How to use Porkbun email when your DNS is hosted elsewhere
If your website is hosted with a company that requires you to assign their nameservers to your domain, you may wonder if you can still utilize Porkbun's hosted email and email forwarding services.
The answer is yes, provided your web host allows you to make custom DNS entries. Here's how to add the requisite records at a 3rd party host:
- 1
- Determine if your web host allows you to make custom DNS entries, specifically MX records. In many cases, you can. A good way to determine how is to search the knowledge base of your hosting company or contact their support department to determine how to add DNS records.
- 2
- Log into your DNS interface at your web host. If you see any MX records, remove them. If you see a TXT record that begins with "v=spf1" remove it.
- 3
- Add the following MX records. You'll also want to add the TXT record if you purchased a hosted inbox with us:
-
Type Host Value (Answer) Priority
MX leave blank, or @ depending on the company fwd1.porkbun.com 10 MX leave blank, or @ depending on the company fwd2.porkbun.com 20 TXT leave blank, or @ depending on the company v=spf1 mx include:_spf.porkbun.com ~all
Be sure to remove any existing MX records other than the above so that only Porkbun's MX records show for your domain. It may take up to 48 hours for your new MX records to fully propagate across the Internet, although in most cases the change should be immediate.
If you have DMARC configured for your Porkbun hosted email
If you have DMARC configured for your Porkbun hosted email, which is an additional security measure that uses SPF and DKIM to help prevent email spoofing, please follow the guide below to add the right records to your 3rd party host:
