How to Configure DNS Records for Alibaba Mail with Non-Alibaba Cloud (Wangwang) Domain Names?

Configure DNS records for Alibaba Mail when your domain name is registered with a non-Alibaba Cloud (Wangwang) registrar.

After you activate Alibaba Mail, you must configure DNS resolution for the domain name bound to your mailbox. Email sending and receiving works only after the DNS settings take effect.

If your DNS server is not hosted by Alibaba Cloud (Wangwang), copy the following DNS record information and provide it to your domain name service provider for configuration.

Important notes

Before configuring DNS records, review the following key points to avoid common mistakes:

1. Core principle: To use Alibaba Mail, you do not need to transfer your domain to Alibaba Cloud or change your DNS servers to Alibaba Cloud. You only need to add the required DNS records with your current DNS service provider.

2. Account and region independence: You can bind a domain to Alibaba Mail across different Alibaba Cloud accounts, or across international and domestic sites. As long as you have DNS management permissions for the domain, you can activate and configure Alibaba Mail.

The following legacy DNS parameters also work correctly. You can use either the current or legacy parameters.

DNS Resolution Methods for Some Domain Name Registrars (For Reference Only)

How to Configure DNS Resolution on West.cn

How to Configure DNS Resolution on Ename.com

How to Configure DNS Resolution on Xinnet.com

How to Configure DNS Resolution on GoDaddy China

Q: Why don't DNS records added in the Alibaba Cloud Management Console take effect?

A: If your domain's DNS is managed by a third-party provider (such as Cloudflare or Hostinger), DNS records added in the Alibaba Cloud Management Console will not take effect because the authoritative DNS server for your domain is not Alibaba Cloud.

You have two options:

• Add records at your actual DNS provider: Log in to the dashboard of the DNS service provider that currently hosts your domain's nameservers, and add the required DNS records there.

• Change your nameservers to Alibaba Cloud: Transfer your domain's DNS management to Alibaba Cloud by updating the nameserver (NS) records at your registrar. Note: Changing nameservers may cause your existing website and other DNS records to stop resolving until you re-add them in Alibaba Cloud DNS. Propagation can take 24–48 hours. Proceed with caution.

Q: What should I do if my DNS provider does not support multiple MX records or verification fails?

A: Try the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Single MX record limit: If your provider restricts the number of MX records, add only the highest-priority record: set the priority to 5 and the value to mx1.qiye.aliyun.com.

2. Remove conflicting records: Check whether any MX or TXT records from a previous email service provider are still present. Delete them before adding Alibaba Mail records to avoid conflicts.

3. Complete identity verification: Make sure your domain has completed identity verification. Domains that have not completed identity verification may fail DNS record validation.

4. Wait for DNS propagation: DNS changes typically take 10 minutes to 48 hours to propagate.

Q: My original domain registrar is unreachable or I cannot access my DNS backend. How do I configure email DNS records?

A: Alibaba Mail requires correctly configured DNS records to send and receive email. If you cannot contact your original domain registrar or do not have access to the DNS management backend, you cannot complete the DNS configuration.

We recommend the following:

• Recover domain access: Try to regain access to your domain management account through your registrar's account recovery process.

• Transfer your domain: If recovery is not possible, consider transferring your domain to a registrar that you can manage, and then configure the required DNS records after the transfer is complete.