How to Preserve MX Records When Transferring a Domain Between Registrars

Transferring a domain from one registrar to another is a routine task. Maybe you're moving from GoDaddy to Cloudflare for better DNS performance, or consolidating all your domains at one registrar for easier management. The transfer itself is usually painless, but there's one question that makes business owners nervous: what happens to my email?

The short answer is that your MX records can survive a domain transfer just fine, but only if you prepare properly. This guide explains exactly what happens during a transfer, what you need to do before and after, and how to make sure email keeps flowing without interruption.

What a Domain Transfer Actually Changes

A domain transfer moves the administrative control of your domain from one registrar to another. This affects who manages your domain registration, who you pay for renewal, and who provides the management interface. But a transfer does not automatically change your DNS records, including MX records, unless you also change your DNS provider in the process.

This is the critical distinction that most people miss. There are two things at play:

Domain registration: who "owns" the domain and handles renewals. This is what changes during a transfer.

DNS hosting: where your actual DNS records (MX, A, TXT, CNAME, etc.) live and are served from. This may or may not change during a transfer.

If your DNS is hosted by your registrar (which is the default for most people), transferring the domain to a new registrar means your DNS hosting changes too. That's where things can get tricky for email.

If your DNS is hosted by a third party (like Cloudflare or Route 53), a registrar transfer has no effect on your DNS records at all. Email keeps working without you doing anything.

What Can Go Wrong

The most common email disruption during a domain transfer happens when:

The new registrar doesn't carry over your DNS records. Some registrars import your existing DNS records automatically during a transfer. Others start with a blank DNS zone, which means all your records, including MX records, disappear. If your MX records vanish, email sent to your domain will start bouncing.

You change nameservers prematurely. During a transfer, you might be prompted to update your nameservers to the new registrar. If you do this before your DNS records are set up at the new registrar, there's a gap where DNS has no records to serve. Email fails during that gap.

The transfer takes longer than expected. Domain transfers typically take five to seven days. During this period, the domain is in a transitional state. If something goes wrong with DNS during this window, resolving it can be complicated because neither registrar may have full control.

Pre-Transfer Checklist

Before initiating the transfer, work through these steps to protect your email.

Step 1: Document all your current DNS records. Log into your current registrar and write down every DNS record for your domain. Pay special attention to MX records (mail server hostnames and priorities), SPF records, DKIM records, and DMARC records. Screenshot the DNS page or copy the records into a spreadsheet.

You can also use mxrecordchecker.com to see your current live MX records. This gives you an external view of what's actually being served, which is a useful backup in case the registrar interface shows something different from what's live.

Step 2: Check your SPF record. Go to spfrecordcheck.com and run a check on your domain. Save the result. You'll need to recreate this record at the new registrar.

Step 3: Consider moving DNS first (or separately). If your new registrar supports it, you can set up your DNS zone at the new registrar before transferring the domain. This way, all records are ready and waiting when the nameservers switch over. Alternatively, consider using a dedicated DNS provider like Cloudflare that's independent of your registrar. That way, future registrar transfers never affect your DNS.

Step 4: Lower your TTL. If your current registrar allows it, lower the TTL on your MX records to 300 seconds a day or two before the transfer. This ensures DNS caches expire quickly, so if anything goes wrong, fixes propagate faster.

Step 5: Unlock the domain and get the auth code. This is the standard transfer initiation step. Your current registrar will provide an authorization code (also called an EPP code or transfer key) that you'll give to the new registrar to start the transfer.

During the Transfer

Once the transfer is initiated, there's usually a waiting period of five to seven days. Here's what to expect:

Your DNS continues to work normally during the transfer itself, as long as nameservers haven't been changed yet. The transfer process is about moving registration control, not DNS records.

Don't change nameservers until you're ready. The new registrar may prompt you to update nameservers as part of setup. Hold off on this step until you've confirmed that all DNS records are configured at the new registrar.

Monitor your email. Send test messages from an external account to your domain regularly during the transfer period. If email suddenly stops arriving, something has changed with DNS.

Keep access to your old registrar. Don't close your account or let your login expire until the transfer is fully complete and verified.

Post-Transfer Steps

Once the transfer completes, you need to make sure DNS is properly configured at the new registrar.

Step 1: Check if DNS records were imported. Log into your new registrar and look at the DNS zone for your domain. Some registrars automatically import existing records during a transfer. Others create a blank zone with only default records (or no records at all).

Step 2: Recreate any missing records. Compare what you see in the new registrar's DNS zone with the records you documented before the transfer. Add any MX records, SPF records, DKIM records, DMARC records, or other entries that are missing.

Step 3: Update nameservers (if needed). If you're switching to the new registrar's DNS hosting, now is the time to update your nameservers. This is the step that actually makes the switch. Until you change nameservers, DNS is still being served by your old registrar.

Step 4: Verify MX records externally. Go to mxrecordchecker.com and check your domain. Confirm that the correct MX records appear with the right priorities and hostnames. If you just changed nameservers, propagation may take a few hours, so check periodically.

Step 5: Send test emails. Send messages from an external account to your domain, and reply from your domain to confirm both receiving and sending work.

Step 6: Restore your TTL. If you lowered the TTL before the transfer, raise it back to 3600 (one hour) or higher now that everything is confirmed working.

The Safest Approach: Use a Third-Party DNS Provider

The easiest way to eliminate email disruption during domain transfers is to host your DNS separately from your registrar. Services like Cloudflare, Route 53, or DigitalOcean DNS let you manage DNS records independently.

When your DNS is hosted by a third party, transferring your domain between registrars has zero effect on your DNS records. Your nameservers point to the DNS provider (not the registrar), so the transfer process simply doesn't touch them. MX records, SPF records, and everything else continue working without interruption.

This also makes future transfers effortless. You can switch registrars whenever you want without worrying about email downtime.

What If Email Breaks During the Transfer?

If you notice email has stopped working during or after a transfer:

Check MX records immediately. Go to mxrecordchecker.com and see what's live. If no MX records appear, they were likely lost during the DNS transition.

Add MX records at your new registrar. Log into the new registrar and add your email provider's MX records. If you documented them before the transfer, you have the exact values to enter.

Wait for propagation. After adding or correcting records, DNS changes may take a few hours to take effect. In the meantime, emails won't be lost permanently, since sending servers will retry delivery for several days.

Contact your email provider. If email is still not working after MX records are correct and propagated, your email provider's support team can help diagnose the issue from their side.

Don't Forget Your Other Email Records

MX records are the most visible concern during a transfer, but don't overlook the authentication records that protect your email reputation:

SPF authorizes specific servers to send email from your domain. Verify at spfrecordcheck.com.

DKIM provides cryptographic signatures on outgoing email. Verify at dkimtest.com.

DMARC sets the policy for handling email that fails authentication. Check at dmarcrecordchecker.com.

If these records are lost during the transfer and not recreated, your outgoing email may start landing in spam folders or being rejected entirely, even if incoming email (MX) is working fine.