# Configure email routing in cPanel
Source: https://docs.webgee.com/en/email/how-do-i-configure-my-email-routing-in-cpanel





Email routing decides what **your own server** does with mail for a domain.
Applies to shared, reseller and cPanel hosting.

This is separate from your MX records. MX records tell the outside world where
to deliver mail; routing tells the server on which your domain is hosted whether
to keep that mail or pass it on. Changing one without the other is the most
common cause of mail vanishing after a migration.

## The four options [#the-four-options]

| Option                                 | What the server does                                                          |
| -------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Local Mail Exchanger**               | Delivers to a mailbox on this server                                          |
| **Remote Mail Exchanger**              | Passes mail to whatever the domain's MX record points at                      |
| **Backup Mail Exchanger**              | Behaves as remote, but delivers locally if the remote provider is unreachable |
| **Automatically Detect Configuration** | Chooses based on the current MX record                                        |

**Use Local** if WebGee hosts your mailboxes. This remains correct when spam
filtering is in front of the server — filtering changes where mail is scanned,
not where it is finally delivered.

**Use Remote** if your mail is with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or any other
external provider.

<Callout type="warn">
  Avoid **Automatically Detect Configuration**. It re-reads the MX record and can
  change behaviour underneath you when DNS is mid-propagation or a record is
  edited. Choose Local or Remote explicitly so the setting cannot drift.
</Callout>

**Backup Mail Exchanger** sounds like a safety net but rarely is. Mail delivered
locally during an outage stays in a local mailbox your users are not reading,
and does not appear at the external provider afterwards. Use it only if you
intend to check both places.

## Change the setting [#change-the-setting]

1. Log in to cPanel.

2. In the **Email** section, open **Email Routing**.

   <img alt="The Email Routing icon in the Email section of cPanel" src="__img0" />

3. Select the domain. If the account has only one, it is chosen for you.

4. Under **Configure Email Routing**, select the option you need.

5. Select **Change**.

<Callout type="warn">
  Each addon and parked domain has its own routing setting. They do not inherit
  from the main domain, so check every domain that handles mail.
</Callout>

## Verify [#verify]

Send a message to an address on the domain from an outside account, then confirm
it arrives where you expect — in the local mailbox for **Local**, or at your
external provider for **Remote**.

If sending fails with `550 Sender verify failed`, routing is set the wrong way.
See [Fix "550 Sender verify failed"](/en/email/how-to-solve-550-sender-verify-failed-error-message).

## Related [#related]

* [Configure routing and MX records for Google Mail](/en/email/how-to-configure-email-routing-and-mx-records-for-google-mail)
* [Fix "550 Sender verify failed"](/en/email/how-to-solve-550-sender-verify-failed-error-message)