Send & Receive Issues

How to Fix Microsoft 365 Not Receiving Email (MX Record Errors)

Bushra Parveen Sep 29, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user is able to send emails using Microsoft 365 but cannot receive any incoming emails due to an invalid or misconfigured MX record in their DNS provider.

How to Fix Microsoft 365 Email Receiving and MX Record Errors

Product: Microsoft 365
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Configuring domain DNS settings (such as in OVH or GoDaddy) to properly route incoming emails to Microsoft 365 servers.
Observed behavior: Outbound emails are delivered successfully, but inbound emails fail to arrive because the MX record is missing, incorrectly formatted, or pointing to a conflicting host.

Before you start

Before modifying your DNS records, ensure you have access to your domain registrar or DNS hosting provider's admin panel (e.g., OVH) and have your Microsoft 365 admin center open to copy the exact required hostname.

Solution 1Recommended

Update the MX Record in Your DNS Provider

Use this solution to replace incorrect or missing MX records with the exact mail-protection hostname provided by Microsoft 365.

Your MX (Mail Exchanger) record tells the internet where to send your domain's email. If it is pointing to an old host or is formatted incorrectly, your emails will bounce.

Microsoft manages its own MX targets, so you should never create an A or AAAA record pointing to the Microsoft MX hostname. You only need to set the MX record itself.

Find your Microsoft 365 MX value

Log in to the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Settings > Domains, select your domain, and find the required MX record value (usually formatted as yourdomain-com.mail.protection.outlook.com).

Access your DNS provider's dashboard

Log in to your DNS hosting provider (such as OVH, GoDaddy, or Cloudflare) and navigate to the DNS Zone or DNS Management section for your domain.

Delete conflicting records

Locate any existing MX records that do not belong to Microsoft 365 and delete them to prevent email routing conflicts.

Add the new MX record

Create a new MX record. Set the priority to 0, paste the exact hostname copied from Microsoft 365 into the target/value field, and save your changes.

Update the MX Record in Your DNS Provider

DNS Propagation Time: DNS changes are not immediate. It may take anywhere from 15 minutes to 48 hours for the new MX records to propagate globally across the internet.

Solution 2

Verify Your MX Record Configuration

Use this method to check if the internet can see your newly updated Microsoft 365 MX records after you have made changes.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why can I send emails from Microsoft 365 but not receive them?

Sending emails relies on Microsoft's outgoing SMTP servers, which do not strictly require your domain's MX records. However, receiving emails requires incoming servers to know where to route the mail, which is entirely dependent on your MX record being correctly configured in your DNS provider.

What is the correct format for a Microsoft 365 MX record?

A standard Microsoft 365 MX record typically looks like 'yourdomain-com.mail.protection.outlook.com'. It should be set with a Priority of 0. You can find your exact, unique MX value in the Settings > Domains section of your Microsoft 365 admin center.

Can I have multiple MX records for the same domain?

While DNS allows multiple MX records, Microsoft 365 officially recommends having only one MX record pointing exclusively to their mail protection servers to avoid email routing conflicts and lost messages.

How long does it take for MX record changes to fix the receiving issue?

Once you update the MX record in your DNS provider (like OVH or GoDaddy), it can take anywhere from a few minutes up to 48 hours for the changes to propagate across the internet, depending on your domain's Time To Live (TTL) settings.

Outlook & Email Problems