IONOS DNS Email Setup for OquMail

IONOS bundles hosting and domains. Disable conflicting mail products before adding OquMail records in the DNS panel.

Check for an existing IONOS mail product

IONOS often includes mailboxes with domains and hosting. While one of its mail products is active on the domain, IONOS may manage the MX records for you. Before adding OquMail, copy any mail you want to keep, then switch the domain’s mail setting to use another provider or remove the IONOS mail product, so you can edit MX records freely.

Records to add in the IONOS DNS panel

1. Replace the MX records (the settings that tell the internet where to deliver email for your domain) with the one OquMail provides
2. Add the ownership TXT records (short text lines in DNS used for email security)
3. Add or merge the SPF TXT records (short text lines in DNS used for email security) — one SPF record per domain
4. Add the DKIM TXT records (short text lines in DNS used for email security) at the selector host name OquMail shows
5. Add the DMARC TXT records (short text lines in DNS used for email security) at _dmarc

Common mistakes

• Leaving the IONOS MX records in place next to the new ones, which splits incoming mail
• Pasting the full domain into the host name field when the panel adds it automatically
• Two SPF records after IONOS re-adds its default one

Want to see how your own domain is set up? Use the free SPF checker, DMARC checker and MX lookup: they run in your browser and store nothing.