Free tool
Are your emails going to spam? Check for free
Type your email or your domain and within seconds we tell you whether it is set up so Gmail and Outlook trust your emails: SPF, DKIM and DMARC, in plain English, with how to fix each one. No sign-up.
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Why emails land in spam
The six most common causes
Gmail and Outlook decide with every email whether to trust it. This is what weighs most when the sender is a small business. The checker looks at the first; the rest are explained so you can review them.
Your domain doesn’t prove the email is yours
The checker looks at thisWithout SPF, DKIM and DMARC, whoever receives your email can’t tell whether you sent it or someone pretending to be you, and when in doubt it goes to spam. Since February 2024 Gmail has asked every sender for SPF or DKIM, and all three from anyone sending over 5,000 a day. Microsoft has asked for all three since May 2025 from anyone sending over 5,000 a day to Outlook.com and Hotmail.
Google: email sender guidelinesMicrosoft: Outlook.com requirements
Your website’s form sends “on behalf of” the customer
Many forms send the notification as if the customer had written it, from their own Gmail or Yahoo address. To the receiving provider that is impersonation, so it goes to spam or gets rejected. The right way is for it to come from your domain (say, web@yourbusiness.com) with the customer’s email as “Reply-To”.
Your website or invoicing tool sends on its own
If the website, the online shop or the invoicing software sends through its own server and isn’t in your SPF or signing with DKIM, those emails go out unauthenticated even when your mailbox is fine. Every service that sends as you has to be in your SPF.
You send lots at once from your mailbox
A newsletter or a greeting to your whole list from your everyday mailbox looks like spam to providers, and can drag the rest of your email down with it. That’s what newsletter services (Mailchimp, Brevo and the like) are for: they authenticate with your domain.
The email looks like advertising
Subject lines in capitals, lots of exclamation marks, an email that is just one image, shortened links or zipped attachments. Write the way you’d write to a customer.
Your domain is new, or your emails go unopened
Providers distrust a brand-new domain and learn from what your recipients do: if your emails get deleted unopened or marked as spam, the next ones have a harder time. Ask regular customers to add you to their contacts.
SPF, DKIM and DMARC
What each one is, in a sentence
SPF
The list of servers allowed to send email from your domain. If an email arrives from one that isn’t on the list, the provider grows suspicious.
DKIM
A signature on every email that proves it comes from your domain and nobody changed it on the way. Your email provider turns it on (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or your host’s mail).
DMARC
Tells Gmail and Outlook what to do with an email that claims to be yours but passes neither SPF nor DKIM: let it through, send it to spam or reject it. And it sends you reports on who sends in your name.
How it works
Type your email or your domain
info@yourbusiness.com or yourbusiness.com both work. If you type an email address, we only use the domain, and we don’t keep it.
We look up your public settings
We read your domain’s DNS records, the same ones Gmail looks up when your email arrives, and evaluate your SPF the way a mail server does. We never read or send any email.
We tell you what to fix
Every red or amber item comes with what it means and how to fix it, in plain English. Pass it to whoever looks after your email, or ask us to do it.
Common Questions
Why are my emails going to spam?
For a small business the most common reason is that the domain doesn’t prove the email is its own: SPF, DKIM or DMARC is missing, or one of them is written wrong. Then come the website form sending “on behalf of” the customer, the website or invoicing tool sending unauthenticated, bulk sends from the everyday mailbox, and content that looks like advertising. Type your domain above and we’ll tell you whether it’s the first.
How do I know if my emails are going to spam?
Send an email to a Gmail account and an Outlook account of your own and see which folder it lands in. In Gmail, open the email, click the three dots and “Show original”: at the top you’ll see whether SPF, DKIM and DMARC say PASS. If any says FAIL, this checker tells you why.
What are SPF, DKIM and DMARC?
Three records in your domain’s DNS that let Gmail, Outlook and the rest check that an email claiming to be yours really is. SPF says which servers may send as you, DKIM signs each email, and DMARC says what to do with emails that pass neither test. Gmail has asked for at least SPF or DKIM since 2024, and all three from large senders; Microsoft has asked large senders for all three since 2025.
Why doesn’t my DKIM show up?
DKIM is published under a name each provider chooses (the “selector”), and from outside only the usual ones can be tried: Google’s, Microsoft 365’s, IONOS, Hostinger, Zoho and others. If your provider uses another, it shows as “For your information” even when it’s set up properly. To be sure, check “Show original” in Gmail: if it says DKIM PASS, you have it.
What if I use Gmail or Hotmail for my business?
Then authentication is Google’s or Microsoft’s job, and they do it properly: there’s nothing of yours to set up. If your emails land in spam, the cause will be the content or how you send. For a business, an address on your own domain looks more trustworthy and stays yours if you change provider.
Is my email kept? Are my emails read?
No. If you type an email address, only its domain is used and the address isn’t kept. We look up public DNS records, the same any mail server sees, and never read or send any email. We record which domain is checked, the approximate location and the browser, to stop abuse and improve the tool, and that record is deleted after 90 days.
What do I do if something shows red?
Every item comes with how to fix it. It’s almost always a change in your domain’s DNS zone, wherever you bought the domain (GoDaddy, Namecheap, IONOS, 123 Reg…). If you don’t know how to get in, or would rather not touch it, we’ll review it for free and, if something needs changing, give you a fixed price before we start.
How long do changes take to show?
A DNS change usually shows within minutes or a few hours, depending on the provider, though it can take up to a day. Check again here once you’ve made it. Trust in your emails then builds up gradually, as they arrive authenticated.