Your domain (for example yourbusiness.co.uk) uses DNS records to tell the internet where your website and email are.
| Record | What it does | Example use |
|---|---|---|
| A | Points a name at a server’s IP address | Your website |
| CNAME | Points one name at another name | www, Microsoft 365 set-up, DKIM |
| MX | Says which servers receive your email | Microsoft 365 or your email host |
| TXT | Holds text used for checks | SPF, domain verification |
| SPF (a TXT record) | Lists who can send email from your domain | Microsoft 365, your website, billing systems |
| DKIM (CNAME/TXT) | Signs your email so it can be trusted | Microsoft 365 |
DMARC (TXT on _dmarc) | Tells receivers what to do with email that fails SPF/DKIM | Reducing spoofing and junk |
Good to know
- DNS changes can take from a few minutes up to 24 hours to work everywhere.
- Changing your website host? Only change the website records (A and
www). Leave MX records alone, or your email will stop working. - Email going to junk? Having correct SPF, DKIM and DMARC records usually helps the most.
We can make DNS changes for domains we host — raise a ticket with what you need.