--- title: Why am I no longer receiving email after adding my domain to Vercel? description: Fix email that stopped working after adding your domain to Vercel, with a concrete MX record table and the DNS preset click path. url: /kb/guide/why-has-email-stopped-working canonical_url: "https://vercel.com/kb/guide/why-has-email-stopped-working" published: 2025-11-03 last_updated: 2026-08-03 authors: Justin Vitale, Matthew Sweeney related: - /docs/domains/working-with-dns - /docs/domains/managing-dns-records - /kb/guide/how-to-manage-vercel-dns-records - /docs/domains install_vercel_plugin: npx plugins add vercel/vercel-plugin --- ## Related pages > **For AI agents:** Follow these links to understand how this page connects to the rest of the Vercel ecosystem. For the full cross-link map (inbound, outbound, prerequisites, and semantic neighbors), see the .graph.md link below. - [Troubleshooting Domains](https://vercel.com/docs/domains/troubleshooting?from=related) — Learn about common reasons for domain misconfigurations and how to troubleshoot your domain on Vercel. - [Working with Domains](https://vercel.com/docs/domains/working-with-domains?from=related) — Learn how domains work and the options Vercel provides for managing them. - [Set Up Custom Domain](https://vercel.com/docs/domains/set-up-custom-domain?from=related) — Add and configure a custom domain for your Vercel project using the CLI. - [Working with Nameservers](https://vercel.com/docs/domains/working-with-nameservers?from=related) — Learn about nameservers and the benefits Vercel nameservers provide. - [How do I send and receive emails with my Vercel purchased domain?](https://vercel.com/kb/guide/using-email-with-your-vercel-domain?from=related) — Information on how to send and receive emails with a domain purchased from Vercel. - [How can I migrate a site to Vercel without downtime?](https://vercel.com/kb/guide/zero-downtime-migration?from=related) — Information about how to assign a Vercel deployment to a domain without downtime. - [Why is my Vercel domain not verified?](https://vercel.com/kb/guide/why-is-my-vercel-domain-unverified?from=related) — Information on why a Vercel domain may not be verified and how to verify it. - [Can I use my domain on Vercel with A records?](https://vercel.com/kb/guide/a-record-and-caa-with-vercel?from=related) — Point your apex domain to Vercel with an A record \(76.76.21.21 or your domain card's value\), pair it with a www CNAME, - [How long will it take for my Vercel DNS records to update?](https://vercel.com/kb/guide/how-long-to-update-dns-records?from=related) — Information on the length of time it may take for Vercel DNS changes to take place. Full cross-link map for this page: [/kb/guide/why-has-email-stopped-working.graph.md](/kb/guide/why-has-email-stopped-working.graph.md) Vercel doesn't provide email hosting. When you point your domain's nameservers at Vercel, Vercel takes over DNS for that domain, and the mail records your provider needs, most often MX records, aren't part of Vercel's defaults. Your mail stops arriving because those records are simply missing, not because anything is broken. Here's why that happens, how to add the missing records with a preset or manually, and what to check if mail still isn't arriving afterward. ## Why does email stop working after adding a domain to Vercel? Adding a domain to a Vercel project and switching its nameservers to Vercel's replaces whatever DNS records your registrar was serving, including any MX records your mail provider set up. Vercel's default records cover your website, not email, so once the switch takes effect, mail servers sending to your domain no longer find a mail server to deliver to. The fix is to re-add the same MX records, and any verification records your provider requires, through Vercel's DNS UI. ## How to add MX records using a DNS preset Vercel maintains ready-made presets for common mail providers, which is the fastest way to add the records: 1. From your dashboard, open **Domains** in the sidebar 2. Select the domain that stopped receiving mail 3. Select the **Add DNS Preset** dropdown on the right 4. Choose your mail provider from the list If your provider is in the list, Vercel fills in the required MX and TXT records for you automatically. If it isn't listed, add the records manually using the values your provider gives you. ## How to add MX records manually, with a concrete example If your provider isn't in the preset list, or you'd rather review each value first, add the records through the same domain's DNS record form: 1. From your dashboard, open **Domains** in the sidebar and select the domain 2. On the domain's Advanced Settings page, select **Enable Vercel DNS**, if you haven't already, to open the record form 3. Set **Type** to `MX`, leave **Name** blank for the root domain, and enter the **Value** and **Priority** your mail provider gives you 4. Select **Add**, and repeat for each additional record your provider requires For example, Zoho Mail's standard setup uses three MX records at different priorities, so multiple records with different priorities is a common pattern worth seeing in full: | Type | Name | Priority | Value | TTL | | ---- | ---- | -------- | ------------ | --- | | MX | @ | 10 | mx.zoho.com | 60 | | MX | @ | 20 | mx2.zoho.com | 60 | | MX | @ | 50 | mx3.zoho.com | 60 | Mail servers try the lowest priority number first, so `mx.zoho.com` receives mail under normal conditions, and `mx2.zoho.com` or `mx3.zoho.com` only take over if the primary server is unreachable. Not every provider needs multiple records: [Google Workspace](https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/domains/set-up-mx-records-for-google-workspace), for instance, now uses a single MX record, `smtp.google.com` at priority 1, for any domain set up since 2023. Most providers also require a TXT record to verify domain ownership before mail starts flowing, typically with **Name** left blank and a **Value** the provider generates for you, such as `google-site-verification=abcdef123456`. Add it the same way, with **Type** set to `TXT`. ## Other reasons you might still not be receiving email If you've added the correct records and mail still isn't arriving, work through these before assuming the records are wrong: - **Propagation delay:** New records can take up to 24 hours to become visible everywhere, and some mail providers, including Google Workspace, recommend allowing up to 72 hours before troubleshooting further. - **Leftover records from your old provider:** A second, conflicting MX record from a previous mail service causes intermittent delivery failures. Remove any MX record that doesn't belong to your current provider. - **A typo in the value or priority:** Compare each record against your provider's documentation character by character, since a mistyped hostname or priority number fails silently rather than showing an error. Once the records match your provider's values exactly and enough time has passed for propagation, mail delivery should resume. ## Next steps With your provider's MX and verification records added, give propagation a few hours before troubleshooting further. [Open your team's Domains page](https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fdomains&title=Go+to+Domains) to add or review records, or review all [DNS record types Vercel supports](https://vercel.com/docs/domains/working-with-dns). ## Related resources - [Managing DNS records](https://vercel.com/docs/domains/managing-dns-records) - [How can I manage my Vercel DNS records?](https://vercel.com/kb/guide/how-to-manage-vercel-dns-records) - [Domains overview](https://vercel.com/docs/domains) - [Set up MX records for Google Workspace](https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/domains/set-up-mx-records-for-google-workspace) ## Frequently asked questions ### Does Vercel provide email hosting for my domain? No. Vercel hosts websites and manages DNS, but it doesn't host mailboxes or send and receive email. You need a separate mail provider, such as Google Workspace or Zoho Mail, and you add that provider's MX records to your domain through Vercel's DNS UI. ### Why did switching my domain's nameservers to Vercel break my email? Switching nameservers hands DNS management to Vercel, which replaces whatever records your registrar was serving with Vercel's defaults. Those defaults cover your website, but not email, so your mail provider's MX records are missing until you add them back through Vercel's DNS UI. ### How long does it take for new MX records to start working? Vercel typically propagates a new record within 24 hours, and most changes resolve sooner. Some mail providers, including Google Workspace, recommend waiting up to 72 hours before troubleshooting further, since their own recognition of the change can lag behind DNS propagation itself. ### Can I use a DNS preset if my email provider isn't Google Workspace or Zoho? Only if it appears in the **Add DNS Preset** list, which covers a range of common providers beyond those two. If your provider isn't listed there, add its MX and verification records manually using the exact values from its own setup documentation.