How to Set Up SPF Records for Better Email Security

Email remains one of the most important communication channels for businesses, but it is also one of the most frequently abused. As inboxes have become more crowded, attackers have increasingly relied on spam, spoofed messages, phishing campaigns, whaling attempts, and other forms of email fraud to impersonate legitimate organizations. The impact is rarely minor. These attacks can damage brand trust, lead to financial losses, and expose sensitive data.

Securing email communication has therefore become a baseline requirement rather than an optional safeguard. One of the first and most effective steps businesses can take is implementing email authentication.

In this guide on how to set up SPF, we focus on Sender Policy Framework (SPF) – a protocol built to stop unauthorized senders from using your domain in the first place. On its own, SPF already adds protection, but it becomes far more effective when it works alongside DKIM and DMARC.
Together, they help email providers confirm that messages are coming from approved sources. That extra layer of validation cuts down on abuse and, over time, leads to email delivery that’s more reliable and more trusted.

What Is SPF and Why Does It Matter?

Sender Policy Framework, commonly known as SPF, is an email authentication protocol that tells receiving mail servers which systems are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain. It works through a DNS record that lists approved sending sources, such as your mail server, marketing platforms, support tools, or transactional email services. When an email is received, the recipient’s server checks this record to confirm whether the message came from an authorized source. If it did, the email passes the SPF check. If it did not, the message is flagged or rejected.

SPF plays a key role in protecting domains from spoofing. Without it, attackers can easily forge the “From” address of an email and make messages appear as if they were sent from your organization. SPF will help stop this by giving receiving servers a clear way to verify sender legitimacy. When a spoofed email fails the SPF check, mailbox providers are more likely to block it, quarantine it, or mark it as suspicious. This reduces the chances of fraudulent messages reaching inboxes under your domain name and protects your brand from being misused in phishing and fraud attempts.

Any organization that sends email using its own domain benefits from SPF. This includes businesses running internal email systems, companies sending newsletters or promotional campaigns, SaaS platforms delivering automated notifications, ecommerce stores sending order confirmations, nonprofits communicating with donors, educational institutions emailing students, and organizations using multiple third-party tools to send email. 

SPF is especially important in environments where several services send email on behalf of the same domain, since it gives mailbox providers a single source of truth for determining what is legitimate and what is not.

Simplify SPF Setup with PowerDMARC!

How to Setup and Add SPF Records

An SPF setup is not only essential for your active sources but also for all domains you own, including non-sending or “parked” domains, to guarantee they are safe against malicious usage. Setting up an SPF record is a straightforward process, and it involves the following steps:

Step 1: Determine your email servers and sending sources

The first step is to compile a comprehensive list of all servers and services authorized to send emails for your domain. These sources can include your own mail servers (e.g., Microsoft Exchange, web-based like Gmail), any third-party email service providers (ESPs) you use for marketing or transactional emails, and other services like payment processors, e-commerce platforms, CRMs, helpdesks, or support/ticketing systems that send emails on your behalf.

Step 2: Create an SPF record

Once you have identified all your authorized sending sources, you can create an SPF record using an SPF record generator tool or by manually crafting the syntax. An SPF record is a TXT (text) record in your domain’s DNS configuration. Ensure you create only one SPF record per domain. A simple syntax might look like:

v=spf1 ip4:<IP address> include:<third-party domain> -all

In this example, “v=spf1” indicates the SPF version, “ip4:<IP address>” lists an authorized IP, “include:<third-party domain>” incorporates a third-party sender’s policy, and “-all” at the end indicates that emails from sources not listed should be rejected. Double-check for typos, as even small errors like ‘inlcude’ instead of ‘include’ can invalidate the record.

Step 3: Publish your SPF record

After creating your SPF record, you need to publish it in your domain’s DNS. Domain administrators can make the required DNS updates easily. You can do this by logging in to your DNS provider’s website and adding a new TXT record with your SPF record content. The actual content should start with `v=spf1` and should not be enclosed in double quotes within the DNS entry itself (though some DNS interfaces may display it with quotes). Alternatively, you can ask your IT team or hosting provider to do this for you. Keep in mind that DNS changes can take some time (up to 72 hours, though often much faster) to propagate across the internet.

Step 4: Test your SPF record

Once you have published your SPF record and allowed time for propagation, it is essential to test it to make sure that it is working correctly and doesn’t exceed the 10 DNS lookup limit (mechanisms like `include`, `a`, `mx`, `ptr`, `exists`, and `redirect` count towards this limit, including any lookups within nested `include` statements). You can use online SPF record checkers, such as the one provided by PowerDMARC or MXToolbox, to test your SPF record. These tools will tell you whether your SPF record is valid, correctly formatted, within the lookup limit, and functioning as intended.

5 Misconceptions About SPF Records 

There are certain SPF record myths doing rounds on the internet that may lead to people making incorrect decisions. Let’s bust them one by one: 

1. SPF alone can prevent spoofing 

This is untrue. Setting up SPF alone cannot prevent all types of spoofing or impersonation, especially involving the ‘From’ header that users see. In order to provide stronger protection and instruct receivers on how to handle failures, SPF needs to be combined with DKIM and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance). DMARC allows domain owners to specify a policy (like reject or quarantine) for emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks.

2. You can use +all in your SPF record

Using +all effectively allows any server on the internet to send emails on behalf of your domain. This completely negates the security purpose served by the SPF protocol. Instead, ~all (soft fail) or preferably -all (hard fail) are recommended mechanisms to use at the end of your record to deploy SPF effectively.

3. SPF works for forwarded emails 

We all wish that was true. Unfortunately, in many mail forwarding scenarios, SPF breaks. This happens because the forwarding server’s IP address often doesn’t match the authorized IPs listed in the original sender’s SPF record, and the header information may change. In such cases, protocols like DKIM (which usually survives forwarding) or preferably ARC (Authenticated Received Chain) can help maintain authentication results across forwarding hops.

4. SPF records have unlimited DNS lookups 

The SPF specification (RFC) enforces a maximum limit of 10 DNS lookups per SPF check. Mechanisms like `include`, `a`, `mx`, `ptr`, `exists`, and `redirect` perform DNS lookups. Exceeding this limit results in an SPF PermError (Permanent Error), which can cause legitimate emails to fail authentication. It is essential to keep your record concise and potentially use SPF optimization methods like flattening or dynamic SPF Macros to stay within the limit, especially if you use many third-party senders.

5. With SPF you can “Setup and Forget!” 

Don’t make this SPF mistake! Your email sending infrastructure can change over time – you might add new third-party services, change ESPs, or decommission old servers. You need to update your SPF records regularly to reflect these changes. Failing to update means new legitimate sending sources might not be authorized, potentially causing their emails to be blocked or marked as spam by receiving servers.

SPF Best Practices

Setting up SPF is not a one-time task. Domains change over time, new tools are added, and email-sending behavior evolves. Ongoing monitoring is essential to ensure your SPF record continues to work as intended. Regularly checking authentication results and delivery feedback helps identify failures early, before they affect inbox placement or expose your domain to misuse.

SPF works best when aligned with DKIM and DMARC. SPF verifies where an email is sent from, while DKIM confirms that the message content has not been altered, and DMARC ties these checks together by defining how receiving servers should handle failures. Using all three together creates a stronger authentication framework and gives mailbox providers clearer signals about which messages should be trusted.

It is also important to periodically review which systems are authorized to send email on your behalf. Over time, organizations often add marketing platforms, customer support tools, billing systems, or automation services, while older tools may no longer be in use. Keeping outdated or unnecessary senders in your SPF record increases risk and can lead to configuration errors. This way, a scheduled review ensures only active and approved services remain authorized, keeping your SPF record accurate and effective.

Optimize Your SPF Settings with PowerDMARC

SPF is one of the foundational pieces of email security. When it’s configured correctly, it helps mailbox providers verify which sending sources are legitimate, cuts down on domain spoofing, and builds overall trust in your email.

Getting SPF right takes a bit of ongoing attention. It means identifying every authorized sender, structuring the record carefully, staying within DNS lookup limits, and testing things regularly. As your email environment changes (new tools, new platforms, new workflows), the configuration needs to stay in step. When it does, SPF continues doing its job quietly and effectively in the background.

As managing SPF manually can become complex, especially for organizations using multiple email services or third-party platforms, PowerDMARC can simplify this process! It helps you monitor SPF performance, detect configuration issues, stay within lookup limits, and align SPF with DKIM and DMARC policies. With built-in analysis and optimization tools, PowerDMARC makes it easier to maintain a secure, accurate, and scalable email authentication setup.

Start a free 15-day trial or book a demo with PowerDMARC to optimize your SPF configuration and strengthen your overall email security.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can I have multiple SPF records for one domain?

No. A domain must have exactly one SPF record. Publishing multiple SPF records for the same domain is a common mistake that will cause SPF validation to fail or return unpredictable results (often None or PermError). If you need to authorize multiple sending sources, they must all be included within a single SPF TXT record string.

Can I split a large SPF record?

Splitting up a logically large SPF policy across multiple TXT records for the same domain is not allowed due to the one-record rule. Additionally, individual DNS TXT records have character string limits (though modern DNS systems often support multiple strings within a single record to overcome older 255-character limits). If your record becomes too complex or exceeds the 10 DNS lookup limit, you cannot simply split it. Instead, try these tactics: 

1. Simplify your record: Remove redundant or unnecessary entries. Consolidate IP ranges using CIDR notation where possible.
2. Minimize lookup-generating mechanisms: Reduce the number of `include`, `a`, `mx`, `exists`, and `redirect` mechanisms.
3. Use SPF management solutions: Employ third-party services that offer SPF flattening or dynamic SPF (macro-based) solutions to manage complex records and stay within limits.

Why is SPF record used?

An SPF record is used to prevent email spoofing by allowing domain owners to publicly declare which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of their domain. Receiving servers check this record to verify the sending server’s legitimacy, reducing the chances of phishing, spam, and other fraudulent emails sent using the domain’s name reaching recipients’ inboxes.

When do you need SPF?

You need SPF for any domain you own, especially those used to send email. It is a foundational email authentication protocol needed to improve email deliverability, protect your brand reputation, verify authenticity, and comply with receiving server policies and industry best practices, including recent mandates from major providers like Google and Yahoo. Learn more about the importance of SPF configuration. Even domains that do not send email should have a restrictive SPF record (e.g., `v=spf1 -all`) to prevent abuse.

How to optimize SPF record?

You can optimize your SPF record manually by carefully reviewing and consolidating authorized senders, removing unused sources, using efficient IP range notation (CIDR), and minimizing mechanisms that cause DNS lookups. However, for complex scenarios or to ensure you stay under the 10-lookup limit, a more hassle-free option is to use third-party SPF optimization services that offer automated flattening or dynamic SPF macro solutions for ongoing record management.

How do I know my SPF record is set correctly?

You can check your SPF record using an online SPF record lookup tool. These tools validate the syntax, check if the record exists in your DNS, verify if you are within the 10 DNS lookup limit, and confirm whether it is generally configured correctly.

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Ahona Rudra

Domain & Email Security Expert at PowerDMARC

Ahona is the Marketing Manager at PowerDMARC, with 5+ years of experience in writing about cybersecurity topics, specializing in domain and email security. Ahona holds a post-graduation degree in Journalism and Communications, solidifying her career in the security sector since 2019.

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