In most cases, your email keeps working when you change hosting providers, as long as your email is hosted with a separate email service (like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365) or you copy your email DNS records correctly during the move.
Where people get burned is when their “business email” is actually stored on the old web host (common with cPanel mailboxes). If you cancel that hosting account before migrating, you can lose access to those mailboxes and the messages inside them, so we treat email as its own mini-migration alongside your website and DNS work on our WordPress hosting moves.
What changes and what doesn’t
| Situation | What happens to your email | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Your email is Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 | Changing web hosting usually changes nothing, because email routing is controlled by MX records in DNS. | Keep the MX records the same, or recreate them exactly if you change nameservers. |
| Your email is “included with hosting” (cPanel/webmail mailboxes) | Email lives on the old server. Canceling hosting can cut off sending/receiving and mailbox access. | Migrate mailboxes first (IMAP sync/export), then switch DNS, then cancel the old host after a short overlap. |
| You move nameservers to the new host | If you forget to recreate MX/SPF/DKIM/DMARC, mail can stop or land in spam. | Copy all DNS records, not just the website A record. |
What you should plan for during the switch
Most email issues during a hosting change come from DNS, not the website files. When MX records change, delivery can be inconsistent while cached DNS updates clear out. In practice, we tell Orlando businesses to plan for a transition window that can take up to about 48 hours, even though it often settles sooner, and we keep calls and form leads flowing in the meantime by watching the contact paths and site performance (this ties directly into how website speed affects SEO when you move servers).
Simple checklist to keep your inbox safe
- Identify where email is hosted today (Google/Microsoft, or mailboxes on the web host).
- If email is on the web host, copy mail first (IMAP sync tools, an email client drag-and-drop between IMAP accounts, or provider export options).
- If you are changing nameservers, recreate DNS records for email: MX, SPF (TXT), DKIM (TXT/CNAME), and DMARC (TXT) if you use it.
- Keep the old hosting account active for a short overlap so late-arriving messages still land somewhere.
- Update mail apps if server settings change (IMAP/SMTP hostnames, ports, passwords).
If you want us to handle the move end-to-end, we usually bundle the website transfer, DNS cleanup, and email cutover planning together through our web design and migration workflow so your staff is not stuck troubleshooting Outlook the morning after a switch.
One more related item: if your hosting change also involves moving or reissuing your SSL certificate, that can affect secure connections on your site and forms, which is why we also keep an eye on HTTPS and SEO during migrations.
