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Deliverability

Learn how to improve your deliverability to achieve best results in your email outreach
20 articles

Custom tracking links: Improve email deliverability with domain-based tracking URLs

By default, all emails from Reply go out with open tracking links. You can also enable click tracking and use an opt-out link in your emails. Setting up custom tracking URLs allows you to "replace" Reply default domains with your own domain. Note: custom tracking URLs are set for a particular Reply account. Perform the setup separately for each team member. If team members send from the same domain, just re-add the same links to their accounts without any extra changes to DNS records again. Setting up custom tracking links based on your domain Important: you need to have access to your domain's DNS records to set up custom tracking. To set up a custom URL: 1. Go to the Settings page - Custom tracking links tab and click the New link button: 2. Navigate to the section "Match the link with" - If you want to assign your future link to all email accounts with the same domain, use the "Sending domain". The tracking link you create will apply to all accounts within the same domain: - To assign tracking links to specific email accounts, choose the "Selected email accounts" option: - If you send from one domain only, use "All email accounts". Thus, your custom tracking link will be assigned to all accounts 3. Select one of the link types - Opens, Clicks, Opt Out 4. Decide which subdomains you want to use for your future custom tracking URL. For example, if you send emails from yourdomain.com, your tracking links can be: opens.yourdomain.com clicks.yourdomain.com opt.yourdomain.com * Here, "opens", "clicks", "opt" are used as examples. You can select any word or letter (except for "www" and "replyio") 5. In the Your future subdomain field, enter the subdomain you have chosen for the tracking link and click Check: Note: Make sure you always match your future custom tracking URL only with email accounts in the same domain. 6. On the next screen, copy CNAME values and add them to the DNS entries for your domain (detailed instructions at the end of the article): Note: if you need time to change DNS or forward these records to your IT department, you can use the "Reserve" button and come back later to the Custom tracking links page: you will see your reserved link there. You will need to enable it, once your IT person adds records to DNS. Note: The 'Reserve' button will hold your link for one week. If you’re unable to complete the setup within this timeframe, the link will expire and you will need to go through the process from scratch. 7. Click "Save" and wait as the system generates the link, which may take some time. Once the link is created, make sure to activate it. 8. Repeat the same process for Clicks and Opt Out. Additional instructions for adding DNS records The creation of DNS records depends on your DNS provider. Here are some examples of how to add the records for different DNS providers: - GoDaddy: adding CNAME record - Namecheap: adding CNAME record - WIX: adding CNAME record You can also check the support section of your hosting website for CNAME records to find instructions for your DNS provider. This tutorial walks you through adding DNS records for Namecheap, WIX and GoDaddy DNS providers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7EVGtXDRao Please note: if you use Cloudflare to manage your domain and create a CNAME record here to redirect to Reply tracking, be sure to disable the proxy.

Last updated on Oct 15, 2026

What is Spam Monitor & How to connect Postmaster to Reply?

With Google's new rules for outreach and requirements for bulk email senders, Reply users need to understand and adapt to these updates. This article provides a concise guide on the new email-sending policy, focusing on maintaining a low spam rate, meeting strict authentication standards, and providing easy unsubscribe options. It also explains what Google's Postmaster Tools are and how to integrate them with Reply, ensuring compliance with new standards and protecting your email reputation. Outline: 1. Google's Bulk Email Policy Updates 2. What Is Postmaster and Why Should You Use It? 3. Connecting Postmaster Tools to Reply Account 4. Viewing Spam Rate Dashboard in Reply 5. Managing Data Access in Postmaster Google's Bulk Email Policy Updates Starting in February 2024, Google is implementing new requirements for email senders, particularly those who send bulk emails. These updates are aimed at reducing spam and enhancing security and they include: - Mandatory Email Authentication: Senders must strongly authenticate their emails using standards like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, especially when sending volumes exceeding 5,000 emails per day. - One-Click Unsubscription: Bulk senders must provide Gmail recipients with an easy, one-click option to unsubscribe from commercial emails. Unsubscription requests must be processed within two days. - Spam Rate Threshold: A new industry-first measure, senders must maintain a spam report rate below 0.3% to ensure Gmail users are not overwhelmed with unwanted emails. In response to recent policy updates, Reply now offers: - 'Domain Setup' page featuring a Health Checker. This tool provides a detailed, real-time overview of your domain's setup, identifying and explaining any issues, along with solutions for fixing them. Reply will also send users notifications for connectivity problems or other concerns, ensuring you stay informed about your domain's health, which is updated weekly. - Spam Monitor tab which integrates with Google’s Postmaster API, giving users a clear view of their domain's spam report metrics directly from Google. This tool is essential for tracking and analyzing email traffic, especially for domains interacting with Gmail. What Is Postmaster and Why Should You Use It? Google's Postmaster Tools is a resource designed for email marketers. It offers an API that provides detailed data through charts, reflecting how your emails are handled by Gmail. This includes metrics on spam reports and delivery errors for emails sent to Gmail users. However, it's important to note that the tool doesn't offer insights into the methods of sending emails. Why Use Postmaster Tools? This tool is invaluable for those who send bulk emails. It provides essential data on delivery success and spam reports, helping you to maintain compliance with Google's stipulated spam rate threshold, which is below 0.3%. For additional information on the Postmaster tool, you can visit its official page. Connecting Postmaster Tools to Reply Account Linking Postmaster Tools to your Reply account enables easy monitoring of your domain's email performance, including spam rate metrics, directly from the Reply interface. Here are the steps for the initial setup: 1. In Reply, click on your profile icon in the upper right corner. 2. Open 'Settings' and proceed to the 'Email Accounts' page. All connected email accounts will be shown and categorized by providers. Select the provider associated with the domain you want to monitor. 3. Linking Postmaster Account: - Navigate to the Spam Monitor tab and click Connect Postmaster account to link your Google Postmaster account with Reply.io. 4. Signing in to Postmaster Tools: - You will be redirected to Postmaster Tools. - Sign in using the Google account authorized to monitor the domain (that has corresponding permission). Create an account if you don't have one. 5. Adding Your Domain: - In Postmaster, click 'Add' and enter your authentication domain. - You can add either the DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) domain or the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) domain. - Then, click 'Next'. 6. Verifying Your Domain: - Copy the TXT verification record displayed in a pop-up and add it to your domain's DNS settings (usually stored with your domain host). Learn more about how to verify ownership of your Google domain or verify your domain from a different host. - Return to Postmaster and click 'Verify' to start the domain verification process. Important Note: Verification may take some time. If you skip this step, you can always verify later by clicking on 'More' and then 'Verify domain' next to your domain. However, you will need to verify your domain at some point to view any data related to that domain. Viewing Spam Rate Dashboard in Reply Once your domain is verified in Postmaster, the Spam rate dashboard will be accessible in the Reply view in the Email Accounts → Spam Monitor tab. You can select a timeframe, ranging from 7 to 120 days, to evaluate your domain's email performance. The spam rate is calculated daily, representing the percentage of emails marked as spam versus those delivered to the inbox. The spam rate is the percentage of emails marked as spam by users vs emails sent to the inbox for active users. If a substantial number of emails are delivered directly to spam folders, you may see a low spam rate even though users may still be marking your inboxed emails as spam. Keep in mind that Google Postmaster can only track spam reports after you've linked your domain to it. It does not provide historical data before the connection date. For newly added domains, wait approximately 3 days to start seeing the Spam Report data in Reply. Important note about Postmaster: Postmaster doesn't offer the ability to track either the specific source or the content of each email. It provides spam reports for all emails sent from your domain, regardless of their source. This means that the emails could be sent from any automation tool or even a personal mailbox, not exclusively from Reply.io. Managing Data Access in Postmaster If you are a verified domain owner, you can grant Postmaster Tools data access to other Google Account holders and add more accounts to be able to check your domain. Remember, you can only add users with a valid Google or Google Workspace Account. To add someone to your domain in Postmaster, follow these steps: 1. Sign in to Postmaster Tools. 2. Select the verified domain and click 'More' → 'Manage users'. 3. Click 'Add' and enter the Google Account email of the person you're granting access to. 4. Notify the new user, as they won't receive an automatic notification. Disconnecting Your Postmaster Account from Reply To disconnect your Postmaster account from Reply.io, simply select the “Disconnect Postmaster account” option. This action will remove the connection-token from all domains associated with that Postmaster admin account.

Last updated on Oct 15, 2026

Ramp-up mode for email accounts

Ramp-Up Mode helps improve email deliverability by gradually increasing the number of emails sent from your account each day. It allows your account to build a positive sending reputation and reduces the risk of being flagged as spam. Over time, it enables you to safely reach higher sending volumes while maintaining stable deliverability. Tips on increasing the volume - Increase the volume slowly if you send a lot of emails. - If you send emails daily, increase the volume faster than for a weekly sending. - If you send only to people who subscribe to your emails, you can go up with the limit faster. - Google deliverability guidelines are here, you can check those to get a better understanding. 💡 Important: The Ramp-Up mode is crucial for successful email delivery. Increasing the volume of sent emails too quickly after the Warm-Up will likely result in deliverability issues. By default, Ramp-Up mode is active for all newly added email accounts. With the current setup, you'll start with 10 emails per day, increasing by 3 emails daily until reaching 100: 💡 Important: To find the current state of your Ramp-Up, you can hover over the fire icon. You can see the details without having to go to the Safety tab. How it works To get a better understanding of how everything works, we will review an example with a starting amount of 10 and a Daily ramp-up value of 3: - Day 1 = Starting amount value = 10; - Day 2 = Starting amount value + Daily ramp-up value (10+3=13) - Day 3 = Day 2 + Daily ramp-up value (13+3=16) The value will keep increasing until the Total number of emails limit is reached. Once it is met, we will send a notification and the Daily Ramp-Up sub-section becomes inactive. The ramp-up for the account also stops. How is ramp-up different from warm-up? Warm-up is performed outside of Reply (provided via MailToaster), warm-up helps establish or rebuild a sender reputation for new or inactive email accounts by simulating natural email exchanges. Ramp-up is managed directly within Reply, and it gradually increases your daily sending volume to maintain stable performance and prevent deliverability issues. Best practices 1. Warm up your email account. 2. Enable the ramp-up mode for the email account once you've finished warming it up. 3. Keep the warm-up for the email account enabled while using the ramp-up mode. 4. Keep warm-up enabled even after the ramp-up is stopped for the email account as long as you're sending cold emails.

Last updated on Oct 16, 2026

How to warm up a new domain before sending cold emails

A recently purchased domain should be properly configured and warmed up before sending cold emails. Important: if you have an old domain that you are actively using for sending emails, and you have just created a new email account, you can still warm up your new email account for 1-2 weeks to create positive activity, and then start cold outreach. Step 1: Check DNS Check the domain records and spam score before you start your outbound sequences with Reply to avoid having your emails sent straight into a Spam folder. Step 2: Send warm emails for two weeks before sending cold outreach During the first 2-3 weeks, you will need to maintain correspondence with 'warm' contacts (friends, colleagues, etc.). These people should open your emails, report them as 'not spam' if the email was delivered to their Spam folder, reply to you, and forward your emails if possible. These are examples of positive interactions with your emails. Your warm contacts shouldn’t delete your emails, opt out, or click 'spam' as these are negative interactions. Positive interactions will help you build a good sending reputation. Also, try to send to a variety of email hosting providers, such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc. This is the very start of a successful and correct email account/domain warm-up. Step 3: Start your cold outreach and slowly increase the volumes The next stage is to slowly start cold emailing the email account using Reply. You can use the following features to automate the beginning of your cold outreach. Setting up automatic Ramp-up mode and controlling your sending speed You can easily control your sending speed and your daily increment by using two features: Daily Ramp-Up and Delay between each email sent (seconds). To adjust those settings, please: 1. Go to Settings tab -> Email accounts 2. Select an Email account 3. Scroll down to the section Safety Daily Ramp-Up: This mode helps you to automatically increase your sending volumes each day. With the default setup, you'll start with 10 emails per day, increasing by 3 emails daily until reaching 100: Note: To decide what the best starting amount is, consider two things: - After the warm-up is finished, begin with a comparable volume. For instance, if you were sending 50 warm-up emails, set the starting amount to 40-45 and the ramp-up value to 7-10. - If you proceed with warm-up and start your cold emails simultaneously, start with the lower amount. For example, if you're sending 50 emails per day during the warm-up, set the starting amount to 10 or 15 here to prevent a sudden increase in your sending volume. Limit of emails per minute: You can control how many emails are sent from your account each minute. With the default setup, each email will be sent with a random delay between 300 and 450 seconds: Note: You can also control your sending speed in Sequence settings. Email account Safety settings have a priority over the Sequence setting. To change speed settings for any sequence: 1. Open the Sequences page of your Reply account. 2. Click on a sequence that you want to change the settings for. 3. On the Settings tab, expand the General settings section. 4. Change the values in the Max number of emails (400 max) per day and Delay between each email sent (seconds) fields. Here’s an example setup that can help you safely increase your daily sending volume using Sequence settings: 1. Start by sending 15 emails per day with a 450-second delay, gradually increasing the number of emails and decreasing the delay over several days. 2. By Day 20, send 200 emails with a delay of at least 67 seconds, then maintain 200-250 emails per day until the end of the month. 3. Afterward, safely increase your daily limit to 400 emails.

Last updated on Oct 16, 2026

How to use the email quality check service

Email quality check is an AI-based feature that helps you write email templates with a higher chance of getting replies. It works anywhere in Reply where you create or edit emails. How it works Start typing or paste your email into the editor. Click on the email quality check button. When you pause for a moment, the system analyzes your text and shows results based on key metrics. - Subject length - Word count - Question count - Reading level - Positivity - Spam word count These metrics are combined into an overall recommendation, such as a high chance of receiving a response. Optimal ranges Each metric has a recommended range. Staying within these ranges can improve your reply rate. For example, the optimal word count is 59–111 words. Emails that are too short or too long are more likely to be ignored. 💡 Note that the text longer than 1000 characters is not analyzed. How to enable or disable the service The service is enabled by default. To turn off email quality check, navigate to Settings → Tools → Email quality check.  Metrics 1. Subject length Keep subject lines short and personal. Most emails are opened on mobile devices, where long subjects are cut off. The optimal length is 2–6 words. For follow-ups, you can also leave the subject empty. 2. Word count Short emails perform better. Aim for 59–111 words and write as if you are sending the email to one specific person. Avoid long, sales-heavy messages - they are often ignored. 3. Question count Your email should have a clear goal. If you want a reply, ask 1–2 simple questions. This makes it easier for the recipient to respond. 4. Reading level Make your message easy to follow. Use clear structure and logical flow. Simple words and shorter sentences improve readability. 5. Positivity Positive language increases engagement. Adding a few positive words can improve your chances of getting a reply. This metric is calculated using AI. 6. Spam word count This shows how many words in your email may trigger spam filters. To improve deliverability and reply rates, try to avoid these words.

Last updated on Oct 15, 2026

How to improve your Email Deliverability Score

The score value ranges from 0 (bad) to 10 (excellent). The higher your score is, the less chance you have to get noticed by spam filters. However, please note that the Mail Tester score is not a guarantee of inbox or spam delivery. You can manually check your email deliverability score using the mentioned service or ask our support team to help you. Checking email deliverability score manually If you choose to manually check your email deliverability score, go to the Mail Tester service and run their simple two-step procedure. When you get the result from Mail Tester, expand each section (+) to see the more detailed explanations. Critical warnings and how to solve them Below we will take a closer look at the most important warnings and give recommendations on how to deal with them. Section: SpamAssassin does not like you SpamAssassin is an anti-spam platform that provides a filter to classify emails and block spam. This filter includes a list of rules against which your message is checked. In Reply, emails sent from sequences contain both HTML and plain text as well as all necessary tags. In general, HTML warnings can be ignored since you are sending emails from a third-party app (Reply.io). Section: You're not fully authenticated Note: You can refer to the 'How to Set Up MX, A, rDNS, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC' article for provider-specific guidelines (such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.) and more detailed troubleshooting on authenticating your emails. This section contains a report on domain configuration. If you send emails from your domain, you need to make sure all necessary settings are configured correctly: SPF, DKIM, DMARC, rDNS, MX records, A record. Missing or incorrectly configured parameters lead to email deliverability issues. The above settings are domain settings, which means that: - To edit any of these records, you will need access to your hosting website. - Changing any of these records will affect every email address in your domain. SPF record warning SPF is a TXT record in your DNS that identifies the mail servers that are allowed to send emails on behalf of your domain. SPF is located in DNS records on your hosting website. Mail Tester will help you to determine if you set it properly and will point to the root of the problem if a misconfiguration is found. Note: Your mail provider is a required part of your SPF. If your mail provider is not listed in the SPF, then the mail provider is not authenticated. How to set SPF record (if you don't have one) The SPF record can be edited here: Your hosting website -> your account -> DNS manager for domain Most common settings for the SPF record: Type: TXT Hostname: @ TXT value: v=spf1 [mail provider value] ~all (other options: -all/?all) For instance, the SPF record for GSuite users is: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all The SPF record for Office 365 users is: v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all For other mail providers, visit their support section to check the SPF record you need to use. Important: - You must not exceed 10 DNS lookups in your SPF. You can read more about this limit here. - If you need to add multiple parameters to your SPF record, you can validate your syntax here before deployment. - There should be only one SPF record per domain. Multiple SPF records can cause deliverability issues. All values should be added to one line. For example, if you already have Mandrill SPF and need to authenticate GSuite, your future record should look like this: v=spf1 include:spf.mandrillapp.com include:_spf.google.com ~all Below you can find information on how to set SPF records for the most popular hosting websites: Godaddy: Add an SPF record WIX: Adding or Updating SPF Records in Your Wix Account Namecheap: How do I add TXT/SPF/DKIM/DMARC records for my domain? Bluehost: How To Setup a DNS SPF DKIM warning DKIM is an email authentication method to verify if an email was actually sent and authorized by the owner of the domain. DKIM is provided by your mail service, and it is not recommended to send emails without DKIM. - GSuite users can set DKIM using this guide. - Office 365 users can use the following MS guide. For other mail providers, visit their support section or ask your provider's support team to assist you with DKIM. DMARC warning The DMARC policy allows senders to indicate that their emails are protected by SPF and/or DKIM, and to give instructions if none of these authentication methods pass. DMARC should be configured in DNS. Make sure you have DKIM and SPF set before configuring DMARC. We recommend following these instructions to generate a DMARC record or use the Mail Tester recommendations. Section: Your message could be improved In most cases, you will see the same result unless you have a List-Unsubscribe header, which would make this section perfect. Section: You are listed in blacklists Mail Tester also checks if your sending IP address is on the most common blacklists. In case you find your IP address in any other blacklists, it is better to contact them directly and find out how to remove yourself from them. Section: Broken links - If you have any broken links listed in this section, please double check your links in the sequence or contact us via Live Chat. - Mail Tester will error your links if they are formatted without HTTP/HTTPS. Make sure you format your links properly. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact our support team.

Last updated on Oct 16, 2026

Why emails are going to spam and how to fix it

If your emails are landing in the spam folder, the first step to resolve the issue is identifying why they're being flagged as spam. Spam filters analyze various factors to understand if your email is safe, suspicious, or spam. Key triggers include: - Poor sender reputation - Spammy language in the subject or body - Misconfigured domain settings (e.g., missing SPF/DKIM/DMARC records) - High bounce rate - Lack of recipient engagement - Unusual sending behaviour Each email provider has its own unique spam filtering system. This means an email that reaches the inbox in one service might be flagged as spam by another email provider. Poor sender reputation Your sender reputation is like a trust score given to your domain or email address by mailbox providers. It’s based on how consistently and responsibly you’ve sent emails in the past. If your reputation is low, your emails might land in spam or get blocked altogether—even if your content is great. To protect your sending reputation: - Warm up your domain properly - Monitor your performance metrics regularly - Avoid spammy behavior Learn more about how to warm up a new domain before starting campaigns: How to warm up a new domain before sending cold emails Spammy language in the subject or body Spam filters are designed to detect phrases and formatting commonly used in unwanted or malicious emails. If your message includes these elements, there is a high chance it will be flagged and moved to the recipient’s spam folder or blocked entirely. Spammy content typically includes: - Overly promotional phrases like “Buy now,” “Act fast,” “100% free,” “Guaranteed results” - Excessive use of ALL CAPS, exclamation marks!!!, or symbols like $$$ - Misleading subject lines that don’t match the email content - Use of urgent or aggressive wording that pressures the recipient - High amount of links, including URL shorteners (like bit.ly), images, logos Domain setup Setting up proper domain authentication is essential before starting any email campaigns. Incorrect or incomplete settings can cause your emails to be marked as spam. Make sure your domain is authenticated according to your email provider’s requirements before starting the sending process. Note: Since Reply is not a mail server, you don’t need to add Reply.io to your domain authentication setup Learn more about domain setup here: How to set up MX, A, rDNS, SPF, DKIM and DMARC and authenticate your emails Bounce rate Mailbox providers track your bounce rate closely. A high bounce rate indicates poor sending practices, such as: - Sending to outdated or incorrect email addresses - Using purchased or scraped contact lists - Not verifying emails before sending When mailbox providers detect this behavior, they may lower your sending reputation, block your emails, filter them as spam, or even limit your sending volumes. To prevent a high bounce rate, take the following steps: 1. Check and update your prospect list regularly by removing invalid email addresses. Consider using additional validation to check the quality of your prospects before starting campaigns 2. Avoid purchased lists. These often contain old, inactive, or invalid addresses, and may even include spam traps 3. Monitor bounce reports. Analyze why emails are bouncing and take action to fix the issues quickly. Recipient engagement If users regularly ignore or delete your emails without opening them, that decreases your sender reputation. Here are some strategies to keep engagement high: - Segment your list by sending relevant content to specific audiences. - Remove unengaged users who haven’t opened emails in the last 3–6 months. - Use as much personalization as possible Sending behaviour Maintaining a consistent sending pattern is important to ensure stable deliverability. Avoid sudden spikes in volume, as they can trigger spam filters and harm your sender reputation. If you plan to scale up your outreach: - Increase your daily volume slowly by using ramp-up mode to automate this growth safely - Add more warm traffic - Send emails throughout the day with natural delays Here’s a good starting point for daily sending: Start with 15–20 emails per day, then gradually increase by 3-5 emails/day, with a delay of 300-450 seconds: Final tips before the start Always include an opt-out option in your emails. Giving recipients an easy way to unsubscribe isn’t just a best practice - it’s essential for keeping your emails out of the spam folder. A clear and visible opt-out link: - Lowers the chances of recipients marking your emails as spam - Helps maintain a strong and healthy sender reputation - Builds trust and shows respect for your audience Learn more about different opt-out options here: How do I set up my opt-out text/link and unsubscribe header? Use unique content across domains Avoid using the same email content across different domains. If one domain gets flagged, sending the same emails from other domains can also put their sending reputation at risk. The more unique and relevant your email feels to each recipient, the better your deliverability will be. How to Use Spintax for Personalized Email Outreach Advanced variables How to create and use custom variables AI variables Analyze your performance across different email providers If you notice a drop in performance metrics, check the stats by provider. If one provider shows lower results, consider reducing your sending volume to that email provider. For overall deliverability declines, use inbox placement testing tools to identify potential issues.

Last updated on Oct 16, 2026

How to Improve Email Open Rates

Over the past years, open tracking in email outreach has been a widely discussed and debated topic. The rise of privacy-focused features such as Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), along with tighter anti-tracking measures from many email providers, has led many to declare that open tracking is no longer reliable or relevant. And while it's true that open rates are no longer a fully reliable or accurate metric, that doesn't mean open tracking is entirely useless. In fact, open tracking can still offer a basic directional signal, helping you spot general trends in your outreach, such as whether emails are landing in inboxes, being ignored, or potentially going to spam. It's especially helpful during initial domain warm-up or when troubleshooting a sudden drop in performance. Here are some practical tips to help you get more opens and better results from your campaigns: Use creative subject lines Your subject line is the first thing recipients notice — make sure it leaves an impact. - Keep it clear and concise. Include up to 6 words in your subject line to express the goal of your email - Personalize your subject lines by including the recipient’s name, company, or something relevant to them - Spark curiosity to capture attention or offer value - A/B test: Try different options to see which works best for you For more information, check this article: How to create high-performing subject lines Avoid Spam Triggers Crafting the perfect email won’t help if it doesn’t reach the inbox. - Avoid excessive use of capital letters and exclamation points (e.g., “FREE!!!”) - Minimize the usage of words that can flag your email as spam, like “Free” or “Buy now.” 2024–2025 Deliverability Requirements (Gmail, Yahoo, and Office 365): - Authenticate your domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC - Add a one-click unsubscribe link - Maintain a spam complaint rate under 0.3% Learn how to monitor your spam complaint rate using Google Postmaster Tools: What is Spam Monitor & How to connect Postmaster to Reply? Focus on building a strong, targeted list of prospects - Segment your list by different factors, such as industry, behaviour, etc. The more customized your email is, the more likely it is to be opened. - Maintain the quality of your list by removing unengaged users (no opens in 3–6 months) - Use additional validation tools to keep your list clean and up to date, and reduce bounces Optimize the sending time Timing plays a big role in whether your email gets opened. - Test a range of send times. Tuesday mornings are commonly effective, but your results may differ. - Skip weekends and holidays unless your audience tends to engage during those periods. ✅ Best days: - Tuesday and Thursday tend to perform best overall, especially for B2B audiences. - Wednesday is also strong, often just slightly behind. - For B2C audiences, Saturday mornings can sometimes outperform weekdays, depending on the product. ✅ Best times: - Late morning (10–11 a.m.) — people have cleared early tasks and are more likely to check email. - Early afternoon (1–2 p.m.) — right after lunch, when inboxes get another check. - Midweek evenings (around 7–9 p.m.) can work for B2C if you’re catching people relaxing at home. ⚠ Avoid: - Monday mornings (inbox overload) - Friday afternoons (people mentally checked out) - Late nights (low engagement, often buried by morning) But here’s the key: testing matters. Different audiences, industries, and geographies can behave very differently, so A/B testing your send times is essential. Respect Consent & Compliance (GDPR, CAN-SPAM, etc.) Key CAN-SPAM Compliance Rules (from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission): - Use accurate sender info. Don’t mislead with your “From,” “To,” or reply-to addresses. - Be honest in subject lines. They must reflect the actual content of the email. - Clearly identify ads. If your message is promotional, make that obvious to recipients. - Include your physical address. A valid business mailing address must be visible in every email. - Provide a clear unsubscribe option. Let recipients easily opt out of future emails. - Honor opt-outs promptly. You must process unsubscribe requests within 10 business days and keep the opt-out link active for at least 30 days. - Stay responsible — even when outsourcing. You're still legally accountable for email campaigns sent by third-party vendors on your behalf. Monitor your sending reputation Your sending reputation isn’t the same across all email providers. Gmail, Outlook, and others evaluate it based on how their users interact with your emails. Understanding which providers your audience primarily uses allows you to focus your monitoring efforts more effectively. Regularly review your performance with each major provider to identify and address any deliverability issues early. To assess how you're performing with a specific provider, you can use the "Contact email provider" filter to segment prospects accordingly: Learn more: Why emails go to spam and how to fix it

Last updated on Oct 16, 2026

Why do my emails bounce?

A bounced email is an email that was rejected by a mail server and thus is not delivered to the final recipient. There are two types of bounced emails: - Hard bounces: permanently rejected emails - Soft bounces: temporary undeliverable emails How to figure out why the email bounced To understand why your emails bounced, you need to check the Delivery Status Notification message, also known as Non-Delivery Report or Non-Delivery Notification. It’s an automatically generated report that contains information on why the delivery attempt was unsuccessful. You can check your bounce reasons in several places: - Your mailbox (review the bounce notifications directly). - Reports page → hover over the Bounced metric to see the detailed breakdown. - People tab → export the full list of bounce reasons. Bounce email structure A bounce message typically contains: - general information about the problem - date and time of the incident - mail server that rejected email - error code that will help you understand the technical root of the problem - link to additional information on how to troubleshoot the issue Understanding the reasons of bounces We’ve grouped the bounces into several conditional categories. Below, you’ll find a list of these categories along with some examples. | Category | Example | Explanation | Action | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Undeliverable | 550 5.1.1.User unknown, Mailbox not found, No such user, Recipient address rejected, Invalid recipient | Invalid email / Mailbox disabled. The recipient’s email address does not exist or the mailbox has been deactivated and cannot receive messages. | Validate your prospect list prior sending. | | Mailbox full | 552 5.2.2Mailbox size limit exceeded, User has exceeded quota, Disk full, Recipient's mailbox is full, | The recipient’s mailbox has reached its storage limit and cannot accept new messages until space is freed up. | Try later or remove prospects from your contact list. | | Authentication failure | 550 5.7.1DMARC policy, DMARC check failed, rejected by DMARC, missing SPF record, no SPF record found | The receiving server could not verify the sender’s identity because one or more email authentication checks failed, so the message was rejected. | Check your email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) | | Spam rejection | 550 / 554Spam detected, Blocked by spam filter, Message flagged as spam, High probability of spam | The receiving server identified the message as suspicious or spam based on its filtering rules and refused to accept it. | Try changing your content, remove tracking or other links / images and try later | | Policy violation | 554 / 550 5.7.1Blocked by policy, Recipient policy, Administrative prohibition, Message rejected due to local policy | The message was rejected because it violated the recipient server’s local or administrative policies (e.g., content restrictions, security rules, or recipient-specific settings). | Contact these prospects by other means | | Temporary failure | 421 / 451Connection timed out, No answer from host, Server busy | The message could not be delivered due to a temporary issue on the recipient’s server (e.g., timeout, no response, server overload, or temporary system error) and may be retried later. | Try re-sending email later | | Sender's block: Gsuite | 550 5.4.5Daily sending quota exceededYou have reached a limit for sending mail. Your message was not sent. | Can occur when you suddenly increased your sending volume or received a lot of spam complaints from Gsuite recipients | Pause sending for the next 24-48 h, start with low volumes and increase slowly | | Sender's block: Office | Your message couldn't be delivered because you weren't recognized as a valid sender....'550 5.7.708 Service unavailable. Access denied, traffic not accepted from this IP. For more information, please go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=526653 AS(7230)Trial tenants: 550 5.7.232 - Your message can't be sent because your trial tenant has exceeded its daily limit for sending email to external recipients (tenant external recipient rate limit)Non-trial tenants: 550 5.7.233 - Your message can't be sent because your tenant exceeded its daily limit for sending email to external recipients (tenant external recipient rate limit) | Your provider considered your activity as suspicious and blocked the sending process.Office has introduced new sending limits per tenant | If you receive "..you were not recognized as a valid sender", navigate to How to Restore Your Office 365 Email Account After Suspension for a guidelineIf you receive "...Traffic not accepted from this IP...", pause your sending process for 1-2 days or contact MS support and share this bounce.In this case, you will still be able to send manual emails from your mailbox — the block applies only to third-party email automation.Please, refer to Introducing Exchange Online Tenant Outbound Email Limits article for details | | Other | | The bounces were not categorized into any category. | | You can also find the specific bounce category at People tab by using a Smart filter: For provider's block you can also use this filter: If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact our support team — we’ll be happy to assist you.

Last updated on Oct 16, 2026

How to set an Inbox filter for Google Workspace (Gsuite) & Microsoft Outlook mailboxes

You can now connect your email accounts to MailToaster directly from Reply and also perform basic email management within the platform. It’s a simple way to stay in control without leaving your existing workflow. Since warm-up is a peer-to-peer process, once you enable it for your email account, it will start sending and receiving emails with other warm-up users. To prevent your inbox from being flooded with unwanted messages, we recommend setting up an inbox filter. Below are detailed instructions on how to do this for Google Workspace (Gsuite) and Microsoft Outlook mailboxes. Copy an Inbox filter Each email account connected to the warm-up system gets an Inbox filter, a unique ID that you can use as a filter for your incoming emails. To copy an Inbox filter: 1. Go to Settings (Sequences in new UI) -> Email accounts -> select an account that is currently warmed-up -> go to Warm-Up page 2. Copy your custom filter ID - Inbox filter that is located in the upper right corner of the page. Set up an Inbox filter for Google Workspace (Gsuite) mailboxes 1. Copy an Inbox filter. 2. Go to your Gmail account and click the Settings button > See all settings: 3. In Filters and Blocked Addresses, click Create a new filter: 4. Paste your unique ID into the Has the words field and click Create filter: 5. Turn on the following checkboxes: - Skip the Inbox (Archive it) - Apply the label - Also apply filter to 0 matching conversations and create a new label to apply to your incoming emails. After the filter is created, all incoming warm-up emails will skip the inbox and be saved under your new label. Set up an Inbox filter for Microsoft Outlook mailboxes 1. Copy an Inbox filter. 2. Open your Outlook account and navigate to Settings > Filter: 3. Select Rules > Add new rule: 4. Select the condition "Message body includes" and paste your unique ID. 5. Select or create a folder under which your incoming warm-up emails will be stored. Click "Move to" and select the needed option. 6. Click Save. That's it. The filtering rule is created, and warm-up emails will skip your inbox.

Last updated on Oct 14, 2026

Troubleshooting a Missing Email Health Check Test

If you notice that your email health check didn’t go through, it likely means we never received your test email. This can happen for a variety of reasons — ranging from incorrect sending settings to delivery issues on your email provider’s side. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the most common causes and how to troubleshoot them step by step, so you can ensure your test gets delivered and your sending setup is properly validated. One of the most common reasons for a failed email health check is that your mail provider prevented the test email from being sent. This often happens silently, especially in corporate or tightly controlled email environments. Here’s how to check: 1. Look for a bounce message: Check the mailbox of the sender you used for the test. If the message was blocked or failed to deliver, you should see a bounce-back message from your provider. Look specifically for any bounce directed to [email protected] — this will help identify the root cause. If you see such bounce You may see this error code: '550 5.7.708 Service unavailable. Access denied, traffic not accepted from this IP. For more information, please go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=526653 AS(7230) Such a bounce can happen when you have a trial or a 3-month-old Office tenant and try to use email automation tools Please contact MS support and request permission to send emails via a third-party tool to resolve the issue. 2. Check the admin panel or email logs: If you have access to your mail provider’s admin console (like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace), go to the email logs or message trace section. Look for the test message — it might show up as blocked or stuck in the outbound quarantine zone. If it's quarantined, review the reason and release the message if needed. You may also need to whitelist the health check address or adjust your outbound policies to allow test messages through. After the issue is resolved, do not hesitate to re-launch the test: Feel free to contact us for any further assistance!

Last updated on Oct 15, 2026

How to set up MX, A, rDNS, SPF, DKIM and DMARC and authenticate your emails

When initiating any outreach, it is crucial to ensure that your domain is properly configured. Below, we will elaborate on the significance of each setting and provide you with a comprehensive list of guidelines on how to configure your domain. MX records To receive emails, your domain must have MX records properly set up. MX records specify mail server responsible for accepting emails. Note: if you use spam filters like Proofpoint or Mimecast, your MX records will point to them. While it is possible to send emails without MX records, the absence of these records will prevent you from receiving emails from others. Imagine MX records like postcode you use in real life: without it, you won't be able to accept any incoming mails or newspapers. MX records are typically provided by your email service provider and should be added to your DNS records at your hosting website. Find the process challenging? We have curated a collection of articles that can guide you through the configuration: How to set up MX records for Google workspace How to set up MX records for Office 365 How to set up MX records for any other mail provider [list] Email authentication: SPF, DKIM and DMARC It's critically important (especially with new Gmail and Yahoo updates 2024) to authenticate your emails before doing any outreach, even if you send emails directly from your mailbox. Why: - Deliverability: emails without authentication can be rejected or placed to spam. These are required settings by mail providers. - Protection: email authentication protects your emails from spoofing. Explore our carefully curated selection of articles designed to assist you in navigating through the configuration steps: How to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC: Google Workspace and GoDaddy How to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC: Google Workspace and Namecheap How to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC: Office 365 and Namecheap How to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC: other mail & hosting providers A and rDNS records Major mail providers like Google Workspace, Office 365, and others have their A and rDNS records configured, so there's no need to worry. If you deploy your own mail server, please ask your IT person to double-check those records, as they are essential for proper functionality and deliverability.

Last updated on Oct 22, 2026

How to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC: other mail & hosting providers

It's critically important, especially with the new Gmail and Yahoo updates in 2024, to authenticate your emails before engaging in any outreach, even if you send emails directly from your mailbox. Why: Deliverability: Emails without authentication can be rejected or placed in spam folders. These are mandatory settings enforced by mail providers. Protection: Email authentication safeguards your emails from spoofing. Note: Important! If you are uncertain about how to perform these actions or if you lack access to your hosting website, please contact your IT person or someone who manages your domain. You can also reach out to your hosting or mail provider support; they will assist you in configuring email authentication settings mentioned below. What: Email authentication consists of three parts: 1. SPF: Should include all mail servers (tools) that send emails on behalf of your domain. 2. DKIM: A digital signature that signs your emails and helps to verify their authenticity. 3. DMARC: Instructs the recipient's mail server on what to do with emails that fail SPF and DKIM. Note: These are domain settings that are propagated across your entire domain, affecting all mailboxes associated with that domain. Where: - your mail provider support or mail provider support section: contact them to get the correct SPF and DKIM values, since both of these records are specific for each mail provider. - your hosting website -> DNS: here you will add all 3 records. Your hosting website is a place where all your domain settings are located. Note: Reply is not an ESP (email service provider), that's why we do not provide our customers with SPF and DKIM. Those values need to be received from your mail provider. Step-by-step guide Step 1: Test your domain. Firstly, you need to understand if there is anything to be fixed. You need to check your current domain settings. Some useful tools that can help you: - Mail-tester tool: check the section "You are (not) fully authenticated". - EmailStuff - Dmarcian Check out How to improve your Email Deliverability Score article to get Mail-tester report explained. Step 2: fix your domain. Note: Use the drop down arrow to expand the details. - SPF record The correct record should follow several rules: - correct syntax - there should be only 1 record - should not exceed 10 DNS lookups - should contain all mail servers (mail tools) that send emails from your domain Please, contact your mail or hosting provider support to troubleshoot any issue with SPF record that you may face. - DKIM record DKIM is provided by your mail service, not by Reply.io. It's a pair of digital keys. One is stored at your mail provider's side (you don't see it), the second part is provided to you so that you can add it to your DNS. To get your DKIM and set it into your DNS, please contact your mail provider. If you use the same mail and hosting provider, they will assist you with both steps. If your hosting provider is different, you may need to take DKIM from your mail provider first and then ask hosting support for help. - DMARC record DMARC record instructs mail providers what to do with your emails if they fail the SPF / DKIM check. There are 3 options for DMARC policy: | Policy | Type | Details | | --- | --- | --- | | p=none | soft | It instructs mail providers to do nothing with emails that fail authentication. Does not protect you from spoofing. | | p=quarantine | strict | It instructs mail providers to place such emails to spam. Protects you from spoofing. | | p=reject | strict | It instructs mail providers to reject emails that fail authentication. Protects you from spoofing. | Note: Important! Please, do not use strict policy unless you are sure you mail authenticated all mail servers that send emails from your domain with SPF and DKIM. If not, your deliverability from unauthenticated servers will be hurt. How to set soft DMARC: DMARC can be rather complicated. If you want to fully use it, consider subscribing to any DMARC deployment tool to monitor your DMARC reports. Here is how you can set a very basic DMARC that can help you follow the requirements, but will not hurt you. Go to your Namecheap -> Domain list -> select your domain -> Advanced DNS (see SPF record section to details) and add the following TXT record: Type: TXT Host name: _dmarc TXT value: v=DMARC1; p=none; Step 3: Re-test your domain to see if everything is implemented properly.

Last updated on Oct 22, 2026

How to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC: Office 365 and Namecheap

It's critically important, especially with the new Gmail and Yahoo updates in 2024, to authenticate your emails before engaging in any outreach, even if you send emails directly from your mailbox. 🎥 Check out the video below to see how to set up DKIM for Office 365 accounts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP-B2ZmwmQ8 Why: Deliverability: Emails without authentication can be rejected or placed in spam folders. These are mandatory settings enforced by mail providers. Protection: Email authentication safeguards your emails from spoofing. Note: Important! If you are uncertain about how to perform these actions or if you lack access to your hosting website, please contact your IT person or someone who manages your domain. You can also reach out to your hosting or mail provider support; they will assist you in configuring email authentication settings mentioned below. What: Email authentication consists of three parts: 1. SPF: Should include all mail servers (tools) that send emails on behalf of your domain. 2. DKIM: A digital signature that signs your emails and helps to verify their authenticity. 3. DMARC: Instructs the recipient's mail server on what to do with emails that fail SPF and DKIM. Note: These are domain settings that are propagated across your entire domain, affecting all mailboxes associated with that domain. Where: - Office 365 Admin account to access admin centre: here you will get your DKIM part. - Your Namecheap website -> DNS: here you will add all 3 records. Your hosting website is a place where all your domain settings are located. Step-by-step guide: Step 1: Test your domain. Firstly, you need to understand if there is anything to be fixed. You need to check your current domain settings. Some useful tools that can help you: - Mail-tester tool: check the section "You are (not) fully authenticated". - EmailStuff - Dmarcian Check out How to improve your Email Deliverability Score article to get Mail-tester report explained. Step 2: fix your domain. Note: Use the drop down arrow to expand the details. - SPF record The correct record should follow several rules: - correct syntax - there should be only 1 record - should not exceed 10 DNS lookups - should contain all mail servers (mail tools) that send emails from your domain Below you will find several cases of SPF issues. Case 1: your domain has a missing SPF record: Go to your Namecheap account -> Domain list Find your domain and click "Manage": Go to Advanced DNS: Click "add new record", create the following record and hit "save": Type: TXT Host: @ TXT value: v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all Case 2: your domain has SPF, but it doesn't include your Office 365 value. In Advanced settings, please, find your current record -> click "Edit" and add your Office 365 value: include:spf.protection.outlook.com Case 3: SPF has more than 10 DNS lookups. SPF record has a limit of 10 DNS lookups. If you exceed this limit, your SPF check fails. To fix the issue, you need to review your record and remove values of the tools you don't use. For example, on the screenshot above domain is using Google workspace, but contains both Office 365 and Google Workspace values. To fix the issue, Office 365 needs to be removed. Case 4: multiple SPF records. Your domain can have only 1 SPF record. How it looks in your DNS: To fix the issue, combine 2 records into one and remove the extra record: Here is the correct setup: - DKIM record DKIM is provided by your mail service, not by Reply.io. It's a pair of digital keys. One is stored at your mail provider's side (you don't see it), the second part is provided to you so that you can add it to your DNS. See the details of setup below. DKIM guide from Microsoft can be found here. Login to your Office admin account and navigate to Admin centre: Click on "DKIM in Microsoft 365 Defender" and you will be transferred to the page with the list of your domains. Click on your domain: When you see that it's Disabled, click on the toggle to enable it and you will receive 2 records to add to your DNS. Please go to your hosting website and create 2 CNAME records with the values you have just received. They will look like this: After that give your DNS time to apply the changes ( ~30 min), then go back to DKIM in Microsoft 365 Defender and click on "Enable". Please contact Office 365 support or your IT person and ask to assist with DKIM setting! Note: For Office 365 accounts, purchased with GoDaddy you may need to use PowerShell to set up DKIM, since you don't have a full Admin portal. - DMARC record DMARC record instructs mail providers what to do with your emails if they fail SPF / DKIM check. There are 3 options of DMARC policy: | Policy | Type | Details | | --- | --- | --- | | p=none | soft | It instructs mail providers to do nothing with emails that fail authentication. Does not protect you from spoofing. | | p=quarantine | strict | It instructs mail providers to place such emails to spam. Protects you from spoofing. | | p=reject | strict | It instructs mail providers to reject emails that fail authentication. Protects you from spoofing. | Note: Important! Please, do not use strict policy unless you are sure you mail authenticated all mail servers that send emails from your domain with SPF and DKIM. If not, your deliverability from unauthenticated servers will be hurt. How to set soft DMARC: DMARC can be rather complicated. If you want to fully use it, consider subscribing to any DMARC deployment tool to monitor your DMARC reports. Here is how you can set a very basic DMARC that can help you follow the requirements, but will not hurt you. Go to your Namecheap -> Domain list -> select your domain -> Advanced DNS (see SPF record section for details) and add the following TXT record: Type: TXT Host name: _dmarc TXT value: v=DMARC1; p=none; Step 3: Re-test your domain to see if everything is implemented properly.

Last updated on Oct 22, 2026

How to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC: Google Workspace and Namecheap

It's critically important, especially with the new Gmail and Yahoo updates in 2024, to authenticate your emails before engaging in any outreach, even if you send emails directly from your mailbox. 🎥 Check out the video below to see how to set up DKIM for Google Workspace accounts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09jaulC5Hhg 🎥 Check out the video below to see how to set up SPF for your domain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8BvIzkaC94 Why: Deliverability: Emails without authentication can be rejected or placed in spam folders. These are mandatory settings enforced by mail providers. Protection: Email authentication safeguards your emails from spoofing. Note: Important! If you are uncertain about how to perform these actions or if you lack access to your hosting website, please contact your IT person or someone who manages your domain. You can also reach out to your hosting or mail provider support; they will assist you in configuring email authentication settings mentioned below. What: Email authentication consists of three parts: 1. SPF: Should include all mail servers (tools) that send emails on behalf of your domain. 2. DKIM: A digital signature that signs your emails and helps to verify their authenticity. 3. DMARC: Instructs the recipient's mail server on what to do with emails that fail SPF and DKIM. Note: These are domain settings that are propagated across your entire domain, affecting all mailboxes associated with that domain. Where: - Google Workspace admin account -> Admin panel -> DKIM : here you will get your DKIM part. - Your Namecheap website -> DNS: here you will add all 3 records. Your hosting website is a place where all your domain settings are located. Step-by-step guide: Step 1: Test your domain. Firstly, you need to understand if there is anything to be fixed. You need to check your current domain settings. Some useful tools that can help you: - Mail-tester tool: check the section "You are (not) fully authenticated". - EmailStuff - Dmarcian Check out How to improve your Email Deliverability Score article to get Mail-tester report explained. Step 2: fix your domain. Note: Use the drop down arrow to expand the details. - SPF record The correct record should follow several rules: - correct syntax - there should be only 1 record - should not exceed 10 DNS lookups - should contain all mail servers (mail tools) that send emails from your domain Below you will find several cases of SPF issues. Case 1: your domain has a missing SPF record: Go to your Namecheap account -> Domain list Find your domain and click "Manage": Go to Advanced DNS: Click "add new record", create the following record and hit "save": Type: TXT Host: @ TXT value: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all Case 2: your domain has SPF, but it doesn't include your Google Workspace value. In Advanced settings, please, find your current record -> click "Edit" and add your Gmail value: include:_spf.google.com Case 3: SPF has more than 10 DNS lookups. SPF record has a limit of 10 DNS lookups. If you exceed this limit, your SPF check fails. To fix the issue, you need to review your record and remove values of the tools you don't use. For example, on the screenshot above domain is using Google Workspace, but contains both Office 365 and Google Workspace values. To fix the issue, Office 365 needs to be removed. Case 4: multiple SPF records. Why can't I have multiple SPF records? SPF records must be consolidated into a single TXT record per domain, as having multiple records can lead to misconfigurations and cause SPF checks to fail. Your domain can have only 1 SPF record. How it looks in your DNS: To fix the issue, combine 2 records into one and remove the extra record: Here is the correct setup: - DKIM record DKIM is provided by your mail service, not by Reply.io. It's a pair of digital keys. One is stored at your mail provider's side (you don't see it), the second part is provided to you so that you can add it to your DNS. See the details of setup below. You can face several issues with DKIM: - no DKIM - your DKIM is generated, but not added to DNS, that's why your DKIM key can't be detected. - you can use a default Gmail DKIM and may want to generate your own (recommended). In all cases just follow the steps of setup and the issue will be fixed. Example: this is a default Google Workspace DKIM, most of the users will have it at once. You may want to generate your own. Note: to set your custom record, your Google Workspace account should be 24 to 72 hours old. To set your custom record, navigate to Google Workspace admin account -> Admin panel -> DKIM Select your domain: Then click on "Generate new record": Note: - you can keep your key 2048 bit length since most hosting providers support it. - you can use any selector you want You've got your DKIM value to add to your hosting website: Now go to your Namecheap -> Domain list -> select your domain -> Advanced DNS (see SPF record section for details) and save a new TXT record with the values copied from Google Workspace: Give your DNS time to update the record. It can take from a couple of minutes to 48h. To see if DNS has been updated, click on "Start authentication". You can try using this button from time to time until you stop seeing this error. You will see if DKIM is enabled properly here: - DMARC record DMARC record instructs mail providers what to do with your emails if they fail SPF / DKIM check. There are 3 options of DMARC policy: | Policy | Type | Details | | --- | --- | --- | | p=none | soft | It instructs mail providers to do nothing with emails that fail authentication. Does not protect you from spoofing. | | p=quarantine | strict | It instructs mail providers to place such emails to spam. Protects you from spoofing. | | p=reject | strict | It instructs mail providers to reject emails that fail authentication. Protects you from spoofing. | Note: Important! Please, do not use strict policy unless you are sure you mail authenticated all mail servers that send emails from your domain with SPF and DKIM. If not, your deliverability from unauthenticated servers will be hurt. How to set soft DMARC: DMARC can be rather complicated. If you want to fully use it, consider subscribing to any DMARC deployment tool to monitor your DMARC reports. Here is how you can set a very basic DMARC that can help you follow the requirements, but will not hurt you. Go to your Namecheap -> Domain list -> select your domain -> Advanced DNS (see SPF record section for details) and add the following TXT record: Type: TXT Host name: _dmarc TXT value: v=DMARC1; p=none; Step 3: Re-test your domain to see if everything is implemented properly.

Last updated on Oct 22, 2026

How to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC: Google Workspace and GoDaddy

It's critically important, especially with the new Gmail and Yahoo updates in 2024, to authenticate your emails before engaging in any outreach, even if you send emails directly from your mailbox. 🎥 Check out the video below to see how to set up DKIM for Google Workspace accounts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09jaulC5Hhg 🎥 Check out the video below to see how to set up SPF for your domain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8BvIzkaC94 Why: Deliverability: Emails without authentication can be rejected or placed in spam folders. These are mandatory settings enforced by mail providers. Protection: Email authentication safeguards your emails from spoofing. Note: Important! If you are uncertain about how to perform these actions or if you lack access to your hosting website, please contact your IT person or someone who manages your domain. You can also reach out to your hosting or mail provider support; they will assist you in configuring email authentication settings mentioned below. What: Email authentication consists of three parts: 1. SPF: Should include all mail servers (tools) that send emails on behalf of your domain. 2. DKIM: A digital signature that signs your emails and helps to verify their authenticity. 3. DMARC: Instructs the recipient's mail server on what to do with emails that fail SPF and DKIM. Note: These are domain settings that are propagated across your entire domain, affecting all mailboxes associated with that domain. Where: - Google Workspace Admin Account: Navigate to Admin Panel -> DKIM; here, you will find your DKIM settings. - Your GoDaddy Website: Access DNS settings; here, you will add all three records. Your hosting website is the central location for all your domain settings. Step-by-step guide: Step 1: Test your domain. Firstly, you need to understand if there is anything to be fixed. You need to check your current domain settings. Some useful tools that can help you: - Mail-tester tool: check the section "You are (not) fully authenticated". - EmailStuff - Dmarcian Check out How to improve your Email Deliverability Score article to get Mail-tester report explained. Step 2: fix your domain. - SPF record The correct record should follow several rules: - correct syntax - there should be only 1 record - should not exceed 10 DNS lookups - should contain all mail servers (mail tools) that send emails from your domain To perform any actions with your SPF: Sign in to your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio -> Go to "My Products" and select your domain -> Select DNS to view and edit your DNS records. Below you will find several cases of SPF issues. Case 1: your domain has a missing SPF record: In GoDaddy DNS editor page, click "Add", create the following record and hit "save": Type: TXT Host: @ TXT value: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all Case 2: your domain has SPF, but it doesn't include your Google Workspace value. In GoDaddy DNS editor please, find your current record -> click "Edit" and add your Gmail value: include:_spf.google.com Case 3: SPF has more than 10 DNS lookups. SPF record has a limit of 10 DNS lookups. If you exceed this limit, your SPF check fails. To fix the issue, you need to review your record and remove values of the tools you don't use. For example, on the screenshot above domain is using Google Workspace, but contains both Office 365 and Google Workspace values. To fix the issue, Office 365 needs to be removed. Case 4: multiple SPF records. Your domain can have only 1 SPF record. How it looks in your DNS: To fix the issue, combine 2 records into one and remove the extra record: Here is the correct setup: - DKIM record DKIM is provided by your mail service, not by Reply.io. It's a pair of digital keys. One is stored at your mail provider's side (you don't see it), the second part is provided to you so that you can add it to your DNS. See the details of setup below. You can face several issues with DKIM: - no DKIM - your DKIM is generated, but not added to DNS, that's why your DKIM key can't be detected. - you can use a default Gmail DKIM and may want to generate your own (recommended). In all cases just follow the steps of setup and the issue will be fixed. Example: this is a default Google Workspace DKIM, most users will have it from the start. You may want to generate your own. Note: to set your custom record, your Google Workspace account should be 24 to 72 hours old. To set your custom record, navigate to Google Workspace admin account -> Admin panel -> DKIM Select your domain: Then click on "Generate new record": Note: - you can keep your key 2048 bit length since most hosting providers support it. - you can use any selector you want You've got your DKIM value to add to your hosting website: Now go to your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio -> select your domain -> DNS (see SPF record section for details) and save a new TXT record with the values copied from Google Workspace: Give your DNS time to update the record. It can take from a couple of minutes to 48h. To see if DNS has been updated, click on "Start authentication". You can try using this button from time to time until you stop seeing this error. You will see if DKIM is enabled properly here: - DMARC record DMARC record instructs mail providers what to do with your emails if they fail SPF / DKIM check. There are 3 options of DMARC policy: | Policy | Type | Details | | --- | --- | --- | | p=none | soft | It instructs mail providers to do nothing with emails that fail authentication. Does not protect you from spoofing. | | p=quarantine | strict | It instructs mail providers to place such emails in spam. Protects you from spoofing. | | p=reject | strict | It instructs mail providers to reject emails that fail authentication. Protects you from spoofing. | Note: Important! Please, do not use strict policy unless you are sure you have authenticated all mail servers that send emails from your domain with SPF and DKIM. If not, your deliverability from unauthenticated servers will be hurt. To gradually implement stricter policies, start with p=none, then move to p=quarantine, and finally to p=reject as you validate your sources. How to set soft DMARC: DMARC can be rather complicated. If you want to fully use it, consider subscribing to any DMARC deployment tool to monitor your DMARC reports. Here is how you can set a very basic DMARC that can help you follow the requirements, but will not hurt you. Go to your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio -> select your domain -> DNS (see SPF record section for details) and add the following TXT record: Type: TXT Host name: _dmarc TXT value: v=DMARC1; p=none; Step 3: Re-test your domain to see if everything is implemented properly.

Last updated on Oct 22, 2026

How to set up MX records for Office 365

Here is a guide on how you can check your MX records and configure them if they are not set. Note: Important! If you are not sure how to perform these actions or you don't have access to your hosting website, please, contact your IT person or to someone who managed your domain. You can also speak to your hosting or mail provider support - they will also help you to configure email authentication settings mentioned below. Most common issues with MX records - they are absent. - they route to your old mail provider while you have switched to a new one. - they are incorrect or route to two different mail providers. How to check your MX records Use any MX lookup online tool, for example: - MXtoolbox - EmailStuff - NSlookup.io To double-check and confirm the issue, you can also send an email from any other address to your business email. If you don't receive any emails, this can be a sign of an issue. Note: It's important to distinguish between terms such as mail provider (service) and hosting provider (service). Most common hosting providers: - Namecheap - GoDaddy - 1&1 IONOS - OVH - Cloudflare - Google Domains *Some hosting providers also offer email services. Most common email providers: - Google Workspace - Office 365 - Zoho - GoDaddy Mail - Namecheap Mail Setting up Office 365 MX Record Values 1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin centre and select Show all > Settings > Domains. Open your domain and check if you have your MX records. Click on MX records to get the detailed information: If your MX records are not correct or not set, you can now start the configuration. In a new browser tab, go to your DNS hosting provider, and then find where you manage your DNS settings (e.g., Zone File Settings, Manage Domains, Domain Manager, DNS Manager). Tip: Office 365 can identify your hosting provider: Now add values you have received from Office 365 at the previous step: If you use Namecheap, go to Advanced settings of your domain -> Mail settings -> and select Custom MX Enter MX records and hit Save all changes: You can also use this button to go step-by-step process of domain verification with Microsoft: GoDaddy users can find the guide here: GoDaddy: Add an MX record You can use the same guide for any other hosting website since most hosting websites are structured the same way: Domains -> select a domain -> Manage DNS / DNS zone editor -> add MX. Replacing MX Records If you have switched your mail providers, please do not forget to remove MX records that belong to your previous mail provider and add MX records that route to your new email provider; otherwise, you will not be able to receive emails. To do this: - remove your previous values by deleting the corresponding records. - add new records using the guide above.

Last updated on Oct 22, 2026

How to set up MX records for Google workspace

Here is a guide on how you can check your MX records and configure them if they are not set. Most common issues with MX records - They are absent. - They route to your old mail provider while you have switched to a new one. - They are incorrect or route to two different mail providers. How to check your MX records Use any MX lookup online tool, for example: - MXtoolbox - EmailStuff - NSlookup.io To double-check and confirm the issue, you can also send an email from any other address to your business email. If you don't receive any emails, this can be a sign of an issue. Note: It's important to distinguish between terms such as mail provider (service) and hosting provider (service). Most common hosting providers: - Namecheap - GoDaddy - 1&1 IONOS - OVH - Cloudflare - Google Domains *Some hosting providers also offer email services. Most common email providers: - Google Workspace - Office 365 - Zoho - GoDaddy Mail - Namecheap Mail Correct Google Workspace MX Record Values Your MX records will differ depending on when you signed up for Google Workspace. Typically, MX setup is performed as one of the steps during the sign-up process. However, if you've missed this step, you can find the correct values in the following article How to add them to your hosting website Some hosting providers, such as Namecheap, have a pre-set of Gmail MX records. Navigate to Domains -> select your domain -> Manage -> Advanced DNS, and scroll down to Mail settings: If you use any other hosting provider Check out the Google Workspace guide for different hosting providers: Activate Gmail for Google Workspace (host-specific steps)

Last updated on Oct 22, 2026