What we offer

NEW CASE
Serhii Illichov, Attorney at Law — business card website case study

We create digital solutions that work for businesses

Become a clientBecome a client
Give us a call +38 (066) 35-14-529

Let's take the first step towards your website — write to us

Close
Tools

SPF Record Check

Email

You may also like

The domain SPF record with every tag explained.

What an SPF record is

A list of servers allowed to send mail on behalf of your domain. Anything from other addresses looks suspicious to the receiving server.

Anti-spoofing Without SPF anyone can send mail signed with your address. Your client receives a scam “from you” and suspects nothing.
Inbox delivery Gmail and Outlook check SPF first. Mail without it is far more likely to land in the spam folder.
The base for DMARC DMARC sits on top of SPF and DKIM. Without at least one of them the domain policy does nothing at all.
Domain reputation Receiving servers build a history per domain. A configured SPF is one signal that the sender is a responsible one.

What the record contains

A single TXT line in the domain DNS. Each part covers its own set of servers.

v=spf1 The opening tag. It must come first and appear exactly once — two SPF records break the check entirely.
include: Pulls in someone else’s server list: Google, Mailchimp, your host. The most common element.
ip4: / ip6: A specific server address. Used when mail goes straight from your own machine.
~all / -all What to do with everything else. A tilde means “suspicious but accept”, a minus means “reject”. Start with the tilde.

Why SPF fails in practice

Two records on one domain A new service was added as a separate line and the old one stayed. By the standard this is an error and the check fails outright.
Too many lookups Every include is a DNS lookup, and only ten are allowed. Five sending services exhaust the limit easily.
A sending service left out Site mail arrives while the CRM campaign lands in spam, because that server is not in the record.
Jumping straight to -all A strict policy on an unverified record cuts off legitimate mail. Use ~all first and switch to the minus once you are sure.

Check a domain SPF record

The service finds the TXT record starting with v=spf1 in your domain DNS and shows it in full. SPF defines which servers are allowed to send mail on behalf of the domain — without it anyone can spoof the sender, and your legitimate emails land in spam more often.

What to verify in the record: whether all services you actually send from are listed (Google Workspace, mail hosting, CRM, newsletters), whether the policy is correct (~all or -all), and whether there is only one record — multiple SPF records break the check entirely. If there is no record — create one with our SPF generator in a minute.

Rate this tool
It tells us what to improve first
Be the first to rate 5.0 of 5 0 votes

FAQ

What is an SPF record?
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a DNS TXT record listing servers allowed to send mail for the domain. It protects against sender spoofing.
Why is SPF needed?
Without SPF, scammers can send emails as if from your address. A correct SPF increases mail system trust and reduces spam placement.
What do ~all and -all mean?
-all strictly forbids mail from unlisted servers, ~all marks it suspicious but allows it. ~all is recommended to start.
How many SPF records should there be?
Exactly one per domain. Multiple SPF records cause an error and the check fails. Combine rules into one record.
How do I check a domain’s SPF record online?
Enter the domain from your email address — the part after @, without www. The tool finds the TXT record starting with v=spf1 in DNS, shows it in full and breaks it down: the ~all or -all policy, allowed IPv4 addresses, services added via include, and the number of DNS lookups in the record itself (the limit is ten; nested includes inside those services are not counted). Compare the include list with the services you actually send mail through.
The check says “Record not found” — what now?
Make sure you are checking the same domain where you added the record, and that it is a TXT record for the root of the domain (often shown as @), not for www. The value must start exactly with v=spf1, otherwise neither mail services nor the tool will recognise it. If you have only just added it, wait: DNS updates usually take from a few minutes to a day. If there is no record at all, create one with the SPF generator.
Telegram Viber Call us