Email routing is a setting that catches a lot of people out. It tells your server whether your domain’s email is handled here or somewhere else, and getting it wrong causes mysterious delivery failures. Here’s what it does and how to set it right.
What email routing controls
When someone sends mail to your domain, your server needs to know where those messages should go. If your mailboxes live here on our server, mail should be handled locally. If you use an external mail service (like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365) while hosting your website with us, mail should be routed remotely. The routing setting makes this decision.
The two options that matter
- Local Mail Exchanger: the server handles email for the domain itself. Use this if your mailboxes are on your Hostnasi hosting.
- Remote Mail Exchanger: the server assumes email is handled elsewhere and sends it to your external provider based on your MX records. Use this if you use Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or another external mail service.
There’s also an Automatically Detect Configuration option, which reads your MX records and picks for you — usually the safest choice.
Setting it
- In cPanel, open Email Routing under the Email section.
- Select your domain.
- Choose the appropriate option (Local, Remote, or Automatically Detect).
- Save.
The classic problem this fixes
Here’s the trap: you move your email to Google Workspace but leave routing set to Local. Now when someone on your own server emails you, the server delivers it to the local mailbox (which is empty) instead of sending it to Google — so those internal messages vanish. Switching routing to Remote (or Auto-Detect) fixes exactly this. It’s a subtle issue that only affects mail sent from within the same server, which is why it’s so puzzling when it happens.
Match routing to your MX records
Routing and MX records work together. If your MX records point to an external provider, routing should be Remote or Auto-Detect. If your MX records point to us, routing should be Local. When the two disagree, mail goes astray. Auto-Detect keeps them in sync by reading the MX records.
When in doubt, use Auto-Detect
Unless you have a specific reason to force one setting, Automatically Detect Configuration is the recommendation — it follows your MX records and avoids the mismatch that causes lost mail.
If you’ve moved your email to an external service and some messages aren’t arriving, email routing is one of the first things to check. Stuck? Send us a ticket and we’ll confirm your routing and MX records line up.
