A DNS record that lists which mail servers are allowed to send email using your domain name.
What Is SPF?
SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework. It is a line in your domain’s DNS that names every server allowed to send email as you. Anything sending from your domain that is not on that list gets treated as suspicious.
The receiving inbox checks the sender’s server against your SPF record before it decides whether to trust the email. If the server is on the list, the email passes. If not, the email is treated as suspicious.
Why SPF Matters
Email marketing only works if your emails actually arrive. SPF is one of the first checks an inbox runs before anything else, before it even looks at your subject line or your offer. Fail this check, and your best campaign never gets a chance to be read.
It also protects your domain from being used by someone else to send fake emails pretending to be your store. That is not just a deliverability issue, it is a trust issue with your customers.
How SPF Works
1. You publish a list of approved sending servers in your domain’s DNS as a TXT record
2. An email arrives claiming to be from your domain
3. The receiving server looks up your SPF record and checks if the sending server’s IP is on the list
4. A match passes SPF, anything else fails or gets flagged
This check happens instantly, before the email is delivered anywhere.
A Real SPF Record
Host: yourstore.com
Type: TXT
Value: v=spf1 include:_spf.adflipr.com include:_spf.google.com ~all
Breaking it down:
– v=spf1 marks this as an SPF record
– include: adds an approved sending source, here Adflipr and Google Workspace
– ~all tells inboxes to treat anything not listed with caution rather than an outright block
A domain can only have one SPF record, so every sending source has to live inside this single line.
How to Set It Up in Adflipr
1. Add your domain inside Adflipr
2. Adflipr shows you the exact SPF value to publish, either as a new record or an addition to one you already have
3. Copy it into your DNS settings through your domain host
4. Click Verify in Adflipr, it checks your DNS and confirms SPF is live alongside DKIM in the same domain setup step
5. Any time you connect a new tool that sends email from this domain, update the SPF record to include it and verify agai
Best Practices
– List every service sending email from your domain in one SPF record, not several
– Stay under 10 DNS lookups, going over this limit causes SPF to fail entirely
– Move from ~all to -all only once you are confident every sender is listed
– Recheck your SPF record whenever you add or remove an email tool
Common Mistakes
– Publishing two SPF records for the same domain, which breaks the check completely
– Forgetting to add a newly connected tool, like a helpdesk or SMS platform, to the existing record
– Going over the 10 lookup limit by stacking too many includes
– Setting up SPF once at launch and never revisiting it
Frequently Asked Questions
Inboxes cannot confirm your emails are coming from an approved server, which increases the chance of them being filtered or rejected. Gmail and Yahoo now expect SPF as a basic requirement for anyone sending marketing email in volume.
No, a domain can only have one. Two separate records usually cause SPF to fail for everyone, since inboxes cannot tell which one to trust. If you need to add a sender, update your existing record instead.
The most common causes are going over the 10 DNS lookup limit, having two SPF records by mistake, or forgetting to add a new sending tool. An SPF checker tool will usually point to the exact issue in seconds.
No. SPF is one piece of authentication. Even with a perfect SPF record, poor sender reputation or spammy content can still get an email filtered. SPF works best paired with DKIM and DMARC.
