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MailChannels Inbound Filtering is a cloud-based email security service that scans all incoming mail before it reaches your server. Your domain’s MX records point to MailChannels, so every message passes through the filter first — spam, phishing, malware, and viruses are caught before they ever reach your users.

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How it works

Inbound Filtering sits between the public internet and your mail server. When a sender delivers email to your domain, their message is routed to MailChannels instead of directly to your server. MailChannels scans the message, applies your spam handling policies, and then forwards clean mail to your downstream mail server. To enable this flow, you configure two things:
  • MX records — point mx1.mailchannels.net and mx2.mailchannels.net as the MX records for your domain, so all inbound mail is routed through MailChannels first.
  • Downstream record — a record inside your MailChannels Domain Console that tells MailChannels where to deliver mail after filtering (your actual mail server).
Once configured, the full flow is: sender → MailChannels (scan) → your mail server → user’s inbox.

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What it blocks

MailChannels Inbound Filtering identifies and handles:
  • Spam — unsolicited bulk email and junk messages
  • Phishing — messages that impersonate trusted senders to steal credentials or data
  • Malware and viruses — attachments and links carrying malicious payloads
  • Email authentication failures — messages that fail SPF, DKIM, or DMARC checks

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How filtered mail is handled

When a message is caught, you control what happens next. You can configure your spam handling policy to block (reject the message entirely), quarantine (hold it for review), or flag (deliver it with a warning header). Senders are notified when a message is rejected. In some cases, senders are also notified when a message is quarantined — the notification may include a link to release the message directly. Mailbox users receive a periodic quarantine digest with links to release, block, or safelist messages.

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Who it’s for

Hosting providers are the primary audience — they provision and manage inbound filtering across their customer domains. Once a provider has enabled filtering for a domain, domain admins can log in to complete setup and manage their own settings.

Hosting providers

Provision and manage inbound filtering across all your customer domains from a central Host Console. Add domains individually or in bulk, configure global safelists and blocklists, and let domain admins complete per-domain DNS configuration.

Domain admins

Complete setup after your hosting provider has enabled inbound filtering for your domain. Create an account, verify domain ownership, configure MX records and downstream delivery, and manage your spam policies.
MailChannels Inbound Filtering is currently available through hosting provider partners. If you’re a domain admin, contact your hosting provider to confirm that they support MailChannels and that it has been enabled for your domain.