Email Authentication · SPF

How to set up SPF records: step-by-step guide (2026)

MailMaid Academy · Updated January 15, 2026 · 1 min read DMARC pass

Short answer

To set up SPF records: Inventory every service that sends mail as your domain: your ESP, CRM, helpdesk, billing system, and internal mail server; Collect each vendor's SPF include mechanism (for example include:_spf.google.com) from their documentation; Publish one TXT record at the root of the domain starting with v=spf1, listing each include, then ending with ~all (softfail) while testing. Then verify with a lookup tool that the record resolves and stays under 10 DNS lookups and 255 characters per string.

Without SPF, any server can claim to send as your domain. With a broken SPF record, legitimate mail fails authentication and lands in spam. SPF is also one of the two alignment paths DMARC relies on.

How to implement SPF records#

Inventory every service that sends mail as your domain: your ESP, CRM, helpdesk, billing system, and internal mail server.
Collect each vendor's SPF include mechanism (for example include:_spf.google.com) from their documentation.
Publish one TXT record at the root of the domain starting with v=spf1, listing each include, then ending with ~all (softfail) while testing.
Verify with a lookup tool that the record resolves and stays under 10 DNS lookups and 255 characters per string.
Move to -all once DMARC reports confirm all legitimate sources pass.

Example SPF record

example.com.  IN TXT  "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:sendgrid.net ip4:203.0.113.10 -all"

How to verify it worked#

Send a test message to seed mailboxes at Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo, then inspect the Authentication-Results and delivery headers. Repeat after any DNS or sending-platform change.

Common mistakes#

Exceeding the 10-lookup limit, which causes a permerror and effectively disables SPF.
Publishing two SPF records on one domain; receivers treat this as a permanent failure.
Forgetting that SPF checks the Return-Path (envelope sender), not the visible From address, so forwarded mail often fails.
Using +all or leaving ?all in production, which authorizes everyone.

Frequently asked questions#

Does SPF alone stop spoofing?

No. SPF validates the envelope sender, which spoofers can set to their own domain while forging the visible From. DMARC closes that gap by requiring alignment.

What does ~all versus -all mean?

~all is softfail: receivers mark but usually accept. -all is hardfail: receivers may reject. Start with ~all, graduate to -all once DMARC data is clean.

How do I fix 'too many DNS lookups'?

Remove unused includes, replace includes with ip4/ip6 mechanisms where vendors publish static ranges, or use an SPF flattening service.