synkIdentify where DNS is actually managed
The company that sold the domain may not host its active DNS. Find the provider responsible for the authoritative DNS zone and confirm that you can edit it. Export or record the current zone and note who approved the migration.
Mail routing uses MX records. Your website may use A, AAAA, or CNAME records. A mail-only move normally does not require changing the domain's nameservers or moving the website. If a supplier asks for a wider DNS move, review exactly which services that would affect.
References: Google: how DNS record types work
Include the website's outgoing email
Keeping the website online is only part of the job. A contact form, shop, booking tool, or invoice system may send through the old hosting provider. List those senders and the addresses they use before updating the domain's authentication records.
Ask the person maintaining the website whether any SMTP credentials or server names will need updating. A successful browser page load does not prove that its enquiry form still delivers. Choose a harmless test submission and include it in the acceptance checklist.
Prepare mailboxes and history separately
Create the destination addresses and agree on how old messages will be handled. Routing new mail to a new provider does not copy the historical inbox, sent folders, contacts, or local archives.
In Synk, import and migration tooling is not advertised as a self-serve pilot feature. Discuss the source service, mailbox sizes, required history, and an agreed migration method before scheduling the switch. Keep the old service available for verification and any remaining mail that arrives there.
Change routing, then inspect the whole journey
At the agreed time, apply the mail records supplied for the destination service. Do not improvise a mixture of unrelated MX providers; a planned routing design is needed if more than one provider must serve the domain. Monitor public DNS and both services while cached answers expire.
Send an external message in, reply out, submit the website contact form, and check an important automated sender. Record any failures with timestamps and a non-sensitive message reference. Only cancel the old email service after the agreed checks, history transfer, and retention decisions are complete.
- Website and important pages still load.
- Every critical address receives and replies.
- Website forms and business applications still send.
- Old messages and required archives are accounted for.
- The team knows which service to sign in to.