The search runs on this page, and nothing is sent to a server or to an AI.

The exact error or what you see

What you did before it happened

Kept only in this browser, on this device. Keys and passwords are removed before anything is saved.

Prompt language

You are a patient senior engineer who knows domain names and DNS settings and explains them to people who are not developers. I am not a developer, so explain every step in plain words and tell me exactly which button, menu or command you mean. If you are not sure about something, say so; do not guess.

This is urgent. Do the safety steps first, before anything else.

Menu and button names change over time. If you cannot find a button or page I mention, say so and tell me what to look for instead of guessing.

THE PROBLEM
Email stopped working after I changed DNS

THE EXACT ERROR OR WHAT I SEE
[paste the exact error here]

WHAT I DID BEFORE IT HAPPENED
[write in a few words what you did before it happened]

MOST LIKELY CAUSE
Moving nameservers or replacing records removed the MX and TXT records that the mailboxes need.

DO THESE STEPS, IN THIS ORDER
1. Ask me for the mail provider's name and look up its required records (from its documentation).
2. Compare with the current records and tell me exactly what to restore (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
3. Explain that messages sent meanwhile may be retried by senders for a while or bounced.
Stop and tell me if what you see does not match a step. Do not skip ahead.

CHECK THAT IT WORKED
- A message from an outside mailbox arrives, and a reply from the domain passes the checks.
Tell me exactly what I should see on the screen when it works.

DO NOT CHANGE
- Do not delete any more records.
- Anything I did not ask about: the design, the text, other pages, other settings or the data.
- Do not delete files, data or branches, do not reset or force-push, and do not rewrite history, unless you first show me exactly what would be lost and I say yes.
- Do not paste, print or ask me to paste a password or secret key into this chat. If one is needed, tell me which settings page of the right service to store it in.

WHEN YOU FINISH
Explain in simple words what you changed (file by file or setting by setting), why you changed it, and how I can undo it.

Paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Cursor, then follow what it says.

After you tried it, did it work?

Steps

Ask me for the mail provider's name and look up its required records (from its documentation).
Compare with the current records and tell me exactly what to restore (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
Explain that messages sent meanwhile may be retried by senders for a while or bounced.

Do not do this

Do not switch mail provider in a panic.
Do not delete any more records.

Try another entry

Email stopped working after I changed DNS

What you may see

Most likely cause

Check first (about two minutes)

The fix prompt

Steps

Do not do this

Related

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