An MX record, short for Mail Exchanger, is the DNS record that tells the internet which server should receive email for your domain.
Unlike an A record, an MX record always points to a hostname, never to a raw IP address. If you have ever tried to enter an IP address into an MX field and had it rejected, that is why.
We cover how to add or edit an MX record inside Bluehost’s Account Manager, what the priority field actually controls, and a setting that catches a lot of people out after they switch email providers: Bluehost’s Email Routing configuration.
This guide assumes you already have a Bluehost account and a domain set up. If you are still deciding whether to sign up, our full Bluehost review covers hands-on performance and support testing, and our Bluehost coupons page tracks current signup discounts.
What Bluehost Sets Up by Default
If you activate email hosting on a domain, Bluehost creates a default MX record automatically, routing mail for the domain (host @) to your Bluehost mail server.
You do not need to add anything yourself if you plan to use Bluehost’s own email hosting. The steps below matter once you want to point mail somewhere else, such as Google Workspace, Zoho, or Microsoft 365, or once you want to add a backup mail server.
Where to Manage MX Records
- Log in to your Bluehost Account Manager
- Click Domains in the left sidebar
- Select the domain you want to manage
- Click the DNS tab
- You will land on Manage Advanced DNS Records, where every existing record, including any current MX record, is listed with its Type, Host Record, Point To value, and TTL
Adding a New MX Record
- From the DNS tab, click Add Record, then choose Single record
- Select MX from the Type dropdown. The form changes once you do, since MX records need different fields than an A or CNAME record
- In Refers to, enter the host this record applies to. For most setups, that is @, meaning the root domain itself
- In Mail Server, enter the destination as a domain name, for example mail.yourdomain.com or the exact value your email provider gives you. This field will not accept a raw IP address
- In Priority, enter the value your mail provider specifies
- Leave TTL at its default, or lower it if you expect to make further changes soon
- Click Add
Understanding MX Priority
Priority decides which mail server gets tried first when a domain has more than one MX record. Lower numbers are preferred.
A record with priority 10 is used before a record with priority 20, and the second record only comes into play if the first server does not respond.
This matters most if you are running a primary and backup mail server, or if a provider like Google Workspace gives you several MX entries with different priorities as part of their standard setup instructions.
Enter every value they provide exactly as given, since mismatched priorities can cause mail to route inconsistently rather than fail outright, which makes the problem harder to spot.
Editing an Existing MX Record
- From the DNS tab, find the MX record in the list
- Click the three-dot menu next to that record
- Select Edit
- Update the Mail Server, Priority, or TTL as needed
- Save your change
If you are replacing Bluehost’s own mail hosting with a third-party provider, edit the existing MX record rather than leaving the old one in place and adding a new one. Two MX records both trying to handle primary mail delivery for the same host can cause unpredictable routing.
The Setting Most Guides Skip: Email Routing
Editing the MX record is not always the whole job. Bluehost also tracks an Email Routing setting per domain, and if it is left on the wrong value after you switch providers, you can end up with mail that appears configured correctly in DNS but still fails to deliver.
This setting has three options:
- Local Mail Exchanger: use this if Bluehost is still hosting the domain’s email, even if the domain uses third-party nameservers
- Remote Mail Exchanger: use this once your MX records point to a third-party provider like Google Workspace or Zoho
- Automatically Detect: lets the server infer the right setting from your MX record. Bluehost’s own guidance advises against relying on this, since it can misjudge the correct setting
You will find Email Routing under Hosting in the left sidebar, through the cPanel Email tools available on your hosting plan.
If you have already moved your MX record to a third-party provider and mail still is not arriving, checking whether this setting still says Local instead of Remote is one of the first things to check, and it is easy to miss since it lives in a different section from the DNS tab itself.
Common MX Errors and What They Usually Mean
- Mail sent between two addresses on the same domain fails: often points to an Email Routing mismatch rather than a DNS problem. Confirm domains using Bluehost mail are set to Local and domains using a third-party host are set to Remote
- A “temporary local problem” style error when sending: usually the same Email Routing mismatch. If the setting already looks correct, switching it away and back to the correct value can force the routing rule to reapply properly
- Mail sends but never arrives: check both your MX record’s Mail Server value for typos and confirm Email Routing is set correctly for that domain
- Mail worked, then stopped after a provider switch: check whether an old MX record is still present alongside the new one. Two competing MX records for the same host is a common cause
Switching MX to a Third-Party Email Provider
Moving to Google Workspace, Zoho Mail, or Microsoft 365 generally means:
- Editing your existing MX record with the exact Mail Server and Priority values your new provider specifies, or adding new MX records if they require more than one
- Updating your SPF TXT record to include your new provider’s mail servers, rather than replacing it outright
- Adding the DKIM record your provider issues
- Setting Email Routing to Remote for that domain
Your provider’s own setup documentation will have the current, exact values to use for MX, since these can change and vary by account region.
How Long an MX Record Change Takes
Bluehost’s DNS tab notes changes can take up to 24 to 48 hours to fully propagate.
In practice, many changes are visible sooner, but budget for the full window before assuming something is wrong, especially since mail can appear to work intermittently during the transition as different servers around the internet update at different times.
