Domains

Manage your DNS: SPF record

Definitions

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is an email authentication system that uses DNS to check if a mail server is authorized to send emails from your domain name.

DNS (Domain Name System) records are like an address book entry that tell the internet where to find and how to interact with your domain, subdomain, email, and other online services.

Before you start

‼️ READ HERE FIRST SPF record management depends on your email service and DNS setup, read the descriptions below to use the correct steps.

Scenario A

  • ✉️ Email Service: Your email is hosted with us, created and managed in our web hosting control panel.

🤔 What do I do? SPF is automatically activated. No action is needed, you don’t need to do anything.

Scenario B

  • ✉️ Email Service: Your email is hosted with us, created and managed in our web hosting control panel.
  • 🌐 DNS: Your domain uses external DNS or CDN providers (like Cloudflare).

🤔 What do I do? Follow the steps under Scenario B to activate SPF.

Scenario C

  • ✉️ Email Service: Your email is hosted by an external provider, but not Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.

🤔 What do I do? Follow the steps under Scenario C to activate SPF.

Scenario D

  • ✉️ Email Service: Your email is hosted by Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
  • 🌐 DNS: Your domain uses external DNS or CDN providers (like Cloudflare).

🤔 What do I do? Follow the steps under Scenario D to activate SPF.

Step by step

Scenario B

In this example, we’ll activate our SPF record on Cloudflare. You can use these steps as a guideline for any external DNS provider.

1. Log in to your hosting control panel

2. From the top right, click the down arrow ∨ and choose the domain you want to access the SPF record for

3. Click on the DNS Zones button

4. Under the Value column, look for the DNS entry that starts with v=spf1 – this is your SPF record. Keep your web browser window open here.

5. Open a new web browser window, and log in to your external DNS provider’s user dashboard. In our example, we’ll log into our Cloudflare dashboard.

6. Go to the DNS management section of your domain name and select to add a new TXT record OR edit the existing SPF record if it already exists.

⚠️ Note: SPF records are considered as TXT records in DNS zones.

7. Enter the name of the SPF record, which will always be your domain name, for example:

infoceptor.com

8. Enter the entire content of the SPF record from your Value column that starts with v=spf1. For example, our entire SPF value is:

v=spf1 a mx ip4:70.38.95.141 include:relay.mailchannels.net ~all

⚠️ Note: You will see your SPF record within quotations ” ” on your hosting control panel – do NOT put these quotations in when inputting the content of your SPF record at your DNS provider.

9. Save your TXT record to activate SPF on your domain name at your DNS provider

  • Here is one example of the process. In this example, we will add a new TXT record to activate our SPF record.
  • Here is another example of the process. In this example, we have an existing SPF record, so we will edit it to activate our SPF record.

Scenario C

1. Contact your email service provider and ask them for the SPF record for your domain name

⚠️ Note: We do not have the SPF record for your domain, only your email service provider does.

2. Once you have the SPF record for your domain, log in to your hosting control panel with us

3. From the top right, click the down arrow ∨ and choose the domain you want to access the SPF record management for

4. Click on the DNS Zones button

5. Under the Value column, look for the DNS entry that starts with v=spf1 – this is the SPF entry that needs to be changed to the SPF record your email provider gave you. Click the pencil icon to the right of this entry.

6. On the Edit Record popup, click to check the box next to Edit Manually

7. Delete the entire SPF record and put in the SPF record your email provider gave you in its place. Once the SPF record value is updated, click the Save button to apply changes.

  • Here is an example of the process, in our example, we will edit our record to a fictitious SPF record:
v=spf1 include:example.com ~all

Scenario D

Google Workspace

In this example, we’ll activate our Google Workspace SPF record on Cloudflare. You can use these steps as a guideline for any external DNS provider.

1. Google Workspace email must be activated on your domain, and Google MX records should already be set up in your DNS zone at your DNS provider (Cloudflare, etc.)

⚠️ Note: If you are unsure about this step, contact Google and your DNS provider, as they are your email and DNS service providers.

2. Activate Google Workspace email records on your domain via our hosting control panel to generate your Google SPF record. Follow the steps in this guide: Activate Google Workspace email for your domain

3. From the top right, click the down arrow ∨ and choose the domain you want to access the Google Workspace SPF record for

4. Click on the DNS Zones button

5. Under the Value column, look for the DNS entry that starts with v=spf1 – this is your Google Workspace SPF record. Keep your web browser window open here.

6. Open a new web browser window, and log in to your external DNS provider’s user dashboard. In our example, we’ll log into our Cloudflare dashboard.

7. Go to the DNS management section of your domain name and select to add a new TXT record OR edit the existing SPF record if it already exists.

⚠️ Note: SPF records are considered as TXT records in DNS zones.

8. Enter the name of the SPF record, which will always be your domain name. For example, our domain name is:

infoceptor.com

9. Enter the entire content of the SPF record from your Value column that starts with v=spf1. For example, our entire Google Workspace SPF value is:

v=spf1 a mx ip4:70.38.95.141 include:relay.mailchannels.net include:_spf.google.com -all

⚠️ Note: You will see your SPF record within quotations ” ” on your hosting control panel – do NOT put these quotations in when inputting the content of your SPF record at your DNS provider.

10. Save your TXT record to activate the Google Workspace SPF on your domain name at your DNS provider

  • Here is one example of the process. In this example, you’ll see our Google MX records already exist in the DNS zone and we’ll add a new TXT record to activate our Google Workspace SPF record.
  • Here is another example of the process. In this example, you’ll see our Google Workspace MX records already exist in the DNS zone and we have an existing SPF record too, so we will edit it to activate our Google Workspace SPF record.

Microsoft 365

In this example, we’ll activate our Microsoft 365 SPF record on Cloudflare. You can use these steps as a guideline for any external DNS provider.

1. Microsoft 365 email must be activated on your domain, and Microsoft 365 MX and CNAME records should already be set up in your DNS zone at your DNS provider (Cloudflare, etc.)

⚠️ Note: If you are unsure about this step, contact Microsoft and your DNS provider, as they are your email and DNS service providers.

2. Activate Microsoft 365 email records on your domain via our hosting control panel to generate your Microsoft SPF record. Follow the steps in this guide: Activate Microsoft 365 email for your domain

3. From the top right, click the down arrow ∨ and choose the domain you want to access the Microsoft 365 SPF record for

4. Click on the DNS Zones button

5. Under the Value column, look for the DNS entry that starts with v=spf1 – this is your Microsoft 365 SPF record. Keep your web browser window open here.

6. Open a new web browser window, and log in to your external DNS provider’s user dashboard. In our example, we’ll log into our Cloudflare dashboard.

7. Go to the DNS management section of your domain name and select to add a new TXT record OR edit the existing SPF record if it already exists.

⚠️ Note: SPF records are considered as TXT records in DNS zones.

8. Enter the name of the SPF record, which will always be your domain name. For example, our domain is:

infoceptor.com

9. Enter the entire content of the SPF record from your Value column that starts with v=spf1. For example, our entire Microsoft 365 SPF value is:

v=spf1 a mx ip4:70.38.95.141 include:relay.mailchannels.net include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all

⚠️ Note: You will see your SPF record within quotations ” ” on your hosting control panel – do NOT put these quotations in when inputting the content of your SPF record at your DNS provider.

10. Save your TXT record to enable SPF on your domain name at your DNS provider

  • Here is one example of the process. In this example, you’ll see our Microsoft 365 MX and CNAME records already exist in the DNS zone and we’ll add a new TXT record to activate our Microsoft 365 SPF record.
  • Here is another example of the process. In this example, you’ll see our Microsoft 365 MX and CNAME records already exist in the DNS zone and we have an existing SPF record too, so we will edit it to activate our Microsoft 365 SPF record.