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SPF is an email security protocol that helps prevent fraud and impersonation by allowing recipients to verify if an email is sent from an authorized sender. This helps protect your domain from being misused. Setting up SPF involves creating a DNS record, which acts like a list of trusted senders for your domain.
For even stronger protection against cyberattacks, you can pair SPF with other email authentication methods.
| SPF Tag | Descriptions |
|---|---|
| v=spf1 | It means the record is an SPF record. |
| Mx | Allow domains listed MX to send emails for this domain. |
| a | Allow domains listed IP Addresses to send emails for this domain. |
| Ip4:173.248.169.10 | IP addresses in CIDR format that deliver or relay mail for this domain |
| include:_spf.mandrillapp.com | This mechanism authorizes the domain/hostname spf.mandrillapp.com to send an email for this domain. |
| ~all | all instruct the incoming email server to SOFTFAIL, or flag email sent from an unauthorized source. |
SPF record will add a layer of security to your domain. It contains the IP Addresses and hostname that are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. When you send an email, the recipient mail server will verify your email with the domain's SPF record using DNS lookup. If the SPF is passed successfully, there will be more chance of delivering your emails to Inbox instead of spam.
Email without an SPF record may land in spam, or some recipient email server can directly block emails, so your domain should have an SPF record to mitigate such an issue.
mx Allows any mail server listed in your domain’s MX records to send emails on your behalf.
ip4:192.0.2.1 Allows the server at IP address 192.0.2.1 to send emails for your domain.
ip4:198.51.100.1 Allows the server at IP address 198.51.100.1 to send emails for your domain.
include:_SPF.example.com This adds the SPF record from example.com to your domain. Any servers allowed to send emails for example.com are also allowed to send emails for your domain.
Follow these steps to troubleshoot SPF issues:
| Tags | explanation |
|---|---|
| v | This tag specifies the SPF version. For most cases, it will be "v=spf1" (SPF version 1). |
| Mx | Allows your domain’s mail servers (from MX records) to send emails. If the email comes from one of these servers, it’s considered legitimate. Default: Current domain. |
| ptr | This tag in an SPF record stands for "Pointer." It tells the receiving email server to do a reverse DNS check on the sender's IP address. This means the server looks up the IP to see if it points back to the domain listed in the SPF record, helping to verify the sender's identity. This tag is rarely used because it’s slow and unreliable. |
| ip4/ip6 | Authorizes specific IPv4 or IPv6 addresses to send emails on behalf of your domain. |
| include | This tag lets you add SPF records from another domain. It's helpful if you use third-party email services—by including their SPF records, their servers can send emails on your behalf. |
| all | This tag sets the default action for emails that don’t match any previous rules in the SPF record. It has four possible values:
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SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a great tool for protecting against email fraud, but setup mistakes can reduce effectiveness. Here are some common errors to watch out for
Domain owners sometimes forget to properly align their third-party email providers with their domain’s sending guidelines, which can cause email delivery and authentication issues.
Some senders skip setting up extra email security measures like DKIM and DMARC, which add an additional layer of protection to their domain against fake or fraudulent emails.
Some senders overlook recommended email deliverability practices and rely only on basic anti-spam filters and email gateways, which may not provide the best protection for their emails.
If your SPF records are invalid or broken, unauthorized sources may be able to send emails from your domain without detection, putting your email security at risk.
An SPF lookup helps you check if your SPF (Sender Policy Framework) DNS record is set up correctly.
SPF helps verify the source of emails, making it harder for attackers to send fraudulent emails that look like they're from your domain. This reduces the risk of phishing and spam reaching your recipients.
A correctly set up SPF record increases the chances of your emails being trusted by email providers, which means they’re more likely to land in the recipient's inbox rather than being flagged as spam.
Having a valid SPF record shows that you're actively protecting your domain from email spoofing, which boosts your domain's reputation with email service providers.
SPF tools make it easy to create and manage your SPF record, helping you avoid errors by automatically generating the correct syntax.
Many SPF tools let you quickly check if your SPF record is set up correctly, ensuring your email authentication is working as expected.
Setting up SPF helps you meet industry standards and regulations related to email authentication, ensuring you're following best practices.
Check out various FAQs on our Network Speed Test Tools.
The full form of SPF Record is Sender Protection Framework. It is a method to authenticate your emails from delivering to spam or being forged.
In addition to SPF, it's essential to set up DMARC and DKIM for comprehensive protection against cyber attacks. You can also use an SPF flattening tool to reduce your DNS lookups.
Yes, you need to set the SPF record to all the domains in the same server from where you are sending emails.
When an email is sent to any email account, SPF authentication will check for the authorized IP address or server to send emails using DNS lookup. If it doesn't find the authorized server, it will flag an email with spam.
Yes, our SPF record is completely free, no matter how many times you check or how many domains you check. However, lookups are done one domain at a time.
We recommend performing SPF checks at least once a month to ensure your SPF record remains valid and effective.
SPF helps improve email security by preventing email spoofing. It allows receiving mail servers to verify if an email comes from an authorized source.