Your SPF record is broken and you probably don’t know it.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is one of the three pillars of email authentication, alongside DKIM and DMARC. It’s also the one most likely to silently fail because of a single overlooked configuration detail.
The result? Emails landing in spam. Newsletters getting bounced. Transactional emails — password resets, order confirmations — disappearing into the void. All because a DNS record has one too many lookups or a missing include statement.
What Is an SPF Record?
An SPF record is a DNS TXT record that lists every server authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. When Gmail receives an email from yourdomain.com, it checks the SPF record to see if the sending IP is on the approved list.
A typical SPF record looks like this:
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:sendgrid.net ~all
This says: Google Workspace and SendGrid are allowed to send email as our domain. Everything else should be treated as suspicious (~all means soft fail).
Simple concept. Deceptively easy to mess up.
Why SPF Validation Matters Right Now
Email providers are getting stricter. Google’s 2024 sender requirements made SPF alignment mandatory for bulk senders. Yahoo followed suit. If your SPF record is misconfigured, broken, or missing, your deliverability is already suffering — you just might not see it in your metrics yet.
Here’s what a broken SPF record actually costs you:
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Marketing emails in spam — your open rates drop, your revenue per send drops, and you blame the subject line when it’s actually an infrastructure problem
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Transactional emails bouncing — password resets, invoices, shipping notifications never arrive, and support tickets pile up
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Domain reputation damage — ISPs track your sending reputation. Consistent SPF failures drag your domain score down over time, making recovery harder
How to Check Your SPF Record
The manual way: run nslookup -type=TXT yourdomain.com and look for the record starting with v=spf1.
But a raw lookup doesn’t tell you if the record is actually valid. For that, you need to validate it. Run your domain through our SPF checker — it’ll flag every issue in plain language.
Here’s what to look for when reviewing your SPF record:
Does it exist? Surprisingly common to find domains without one, especially after a DNS migration or domain registrar change.
Is it the only one? You can only have ONE SPF record per domain. Multiple SPF records is a failure condition — email servers don’t know which one to use and reject both. This happens constantly when teams add a new email service without checking what’s already there.
How many DNS lookups does it use? SPF has a hard limit of 10 DNS lookups. Every include:, a:, mx:, and redirect= counts. Nested includes count too — if your SendGrid include triggers 3 more lookups internally, those eat into your 10. Exceed the limit and the entire SPF check fails.
The 10-Lookup Limit: The Most Common SPF Killer
This deserves its own section because it’s the number one SPF issue we see.
Most businesses use multiple email services: Google Workspace for corporate email, SendGrid or Mailgun for transactional, Mailchimp for marketing, HubSpot for sales sequences, maybe Zendesk for support.
Each one needs an include: in your SPF record. Each include triggers at least one DNS lookup, often more. It adds up fast:
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Google Workspace: 2 lookups
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SendGrid: 1 lookup
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Mailchimp: 2 lookups
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HubSpot: 2 lookups
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Zendesk: 2 lookups
That’s 9 lookups just for five services. Add one more tool and you’re over the limit. Your entire SPF record becomes invalid, and every email you send fails SPF.
How to fix it: Use SPF flattening. Instead of nested includes, resolve all IP addresses and list them directly. Tools like AutoSPF or SPFCompressor handle this automatically. Alternatively, consolidate sending services or move some to a subdomain with its own SPF record.
Step-by-Step: Setting Up SPF Correctly
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Inventory your sending sources. List every service that sends email as your domain. Don’t forget the obscure ones — your invoicing tool, your monitoring alerts, your CRM’s meeting scheduler.
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Build the record. Start with
v=spf1, add aninclude:for each service, and end with-all(hard fail) or~all(soft fail). Use soft fail while testing, hard fail when you’re confident. -
Count your lookups. Use an SPF checker tool to count total DNS lookups including nested ones. Stay under 10.
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Publish the record. Add it as a TXT record at your domain root in DNS. Remove any old SPF records first.
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Test immediately. Send test emails to Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo. Check the email headers for
spf=pass. If you seespf=softfailorspf=fail, something’s wrong. -
Monitor ongoing. SPF records break silently when someone adds a new email tool without updating DNS. Check quarterly at minimum.
Common SPF Mistakes
Using +all instead of -all or ~all. The +all mechanism tells email servers that literally everyone is authorized to send as your domain. It’s the equivalent of leaving your front door open with a sign that says “help yourself.” Never use +all.
Forgetting to remove old services. Switched from Mailgun to SendGrid six months ago? If Mailgun’s include is still in your SPF record, you’re wasting a DNS lookup on a service you don’t use.
Putting SPF in an SPF-type record instead of TXT. The SPF DNS record type was deprecated years ago. Your SPF record must be a TXT record. Some old DNS interfaces still offer the SPF type — don’t use it.
Not testing after changes. DNS propagation takes time. After updating your SPF record, wait 24-48 hours and then verify the change is live and working.
Check Your SPF Record Now
Your SPF record might be the reason your emails aren’t landing. Our free tool checks for missing records, too many lookups, syntax errors, and alignment issues — everything that can silently kill your deliverability.
Better yet, run a full marketing audit to see how your entire email authentication stack holds up alongside your SEO, content, and technical health. One scan, full picture.
Don’t let a broken DNS record undo all your email marketing effort.