How to Set Up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for Your Domain Email
Keep your emails out of spam: check MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your domain, turn them on from the dashboard or copy the records to your DNS provider.
To stop your emails from landing in spam, make sure the four email checks of your domain are green: MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC. In the SolumeCore dashboard, the Deliverability section shows all four at a glance and gives you a button to fix each one. If your DNS lives with us, most fixes are one click; if it is somewhere else, the dashboard shows the exact record to copy.
What each check does
Gmail and Outlook look at four things before trusting a message that claims to come from your domain:
| Check | What it does |
|---|---|
| Receiving email (MX) | Says which server receives the email sent to your domain, so mail reaches your mailboxes. |
| Sender list (SPF) | Lists which servers may send email for your domain. Without it, your messages are more likely to go to spam. |
| Signature (DKIM) | Adds a digital signature to every message, which proves nobody changed it on the way. |
| Protection (DMARC) | Tells other servers what to do with email that pretends to be yours, and sends you reports. |
Check your domain
- Sign in to the SolumeCore dashboard, open Web hosting (under Servers) and select your hosting.
- Open the Email tab and then the Deliverability section.
- If your hosting has more than one domain, choose the domain from the selector at the top right.
- Read the result. With all four green you see "All four in green: your email is in great shape". Otherwise it tells you how many things are left to fix.
The Overview tab also shows a small summary of these four lights in its email card.
Fix what is not green
If your domain uses SolumeCore nameservers
- MX: click Open DNS zone to review the records. If you just connected the domain, wait for the DNS to propagate and check again. See Point a domain to web hosting.
- SPF: click Fix. A window shows the TXT record to add, with its Name and Value. Add it in Domain & DNS, then DNS zone, and click Check again.
- DKIM: click Turn on DKIM. The dashboard creates the key and publishes the record in your zone. The status may be "No key created yet" before you do it.
- DMARC: see the next section.
If your DNS is somewhere else
The dashboard warns that your DNS is managed elsewhere, so fixes are records you copy into your DNS provider.
- Click Fix next to the check. A window shows the record Name and Value with copy buttons.
- Create that TXT record at your DNS provider (for DKIM, first click Turn on DKIM if it asks for it, then copy the record shown).
- Save it, come back and click Check again. It can take a few minutes to show up.
Keep only one SPF record per domain. If you already have an SPF record because you also send email through another service, merge them into a single one instead of adding a second.
Set up DMARC
- In Protection (DMARC), click Set up DMARC. If it already exists, the button says Change DMARC.
- In Email that fails the checks, choose what should happen. Just report is selected by default:
- Just report: nothing is blocked; you only receive reports.
- Send to spam: failing messages are moved to spam.
- Reject: failing messages are refused.
- In Send reports to (optional), type an email address to receive the daily summaries from Gmail, Outlook and others.
- Check The record, the exact TXT record that will be published at
_dmarcon your domain, and click Set up DMARC. A message confirms that DMARC was published. It takes a few minutes to show up.
If your DNS is somewhere else, the window does not publish anything: it shows the Name and Value of the TXT record, and you create it at your DNS provider.
Start with Just report for a couple of weeks. If one of your systems sends email without being included in SPF (a newsletter service, a CRM, a contact form), a stricter policy would lose those messages.
Troubleshooting
DKIM shows "Published, but doesn't match"
The record in your DNS differs from the key we generated. Copy the value again from the Fix window and replace the old record. If it says "Published twice", delete the duplicate.
The check stays red after I saved the record
DNS changes take time. Wait a few minutes (up to an hour in some providers) and click Check again. Use the propagation check to confirm that the record is visible.
I use Cloudflare
Create the TXT records as usual. The orange cloud proxy only applies to web records such as A and CNAME, and mail records must be DNS only.
My email still goes to spam
Green checks help a lot, but they do not guarantee inbox delivery. Avoid sending from a brand-new domain in bulk, do not send spam-like content, and ask recipients to mark your messages as not spam.
FAQ
Do I need all four checks?
Yes, ideally. Gmail and Outlook trust a domain that has receiving (MX), SPF, DKIM and DMARC in place.
Which DMARC policy should I use?
Start with Just report and move to Send to spam or Reject once you have confirmed that all your legitimate senders pass the checks.
Where do I get the DMARC reports?
At the email address you typed in Send reports to. They are daily summaries from Gmail, Outlook and other providers.
Does this work for addon domains too?
Yes. Choose each domain in the selector of the Deliverability section and check it separately.
Related articles
- Create an email account in cPanel
- Set up email forwarding on web hosting
- Edit DNS records
- Check DNS propagation
Want email on your own domain with these checks built into your dashboard? See SolumeCore web hosting.