Configure Namecheap Private Email MX on Hostinger Nameservers

The minute you flip your domain nameservers over to Hostinger, your Namecheap Private Email breaks. Senders suddenly get bounced with 550 5.1.1 User unknown, and incoming mail vanishes. Here is how to rebuild your Namecheap MX, SPF, DKIM, and Autodiscover records inside Hostinger’s hPanel so mail actually lands in your inbox again.

The Split DNS Problem: Why Inbound Mail Died

DNS resolution is all-or-nothing at the nameserver boundary. When your domain used Namecheap BasicDNS, Namecheap routed inbound messages directly to its Jellyfish mail cluster. But the second you swapped your nameservers to ns1.dns-parking.com and ns2.dns-parking.com to run your site on Hostinger, Hostinger became your zone’s sole source of truth.

Hostinger has zero clue you bought an email plan on Namecheap. By default, hPanel injects its own MX entries pointing to Titan Mail or Hostinger’s local clusters. MTAs query your domain, hit Hostinger’s nameservers, and dump incoming mail straight into non-existent mailboxes.

If you already saw our guide on setting up Namecheap Private Email MX, SPF, and DKIM records on BasicDNS, the values are familiar. We just need to shove them into Hostinger’s DNS zone manager and wipe Hostinger’s defaults clean.

Required DNS Records for Namecheap Private Email

Keep these values open in a scratchpad before touching hPanel. Modern Namecheap Private Email runs on two mail targets with identical priorities, an SPF string, and autodiscover CNAMEs for desktop clients like Thunderbird and Apple Mail.

• MX 1: Host @, Points to mx1.privateemail.com, Priority 10, TTL 3600
• MX 2: Host @, Points to mx2.privateemail.com, Priority 10, TTL 3600
• TXT (SPF): Host @, Value v=spf1 include:spf.privateemail.com ~all, TTL 3600
• CNAME (Webmail): Host mail, Points to privateemail.com, TTL 3600
• CNAME (Autodiscover): Host autodiscover, Points to privateemail.com, TTL 3600

You can verify current targets on the Namecheap Private Email setup documentation if you are on an older legacy plan, but the records above cover practically every current account.

Purging Hostinger’s Default MX Records

This is where most people get tripped up: adding Namecheap’s records while leaving Hostinger’s default MX lines sitting right next to them. If you leave both, sender servers round-robin between them. Half your emails deliver; the other half vanish.

1. Log in to your Hostinger dashboard and head to Websites (or Domains).
2. Pick your domain and click DNS / Nameservers in the left sidebar.
3. Scroll down to the DNS Records table and filter by MX.
4. Look for default entries targeting mx1.hostinger.com, mx2.hostinger.com, or Titan addresses.
5. Click the trash can icon next to each one and confirm deletion.

Once the MX list for your root domain is completely empty, you can add Namecheap’s servers without collision.

Adding Namecheap MX Records in Hostinger hPanel

Adding custom MX records in hPanel is straightforward, but watch out for trailing dots. Don’t add a trailing period to the hostname unless the field specifically complains.

1. Under Manage DNS records at the top of the page, pick MX from the Type dropdown.
2. Set the Name field to @ (points to your apex domain).
3. In Points to, paste mx1.privateemail.com.
4. Set Priority to 10.
5. Set TTL to 3600 and hit Add Record.
6. Repeat this for the second record: Points to mx2.privateemail.com, Priority 10.

Keep the priority at 10 for both. Namecheap balances the load across both endpoints automatically.

Configuring SPF to Avoid Spam Filters

Getting MX records right only fixes incoming mail. If you skip SPF, outgoing mail lands straight in your recipient’s junk folder or bounces outright under DMARC rejections. SPF tells receiving servers that Namecheap’s IPs are authorized to send on your behalf.

Search your DNS table for any existing TXT entries starting with v=spf1. If Hostinger generated an SPF line for its own servers, update or replace it. If Namecheap Private Email is your only sending source, your TXT entry should be:

Add this TXT record in hPanel:

Type: TXT
Name: @
Value: v=spf1 include:spf.privateemail.com ~all
TTL: 3600

If your web app also fires transactional alerts via postfix or an external relay, combine them into one SPF line. Never create two separate SPF TXT records on the root domain—it invalidates both. If you followed our guide on creating a subdomain on Hostinger with Namecheap DNS, make sure you keep those sender mechanisms merged.

Adding the DKIM TXT Record for Message Signing

DKIM stamps an asymmetric cryptographic signature onto your headers so Gmail and Outlook know the message wasn’t spoofed mid-transit. Namecheap generates this key inside your webmail admin view.

1. Log in to Namecheap, go to your Private Email management panel, and open domain settings.
2. Find the DKIM section. Grab the selector (usually s1) and the public key string starting with v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=....
3. Jump back to Hostinger’s DNS Zone manager.
4. Select TXT from the dropdown.
5. In Name, enter s1._domainkey (swap s1 if Namecheap gave you a custom selector).
6. In TXT Value, paste the full base64 public key string.
7. Hit Add Record.

Watch out for rogue quotes or spaces pasted at the start or end of the key. A single malformed base64 character ruins DKIM validation entirely.

Setting Up Autodiscover and Webmail CNAMEs

To pull up webmail at mail.yourdomain.com and let clients like Outlook or Mail.app autoconfigure ports via IMAP/SMTP, drop two CNAMEs into hPanel.

Add these entries into your records table:

Type: CNAME
Name: mail
Points to: privateemail.com
TTL: 3600 Type: CNAME
Name: autodiscover
Points to: privateemail.com
TTL: 3600

If Hostinger already auto-created a mail CNAME pointing back to its own domain, click edit and swap the target to privateemail.com.

Verifying Propagation from Your Terminal

Don’t wait for a client to ping you that an invoice bounced. You can test your MX and SPF configuration directly from the command line.

Check your domain’s MX records against Google’s public resolver:

dig +short MX yourdomain.com @8.8.8.8

You should get both Namecheap mail hosts back with equal priorities:

10 mx1.privateemail.com.
10 mx2.privateemail.com.

Next, query Hostinger’s nameserver directly to see if your SPF string is already active at the source:

dig +short TXT yourdomain.com @ns1.dns-parking.com

That should return your updated SPF line:

"v=spf1 include:spf.privateemail.com ~all"

On Windows without dig? Use nslookup instead:

nslookup -type=MX yourdomain.com 1.1.1.1

You can also run a quick check through MXToolbox to spot any lingering syntax issues or blacklist flags on the domain.

Troubleshooting Common Mail Routing Failures

These are the three headaches that pop up most often when bridging these two hosts:

• The Subdomain Duplication Bug: Typing yourdomain.com into hPanel’s Name field sometimes turns into yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com under the hood. Always use @ for root records, or leave the field blank if the tooltip asks for it.
• Stale DNS Cache on Sender MTAs: DNS caching respects old TTL values. If your previous records were cached with an 86400 TTL, some mail transfer agents will send to the old servers until that window closes. Give it a few hours before assuming your setup failed.
• Hostinger Internal Routing Override: Check Emails > Email Services in hPanel. If Hostinger thinks your domain has active local mailboxes, its internal mail agent might route contact form submissions locally instead of querying external MX records. Flip the email provider setting to External or Custom.

If you don’t even need a full mailbox and just want inbound mail forwarded to your personal inbox, take a look at our walkthrough on Namecheap free email forwarding to Gmail.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I keep my DNS on Namecheap and just point the website to Hostinger?

Yes, and honestly it saves a lot of hassle. Keep Namecheap BasicDNS as your authoritative nameservers, leave your MX records completely alone, and just point your root @ and www A records to your Hostinger server IP.

How long does it take for Namecheap Private Email to work after updating Hostinger DNS?

Hostinger’s authoritative nameservers update within 5 to 15 minutes. However, external resolvers like Google or Cloudflare cache based on TTL, so allow 1 to 4 hours for global delivery to stabilize.

Do I need an SRV record for Namecheap Private Email?

No. Standard IMAP, POP3, and SMTP connections work fine without SRV entries. The MX records control incoming mail, and the Autodiscover CNAME handles client setup.

What should I do if my contact forms on WordPress stop sending?

Because your site is on Hostinger while mail lives on Namecheap, avoid PHP mail(). Drop in an SMTP plugin like FluentSMTP or WP Mail SMTP, authenticate against mail.privateemail.com via port 465 (SSL) or 587 (TLS), and send using your actual Private Email mailbox credentials.

Next Steps for Your Infrastructure

Once MX, SPF, and DKIM resolve cleanly on Hostinger, your email layer is decoupled from your web host. If you need to migrate or restore your site files now that DNS is settled, check our guide on restoring a WordPress backup over SSH on Hostinger.