MX: who receives mail
The MX record names the servers that receive mail for the domain. We check that each has an address and reverse DNS: without it, many recipients treat mail from the server as spam.
Email settings checker for your domain
Mail going to spam or not arriving at all? We check who receives mail for the domain, whether your servers are allowed to send it, whether messages are signed and whether any address is blacklisted. The result is a score: how many of nine items are set up and what to fix in the rest.
- Finds the usual spam causes: no DMARC, two SPF records, a blacklisted address
- Explains every finding and says where to fix it
- Share the result: the link opens the same check
- Six checks in one run
- Scored out of nine
- Free, no account
Check mail by domain name
You can paste a whole email address too: we take the part after @. The check takes up to 20 seconds: we query DNS and blacklists and connect to the domain’s mail servers.
What the email check covers
Six parts, and any one of them can send a message to spam on its own. The order is the one the recipient follows.
SPF: who may send
A list of servers allowed to send mail as the domain. There must be one record within 10 DNS lookups, and these two mistakes are the most common.
DKIM: the message signature
The mail server signs every message with a key, and the recipient checks the signature against the public key in DNS. We look for the key under common selectors or the one you enter.
DMARC: the rule for forgeries
Tells the recipient what to do with mail that fails SPF and DKIM: let it through, send it to spam or reject it. Since 2024 Gmail and Yahoo require it from all bulk senders.
Blacklists
We match the mail server addresses against eight open lists, including SpamCop, UCEPROTECT and PSBL. While an address is listed, many recipients reject mail from it.
Encryption on the server
We connect to the domain’s mail servers on port 25 and see whether they offer STARTTLS and whether their certificate is valid. Without encryption, mail crosses the network as plain text.
Common questions about domain email
Why mail goes to spam, where to find the DKIM selector and which DMARC policy to start with.
Why does mail from my domain go to spam?
Usually for one of three reasons. The recipient can’t confirm that your server sent the message: there is no SPF record, DKIM signature or DMARC record, or one of them is wrong. The address of the sending server is on a blacklist. Or that address has no reverse DNS (PTR) record. The check on this page finds all three. If the records are fine, the cause is the messages themselves: the text, the links and whether recipients expect them.
Why do I need SPF, DKIM and DMARC all together?
They check different things. SPF says which servers may send for the domain. DKIM signs the message itself, and the signature survives forwarding, where SPF breaks. DMARC ties both checks to the address in the From field and tells the recipient what to do if neither passes. Without DMARC the sender can still be forged, and large mailbox providers look at exactly that record.
I fixed a record, but the check still shows the old one. Why?
DNS records are cached: resolvers keep the old answer until its time to live (TTL) runs out, usually from a few minutes to an hour, sometimes up to a day. We don’t store results; every check asks DNS again. If the old record is still there after an hour, make sure you edited the zone on the name servers the domain actually uses: a common mistake is editing it in the hosting panel while the registrar’s DNS serves the domain.
How is the score calculated?
Nine items, one for each thing domain email works worse without: MX servers, reverse DNS, a single SPF record, SPF without loopholes, a DKIM signature, a DMARC record, DMARC with a strict policy, addresses off blacklists and encryption on the mail servers. An item counts when it has no errors or warnings. An item we can’t check, for instance when a mail server doesn’t let us in on port 25, is left out, so the result can read “8 of 8”. Tips don’t affect the score.
More tools: Domain email
SPF checker
One record or two, how many DNS lookups and what it does with foreign mail.
OpenDKIM checker
Whether the signing key is published and how long it is, by selector or common ones.
OpenDMARC checker
Whether there is a record, which policy it sets and where reports go.
OpenMX lookup
The domain’s mail servers, their addresses, reverse DNS and encryption.
OpenBlacklist check
Whether a server address or domain is on open spam lists.
OpenSPF generator
Build an SPF record from checkboxes: servers, addresses, mail services.
OpenDMARC generator
A DMARC record with a policy and report address, from monitoring to reject.
OpenEmail on your own domain comes with hosting
On our hosting, mailboxes on your domain are part of the plan, and mail records are set up in the Plesk panel.
Keep domain records on reliable DNS
Host MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC on our name servers: you edit records yourself at any time, the domain can stay with any registrar and mail with any provider.