What is an SPF record?
An SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record is a type of TXT record in your DNS zone file. SPF records help identify which mail servers are permitted to send email on behalf of your domain. Adding an SPF record can help detect and prevent spammers from sending email messages with forged From addresses on your domain.
Spammers can falsify email headers to edit the From address so it looks like they're sending from an email address at your domain. This is referred to as spoofing, and allows them to phish your users for private account information, or otherwise abuse your reputation. This can result in the account owner receiving bouncebacks for mail they never sent.
Adding an SPF record can decrease spoofing attempts to your domain, however, they're not a full-proof guarantee against all spam. SPF records help specify which mail servers are permitted to send email on behalf of your domain. Then, when incoming mail servers receive email messages from your domain name, they compare the SPF record to the outgoing mail server information. If the information doesn't match, they identify the email message as unauthorized, and will generally filter it as spam or reject it.
Note: In some cases, GoDaddy will create SPF records to work with our products, such as Microsoft 365. If you need help configuring SPF records for third party email or hosting, you'll need to contact your provider for those services.
Related step
- Add an SPF record to your zone file at any time.
More info
- SPF records should have fewer than 512 characters and only UTF-8 characters are supported.
- Create a template to quickly assign DNS records to your domains.
- SPF records can help prevent spoofing and ensure mail delivery.
