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SPF Checker

Check your SPF record, validate syntax, review authorized senders and find email deliverability issues.

Related checks: Complete authentication with DKIM, DMARC and MX lookup. Review blacklist status or see our email deliverability guide.

Try:

SPF syntax • Authorized senders • DNS lookup limit • TXT records • Email deliverability • No signup

Why SPF matters

SPF tells receiving mail servers which hosts are allowed to send email for your domain. A missing, duplicated or misconfigured SPF record can cause legitimate mail to fail authentication — and make it easier for spoofed messages to reach inboxes.

What this checker validates

One check reviews your SPF record, syntax, sender mechanisms and DNS lookup limits.

SPF record presence

  • TXT record lookup
  • v=spf1 detection
  • Missing record flag
  • Record selection

Find SPF records published as TXT records for your domain.

SPF syntax

  • Mechanism validation
  • Qualifier checks
  • Formatting rules
  • Invalid token flag

Validate SPF mechanisms, qualifiers and formatting.

Authorized senders

  • include mechanisms
  • ip4 / ip6 ranges
  • a / mx references
  • Mechanism count

Review which servers and providers are authorized to send mail.

DNS lookup limit

  • 10 lookup cap
  • include chain depth
  • redirect evaluation
  • Over-limit warning

Check whether SPF mechanisms may exceed the 10 DNS lookup limit.

Policy mechanism

  • -all (fail)
  • ~all (softfail)
  • ?all (neutral)
  • +all (pass all)

Review whether your SPF ends with a clear all mechanism.

TXT record analysis

  • Duplicate SPF detection
  • All TXT records listed
  • Record length check
  • Split record hints

Detect multiple SPF records and related TXT publishing issues.

Common SPF issues this tool can detect

Find configuration problems that can affect email delivery and sender authentication.

Missing & duplicate SPF

  • No SPF record published
  • Multiple SPF TXT records
  • SPF not starting with v=spf1

Syntax & invalid policy

  • Invalid SPF syntax
  • +all (pass all senders)
  • Malformed mechanisms

DNS lookup limit

  • More than 10 DNS lookups
  • Deep include chains
  • redirect loops risk

Mechanism warnings

  • Deprecated ptr mechanism
  • No all mechanism
  • Overly neutral ?all policy

Pair with DKIM and DMARC for complete email authentication coverage.

How SPF checking works

The checker reads DNS TXT records and validates the SPF policy published for your domain.

  1. Enter your domain

    We normalize the domain and prepare a live DNS query for SPF TXT records.

  2. Read TXT records

    The tool finds TXT records and detects records that start with v=spf1.

  3. Validate SPF rules

    We check syntax, mechanisms, policy, duplicate SPF records and DNS lookup usage.

When to check SPF

  • Before launching an email campaign
  • After adding a new mail provider
  • When legitimate mail goes to spam
  • After DNS or hosting changes
  • Monthly email authentication review
  • Before enforcing DMARC policy

Understanding SPF results

Passed

A valid SPF record was found and no major issues were detected.

Review

The SPF record exists, but optional improvements or policy review may be useful.

Warning

SPF has a configuration issue that may affect email authentication.

Failed

SPF is missing, duplicated or has a serious syntax/policy issue.

SPF helps receiving mail servers verify which servers are allowed to send email for your domain.

Preparing SPF check…

Complete the email authentication stack with DKIM, DMARC, MX and blacklist checks.

DMARC Checker

Analyze DMARC policy and alignment.

DKIM Checker

Validate DKIM signatures and keys.

MX Lookup

Find mail exchange records.

Domain Health Checker

Complete domain analysis in one report.

Blacklist Checker

Check domain and IP blacklist status.

DNS Lookup

Check A, MX, NS, TXT and more.

View all tools →

Need help fixing SPF or email authentication?

Send us your domain report and we’ll review the issue.

Get Help

Learn more: SPF record guide · Methodology

SPF validation is based on your published TXT record. It does not send email or prove inbox placement. How we check

Frequently asked questions

An SPF record is a DNS TXT record that tells receiving mail servers which servers are allowed to send email for your domain.
No. ~all is a valid softfail policy and is commonly used. It may be acceptable depending on your email setup.
No. The + qualifier is valid in SPF and means Pass. Because Pass is the default qualifier, +a and a are equivalent.
No. A domain should publish only one SPF record. Multiple SPF records can cause SPF validation to fail.
SPF evaluation allows a maximum of 10 DNS lookups from mechanisms such as include, a, mx, ptr, exists and redirect.