Answers

Why did your business email stop working, and what do you check first?

Ascent Vision · Published October 25, 2026

Usually one of four things: the domain lapsed, a website or email move changed the domain's mail settings, the email plan went unpaid, or a mailbox is full. Check them in that order: is the domain still renewed, did anyone change its settings recently, is the email account active and paid, and what does a bounced test message say. Then call whoever controls that part.

How email depends on the domain

Google's Workspace help explains that when someone emails you, the sender's computer looks up your domain's MX records to find where to deliver the message, and its setup page warns that email might not work correctly if old or incorrect MX records are left in place. Those records live in your domain's settings, so, in general, if the domain lapses or the records are changed or removed, mail can bounce or go to the wrong place.

The related answer on what happens if your domain expires covers the lapse itself.

Check in this order

• The domain: is it still registered and renewed, and in an account the business can reach?
• Recent changes: a new website, a new host, a domain transfer or a new email provider. A move can overwrite or drop the mail settings.
• The email account: is the plan active, the card current and the person's account still in place?
• The mailbox: is it full, or is there a forwarding rule nobody remembers adding?
• The error: send a test from a personal address. A bounce message usually names the problem; keep it for whoever fixes it.

When a move is planned

Google's admin page on avoiding issues when changing MX records is written for businesses moving to Google Workspace. It says that until the new records take effect, email keeps going to the previous provider, and advises creating every user account in Workspace first, scheduling the change when email volume is low, such as an evening or weekend, contacting your domain host early if it makes the change for you, and telling key contacts the date and time, to resend anything that bounces, and how else to reach you.

Other providers have their own steps, but the idea carries over. As general advice, ask anyone moving your website or email to confirm in writing that your email settings will be kept.

Who to call, and how to prevent it

Call the company that holds the domain about renewal and settings, the email provider about the account and mailbox, and whoever moved the site if the problem started after a move. Then keep the domain and the email account in the business's name, turn auto-renew on with a card that will not expire, and give a second person admin access. If mail sends but lands in spam, or the account may have been taken over, the related answers on emails going to spam and on a hacked business email cover those.

Sources

1. Google Workspace Admin Help, "Set up MX records for Google Workspace"
2. Google Workspace Admin Help, "Avoid issues when changing MX records"

Related answers

• What happens if your business domain name expires?
• Why are my business emails going to spam?
• What should you do if your business email account is hacked?