SPF Record Checker
Enter any domain to retrieve and validate its SPF record. See the full record value, each mechanism explained, and whether the configuration is correct.
What Is an SPF Record?
An SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record is a DNS TXT record that authorizes specific mail servers to send email on behalf of a domain. It is one of the three core email authentication protocols, alongside DKIM and DMARC. When a message arrives, the receiving mail server queries the sending domain's SPF record to verify that the delivering IP address is authorized.
SPF is fundamental to email deliverability. Without a valid SPF record, emails from your domain are more likely to be marked as spam or rejected entirely. Most major inbox providers — Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo — consider SPF results as a primary trust signal. Google and Yahoo now require SPF as part of their bulk sender requirements.
An SPF record uses a set of mechanisms to describe authorized senders. Common mechanisms include ip4 and ip6 (specific IP addresses or ranges), mx (the domain's mail servers), and include (delegating to another domain's SPF record). The record ends with an all mechanism that defines what to do with senders not explicitly listed: ~all (softfail), -all (hardfail), or ?all (neutral).
SPF Mechanisms Explained
ip4
Authorizes a specific IPv4 address or CIDR range. Example: ip4:203.0.113.1 or ip4:203.0.113.0/24.
ip6
Authorizes a specific IPv6 address or range. Example: ip6:2001:db8::1.
mx
Authorizes the mail servers listed in the domain's MX records. Useful when your outgoing and incoming mail servers are the same.
include
Imports and evaluates another domain's SPF record. Used to authorize third-party senders like Google Workspace or SendGrid.
a
Authorizes the IP addresses from the domain's A or AAAA records. Useful for web servers that also send mail.
all
A catch-all that applies to senders not matched by any other mechanism. Prefixed with ~(softfail), -(hardfail), or ?(neutral).
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What does it mean if a domain has no SPF record?
A domain without an SPF record fails SPF checks. Receiving servers treat this as a neutral result, but combined with other signals it increases spam likelihood. Google and Yahoo now require SPF records for all bulk senders. Any domain that sends email should have an SPF record published.
2. What happens if a domain has multiple SPF records?
Having two or more TXT records starting with v=spf1 on the same domain causes an SPF permanent error (permerror). SPF evaluation fails entirely, and all email from that domain will fail SPF. You must combine all rules into a single SPF record.
3. What does SPF fail mean?
SPF fail means the delivering IP address is not authorized in the domain's SPF record. The result depends on the all mechanism: ~all causes a softfail (suspicious but typically still delivered), while -all causes a hardfail (usually rejected or sent to spam). A neutral ?all result has no effect either way.
4. What is a permerror in SPF?
A permerror (permanent error) occurs when SPF cannot be evaluated due to a configuration problem — most commonly because the domain has more than one SPF record, or the record has too many DNS-looking mechanisms (over 10). Fix permerrors immediately as they cause all email from your domain to fail SPF.
5. How many include directives can an SPF record have?
SPF allows a maximum of 10 DNS lookups during evaluation. Each include, a, mx, ptr, and exists mechanism counts as one lookup, and nested includes within those also count. Exceeding 10 total lookups results in a permerror.
6. How do I fix an SPF record that is too long?
If your SPF record is approaching the 10-lookup limit, consider SPF flattening — resolving all includes to their actual IP addresses and replacing the include mechanisms with direct ip4/ip6 entries. This reduces lookup count to zero for those entries, but you will need to update the record whenever your provider changes their IP ranges.
Explorer plus de fonctionnalités
Découvrez toutes les fonctionnalités puissantes qu'offre BillionVerify
Complete your email authentication setup
SPF is step one. Pair it with DKIM and DMARC to fully protect your domain. Then keep your list clean with BillionVerify email verification.
100 free verifications daily · 99.9% SMTP accuracy · Instant API access · No credit card required