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Stop Frosvo emails landing in spam: SPF, DKIM, DMARC

Three DNS records tell mail providers that your emails are genuine. Here is what each one does, how to add them for your mail provider, and how to check them.

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Mail providers such as Gmail and Outlook are suspicious of email they cannot verify. Three records in your domain's DNS prove that your messages are yours. They matter whenever Frosvo sends email from your own address: reply emails, transcripts and campaigns.

What each record does

| Record | What it says | |---|---| | SPF | Which servers may send email for your domain. | | DKIM | A signature added to each email, which receivers check against a public key in your DNS. | | DMARC | What receivers should do with email that fails SPF or DKIM, and where to send reports. |

Step by step

  1. Find what your mail provider wants. Your provider (a hosting company, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and so on) lists the exact SPF and DKIM records for your domain in its help or admin pages. Use those values exactly. Frosvo cannot generate them for you, because they belong to the provider that actually sends the mail.
  2. Add SPF. Create a TXT record on your domain starting with v=spf1. A domain may have only one SPF record, so if it already has one, add your provider to it instead of creating a second.
  3. Add DKIM. Create the record your provider gives you, usually a TXT or CNAME record with a name ending in ._domainkey.
  4. Wait, then test. Give DNS time to spread, then send a test message with Send test email in the website's Email sending window and open it in a Gmail or Outlook inbox. Look at the message details to see whether SPF and DKIM pass.
  5. Add DMARC. Create a TXT record named _dmarc with a value starting v=DMARC1;. Begin with the policy p=none while you watch the reports, then tighten to quarantine or reject when everything passes.

Check your work

Free online DNS and mail testers can read your records. Send a test email to a tester address and read the result. Fix anything marked as failing before you tighten DMARC.

Common problems

  • Two SPF records. Merge them into one.
  • Sending from a different address than the records cover. The From address's domain should match the domain you set up.
  • Provider changed. If you move to another mail provider, update all three records.
  • Still going to spam after the records pass. Avoid all-capital subjects and many links, and send to people who expect your message.

In Frosvo

Connecting your server is covered in sending email from your own address. If sending fails, owners are alerted on the Problems page. For visitors who left, read about reply emails, and see troubleshooting for other mail problems.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need these if I only use Frosvo's own mail server?

The records matter most when you send from your own address and domain. Connect your own mail server and set up the records your mail provider asks for.

Where do I add the records?

In the DNS settings of your domain, usually at your domain registrar or hosting company.

How long until a change works?

Often within minutes, but it can take up to a day for DNS to spread everywhere.

Which record is the most important?

Start with SPF and DKIM from your mail provider, then add DMARC once those pass.