Email authentication guides
Practical, no-nonsense guides to SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Fix what is broken and keep your mail out of spam.
How to Find Where Your DNS Is Hosted (So You Can Add SPF, DKIM, and DMARC)
Before you can add SPF, DKIM, or DMARC, you have to find the provider that actually controls your DNS records. Your nameservers tell you exactly who that is, and it is often not the company you bought the domain from. This guide shows you how to look up your nameservers, tell your registrar apart from your DNS host, and jump straight to the right setup steps for Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Route 53.
What DNS Records Does Your Domain Need to Send and Receive Email?
A complete, ordered map of the DNS records a domain needs to send and receive email: MX and its A/AAAA target to receive, SPF, DKIM and DMARC to authenticate, plus optional MTA-STS and BIMI. Learn which records are mandatory versus optional and the exact order to add them so nothing breaks mid-setup, then confirm each one with a free scan.
What Is a DNS TXT Record? A Plain-English Guide for Email Authentication
A DNS TXT record stores plain text in your domain's DNS, and for most people the only reason to touch one is email authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC all live in TXT records. This guide shows annotated real examples, explains the host, value, and TTL fields, and covers the 255-character split and multiple-strings gotchas that quietly break records.
How to Set Up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC on GoDaddy Without Breaking Email
A step-by-step guide to configuring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in the GoDaddy Domain Portfolio DNS panel. Learn how to merge multiple SPF includes into one record, avoid the @ versus host-prefix mistake, add records in the safe order so nothing bounces, and verify the result with a paste-ready DMARC starter policy.
Namecheap SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Setup Guide (Step-by-Step)
A precise walkthrough for adding SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in Namecheap Advanced DNS. Covers when the tab is available, the @ versus blank Host confusion, correct TXT value formatting, DKIM as CNAME or TXT depending on your sending provider, and how to verify the records actually took effect.
How to Add SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Records in Cloudflare (Step-by-Step)
Add SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in Cloudflare DNS with exact dashboard clicks and paste-ready TXT values. Covers the traps that break setups: TXT records must be gray-cloud DNS only, Cloudflare auto-appends your domain so you enter _dmarc not the full hostname, and how the Email DMARC Management wizard differs from manual records. Then confirm authentication passes with the free spfwise checker.
Mailgun SPF, DKIM & DMARC Setup: Authenticate Your Sending Domain Step by Step
Mailgun authenticates through a dedicated sending subdomain, so the SPF include:mailgun.org and the mx._domainkey DKIM TXT belong on mail.yourdomain.com, not your root. This guide walks through every DNS record Mailgun asks for, how to merge SPF into an existing root record, the optional MX and CNAME tracking records, the propagation wait, adding a root-level DMARC policy, and verifying the whole chain.
550 5.7.23 'SPF Validation Failed': Why It Happens and How to Resolve It
The 550 5.7.23 bounce means the receiver rejected your mail because SPF authentication failed and a policy told it to reject. It usually points to one of three things: a hard -all fail from a sender that is not listed, an SPF PermError from too many DNS lookups or broken syntax, or forwarding that rewrites the path. This guide separates the three causes and shows how to confirm which one you have.
550-5.7.26 'Unauthenticated Sender' in Gmail: What It Means and How to Fix It
Gmail returns 550-5.7.26 when a message has no passing, aligned authentication. This guide decodes the exact wording and maps it to three fixable causes: neither SPF nor DKIM passing, an SPF or DKIM pass that does not align with your From domain, and a missing DMARC record. Includes a copy-paste diagnostic checklist and a free domain check that shows which of the three is failing.
Google Workspace SPF, DKIM & DMARC Setup: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide
A precise, ordered walkthrough for authenticating a Google Workspace domain. Copy the exact SPF value, run the Admin Console DKIM "Start Authentication" flow with the 2048-bit key set correctly, then add DMARC last. Validate each record live before moving on so you never stack a second mistake on top of the first.
Amazon SES SPF, DKIM & DMARC Setup: The Complete DNS Configuration
Amazon SES passes SPF by default but does not align it for DMARC until you configure a custom MAIL FROM subdomain. This guide walks through Easy DKIM's three CNAME records, domain identity verification, the SPF TXT and MX records that fix DMARC alignment, and how to verify the whole stream in the checker before you enforce a reject policy.
HubSpot Email Authentication: Connecting Your Domain with SPF, DKIM & DMARC
HubSpot sends your email from its own servers, so your DNS has to authorise it. This guide walks the connect-sending-domain flow record by record: the two DKIM CNAMEs, the return-path that makes SPF align on your own domain, why you usually leave your root SPF alone, and the DMARC policy that clears the Google and Yahoo bulk rules. Confirm every record resolves before you click Verify in HubSpot.