A, CNAME, MX, TXT Records Explained

DNS is essentially the phone book for your domain — it tells the internet where to send visitors, where to deliver email, and which services are allowed to speak for your domain. You'll manage these records from the Zone Editor in cPanel, or from your DNS provider if you use external DNS. Here's what the four most common record types actually do.

A record — points a domain to a server IP

An A record maps a hostname (like yourdomain.com or www) directly to an IPv4 address, e.g. 103.x.x.x. This is what you edit when you want your domain to load your Hoststack hosting account without changing nameservers — just set the A record to your server's IP, found in your welcome email or client area.

CNAME record — points a subdomain to another hostname

A CNAME (Canonical Name) record points one hostname to another hostname rather than an IP, e.g. shop.yourdomain.com → stores.myshopify.com. It's commonly used for subdomains that rely on third-party services (email marketing tools, help desks, e-commerce platforms) since the target's IP can change without you needing to update anything. A CNAME can't be set on the root/bare domain — only on subdomains.

MX record — routes your email

MX (Mail Exchange) records tell the internet which mail server should receive email for your domain. Each MX record has a priority number — lower numbers are tried first. If you use cPanel email hosting, this typically points to your own server; if you use Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, you'll replace it with their MX records instead. Getting this wrong is the single most common reason "email stopped working" after a DNS change.

TXT record — verification and email authentication

TXT records hold arbitrary text, most often used to prove domain ownership (Google Search Console, Microsoft 365 verification) or to publish email authentication policies like SPF and DMARC. Multiple TXT records can coexist on the same hostname — just make sure you don't accidentally overwrite an existing SPF record instead of appending to it, since only one SPF TXT record is valid per domain.

Quick reference

• Want your domain to load your website? Edit the A record
• Want a subdomain to point at a third-party app? Add a CNAME
• Want to change where email is delivered? Update the MX records
• Verifying a service or setting up SPF/DMARC? Add a TXT record