Connect Your Domain to Shopify or Wix Without Breaking Email

Why changing nameservers breaks email

Your domain's DNS is a list of records that tell the internet where things are. The website records (A and CNAME) say where your site is hosted. The email records (MX, plus TXT records for SPF, DKIM and DMARC) say which service receives and is allowed to send your email, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.

Nameservers decide which company holds that whole list. When a builder asks you to switch nameservers to them, your DNS moves to a fresh list on their side. If your email records are not copied across exactly, mail stops arriving or starts bouncing. The pointing method avoids this by keeping the list where it is and editing only the website entries.

Before you change anything: record your DNS

If you are not sure where your DNS is managed, look up your domain's nameservers. They tell you which provider's dashboard you need to edit.

Connect a domain to Shopify without moving nameservers

Shopify's guide to connecting a third-party domain manually asks for these changes at your current DNS provider:

1. 1

   Point the A record (@) to 23.227.38.65

   Set the host name to @ and delete any other A records on the root domain.

2. 2

   Point the AAAA record (@) to 2620:0127:f00f:5::

   Delete any other AAAA records on the root. Some hosts need the expanded IPv6 form shown on Shopify's page.

3. 3

   Point the www CNAME to shops.myshopify.com.

   Include the full stop at the end if your provider expects it. Keep the default TTL.

4. 4

   Connect the domain in Shopify admin

   Add the domain under Settings, then Domains, and select Connect domain. Shopify says it can take up to 48 hours to be fully live.

Shopify also advises using your provider's default nameservers unless you manage DNS elsewhere, and notes that custom nameservers can cause 'connection and email problems' if they are not set up correctly. Its connect vs transfer page recommends connecting rather than transferring when you use custom email hosting tied to your domain provider.

Connect a domain to Wix and other builders

Wix calls this the pointing method: it keeps your DNS outside Wix. Its help page lists an A record for the root domain (host @, value 185.230.63.107 in its template) and a CNAME for www pointing to pointing.wixdns.net, and warns that both must be updated or visitors may see a security warning. Always use the exact values your Wix dashboard shows for your site.

Other builders, such as Squarespace or a WordPress host, work the same way: they give you one or more A records and a www CNAME. If the builder only offers a nameserver change, copy every email record into its DNS settings before you switch, and check them again afterwards. Our WordPress vs Shopify vs Wix comparison covers choosing the platform in the first place.

One warning: builders sometimes tell you to remove existing records that conflict. Only delete A, AAAA or www CNAME records that point to your old website. MX records, TXT records starting with v=spf1, and records with _domainkey or _dmarc in the name belong to email and must stay.

After the change: check your email still works

If mail bounces after the change, the bounce code will usually tell you why; our guide to email bounce-back errors decodes them. If messages arrive but land in spam, see our SPF, DKIM and DMARC guide.

Already changed nameservers and email stopped?

Do not panic and do not change things back and forth, which only adds delay. Open the screenshots of your old records and recreate the missing MX and TXT records in the new DNS provider exactly as they were. If you have no record of them, your email provider's admin centre (Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace) shows the records it needs. Mail that bounced while records were missing will not be redelivered automatically, so ask important contacts to resend.

If your email itself was never set up properly, our business email set-up guide covers the full picture.

Do it yourself or get help?

If your DNS provider's dashboard is clear and you have screenshots of your records, connecting a Shopify or Wix site by the pointing method is a 15-minute job. If you are unsure where your DNS lives, or several services send email as your domain, a mistake can cost days of lost mail.

Our Domain & DNS Setup (S$99) connects your domain to your website without touching email, and checks every record afterwards. If email needs setting up or fixing at the same time, Business Email Setup (S$249) covers the mailbox, domain records and testing.