HostGator: Set up G Suite MX records

Tip! Changing MX records is required only for G Suite customers who want to use Gmail. You can continue to use your current email provider.

You’re now ready to set up Gmail as your business email for your domain (and, if you haven’t already, verify your domain).

To do this, you need to sign in to your domain host and direct the email for your domain to the G Suite servers. It’s like registering your new address with the post office when you move so that your mail gets delivered to the right place. We’ll walk you through the steps.

Before you begin

  • Verify that you own your domain.

    Or, you can verify now with an MX record. We’ll show you how while you're setting up the MX records.

  • Create user accounts in G Suite for your team.

    If your team members already use email with your domain (their email address ends with your domain), you have to create their user accounts in G Suite before you change any MX record settings. Otherwise, they won't be able to send or receive messages with their business address in Gmail.

Important: You may be required to buy a hosting package from Hostgator before you can complete these steps. Learn more.

Change your MX records to start using G Suite

Step 1: Sign in to your domain host

  1. Leave the Google Admin console setup instructions open.
  2. Open a new tab or browser window or tab and go to the HostGator site. Keep the Setup Wizard open in the first tab.
  3. At the top of the HostGator homepage, click Customer Login.
  4. Under Choose Your Login, click Portal Login.
  5. Enter the email address you used when you purchased your domain from HostGator and click Next.
  6. Enter the password you created when you purchased your domain from HostGator.

    If you don’t know your account information, you can reset your password.

  7. Click Login.

Step 2: Go to your DNS records

  1. On the Dashboard, click Launch cPanel.

    Under Hosting Package, the Launch cPanel button is selected.

    Note: If you don't see Launch cPanel, it's because HostGator requires you to buy a hosting package from them before you can use cPanel. Learn more.
  2. Scroll down to the Email section and click MX Entry.

    MX Entry is selected in the Email section

Step 3: Delete existing MX records

  1. In the MX Entry window, scroll down to the MX Records table.
  2. If you don’t have any MX records to remove, go to step 4 to add the G Suite MX records.
  3. Next to an existing MX record, click Remove.

    The Remove and Delete buttons are shown for an MX record in the MX Records table.

  4. Click Delete to confirm.
  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to remove all of the existing MX records.

Step 4: Add the G Suite MX records

To direct your email to your G Suite account, you have to add new MX records to your domain. These are the records that you need to add:
MX server address Priority
ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM 1
ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM 5
ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM 5
ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM 10
ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM 10
Important: Some registrars require you to add a period after the .COM in the MX server address.
  1. Under Add New Record, in the Priority field, enter 1.
  2. In the Destination field, enter aspmx.l.google.com.

    Do not include a period (.) at the end of the MX record. 

    An MX record is entered in the Add New Record section, and the Add New Record button is selected.

  3. Click Add New Record.
  4. Repeat steps 1—3, entering each value from the table above.

    You’ll see your new MX records in the MX Records table. 

    All MX records have been added to the MX Records table.

  5. Skip this step if you already verified your domain by another method (such as TXT record, HTML file, or meta tag).

    If you need to verify your domain:

    1. In the Admin console, scroll to the Get your verification code section and click the Copy button.

      The MX records table is shown and a red circle highlights the Copy button next to the MX verification record.
    2. Paste the value in the Value/Answer/Destination/Target column.
    3. Make sure the record's priority is set to Low or to 15 or greater.
    Note: If your registrar rejects the verification code, try deleting the period at the end of .com.

Step 5: Tell Google to find your new MX records

  1. Open the setup tool in the Admin console. 

  2. In the Gmail section, click Activate.

    A red circle highlights the "Activate." option in the Gmail section.

  3. Verify that you've created all existing email addresses and are ready for Gmail to start receiving all email for your domain. Click Continue.

  4. On the next page, scroll to the bottom and click Activate Gmail.

    A red circle highlights the Activate Gmail button on the bottom right of the MX records table.

Note:

  • The records can take several hours to update, so you might not immediately get new email messages in Gmail. Until then, you'll continue to receive messages at your old email provider.
  • If you see the MX records setup validation in progress message in the Admin console for more than a few hours, make sure you entered the MX address records and priorities correctly in the DNS records stored with your host.
  • If you still need help changing your MX records, contact G Suite support.

Additional information about Hostgator domains

Hostgator may require you to buy a hosting package from them before you can set up your domain for G Suite. If you cancel this hosting package in the future, it might cause your email and other G Suite services to stop working.

If you prefer not to purchase a hosting package, you have options:

Please contact Hostgator if you need help accessing cPanel or managing your hosting account. 


Google, G Suite, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.
Was this helpful?
How can we improve it?