{"id":668,"date":"2019-12-10T11:24:37","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T10:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/?post_type=ht_kb&#038;p=668"},"modified":"2025-04-01T10:52:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T08:52:46","slug":"create-spf-record-to-keep-your-e-mails-out-of-the-spam-filter","status":"publish","type":"ht_kb","link":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/kb\/create-spf-record-to-keep-your-e-mails-out-of-the-spam-filter\/","title":{"rendered":"Create SPF record to keep your e-mails out of the spam filter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>An SPF record let&#8217;s mailboxes know via which mail servers your e-mails are sent. It is a kind of recommendation to spam filters to indicate which e-mails are legitimate and which are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of that recommendation, spam filters immediately notice when spammers send emails on your behalf, because they use other mail servers. These fraudulent e-mails are blocked by the spam filters. Conversely <strong>, an SPF record increases the chance that your own e-mails will pass through the spam filter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An SPF record is linked to your domain name. So you do not need a separate SPF record for every e-mail address (eg jename@company.be), but one for your domain name (eg company.be). All e-mail addresses that are linked to that domain are protected in this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-ht-blocks-messages wp-block-hb-message wp-block-hb-message--withicon is-style-info\">Read also: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/kb\/better-e-mail-delivery-with-dmarc\/\" data-type=\"ht_kb\" data-id=\"20896\">Smoothly navigate through spam filters with DMARC and DKIM<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-ht-block-toc  is-style-outline htoc htoc--position-wide toc-list-style-plain\" data-htoc-state=\"expanded\"><span class=\"htoc__title\"><span class=\"ht_toc_title\">Table of Contents<\/span><span class=\"htoc__toggle\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\"><g fill=\"#444\"><path d=\"M15 7H1c-.6 0-1 .4-1 1s.4 1 1 1h14c.6 0 1-.4 1-1s-.4-1-1-1z\"><\/path><path d=\"M15 1H1c-.6 0-1 .4-1 1s.4 1 1 1h14c.6 0 1-.4 1-1s-.4-1-1-1zM15 13H1c-.6 0-1 .4-1 1s.4 1 1 1h14c.6 0 1-.4 1-1s-.4-1-1-1z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/span><div class=\"htoc__itemswrap\"><ul class=\"ht_toc_list\"><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#add\">How do you add an SPF record?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#mailbox\">Recommended SPF records for your Easyhost mailbox<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#how\">How is an SPF record structured?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#make\">Create an SPF record yourself (advanced)<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"add\">How do you add an SPF record?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You add an SPF record as a TXT record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Follow these steps in our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/my.easyhost.be\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">control panel<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Go to &#8220;My products&#8221;&gt; &#8220;DNS &amp; forwarding management&#8221;&gt; Click on management next to your domain name.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select &#8220;TXT records&#8221; in the menu on the left.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add your SPF record under &#8220;TXT rules&#8221; (see image). Leave the hostname empty.<br>See further for the recommended SPF records and how to create an SPF record yourself.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click on &#8220;Add&#8221; to confirm.<span style=\"vertical-align: inherit;\"><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-ht-blocks-messages wp-block-hb-message wp-block-hb-message--withicon is-style-info\"><strong>Changes to your SPF records will only take effect after 1 to 4 hours<br><\/strong>The distribution time is usually 1 hour, but can go up to 4<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/wp-content\/uploads\/Screenshot-2021-01-05-at-13.17.47-1-1-1024x565.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22361\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"mailbox\">Recommended SPF records for your Easyhost mailbox<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><strong>Basic mailbox:<\/strong> v=spf1 include:_spf.relay.mailprotect.be -all<\/pre>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-ht-blocks-messages wp-block-hb-message wp-block-hb-message--withicon is-style-info\"><strong>Your SPF record also works on your mail servers<br><\/strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/kb\/how-to-make-sure-my-website-sends-outgoing-mail-in-an-authenticated-fashion\/\">how can my website send mails in an authenticated way?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how\">How is an SPF record structured?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">v=spf1 <\/span> <span style=\"color: #00ccff;\">include: spf.myhost.net<\/span> mx ip4: 192.150.1.1 a: mailing.mydomain.net <span style=\"color: #339966;\">-all\n<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">The SPF version<\/span> -<span style=\"color: #00ccff;\"> The include statement<\/span> - additional statements (advanced) -<span style=\"color: #339966;\"> The factor<\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SPF version<\/strong> : &#8220;v=spf1&#8221; indicates which version of the SPF standard you use.<br><strong>include statement<\/strong> : &#8220;include: &lt;hostname&gt;&#8221; indicates that the servers included in the spf record of &lt;hostname&gt; must be included in this SPF record<br><strong>SPF or designated host<\/strong> : This is an IP address or a hostname with a standard SPF that you want to use, by accurately displaying one or more automated server (s).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ip4 statement (advanced)<\/strong> : &#8220;ip4: &lt;ip address&gt;&#8221; indicates that the server with &lt;ip address&gt; may send mail for this domain<br><strong>a statement (advanced)<\/strong> : &#8220;a: &lt;hostname&gt;&#8221; indicates that the server may send &lt;hostname&gt; mail for this domain<br><strong>mx statement (advanced)<\/strong> : the &#8220;mx&#8221; addition indicates that the servers that handle incoming e-mail traffic for the domain may also send mail in the name of that domain<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Factor<\/strong> : This part can be a number of options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>-all = Hard fail. Any message that does not come from a mail server listed in the SPF record is treated as spam.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>~all = Soft fail. Any message that does not come from a mail server listed in the SPF record is probably spam.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>?all = Neutral factor. For messages from a server that was not included in the SPF record, there is no special recommendation regarding the classification of the message.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>+all = No restrictions for this domain<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"make\">Create an SPF record yourself (advanced)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To create a personalized SPF record, go to an <a href=\"https:\/\/mxtoolbox.com\/SPFRecordGenerator.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SPF wizard generator<\/a>. Based on a few questions, this tool generates your SPF record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Use this information:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Enter your domain name<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set &#8220;allow servers listed as MX to send e-mail for this domain&#8221; to&nbsp; <strong>Yes<\/strong> if the server that handles the incoming e-mail traffic from your domain also sends out e-mail itself. If the e-mail traffic through the Basic Email Platform expires choose to <strong>No<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set &#8220;allow current IP address of the domain to send e-mail for this domain&#8221; to <strong>YES<\/strong> if the web server to which your domain name refers also sends mail. If the contact forms on your site from another SMTP server to use like a Easyhost shared hosting is the case, choose <strong>No<\/strong> .<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set &#8220;allow any hostname ending in &lt;your-domainname&gt; to send email for this domain&#8221; to <strong>No<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do you use a different SMTP? Enter its IP address in the &#8220;IP addresses in CIDR format that deliver or relay e-mail for this domain&#8221; field.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Copy the result and&nbsp;add it via the DNS settings in the control panel (see earlier) .<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An SPF record let&#8217;s mailboxes know via which mail servers your e-mails are sent. It is a kind of recommendation to spam filters to indicate which e-mails are legitimate and which are not. Because of that recommendation, spam filters immediately notice when spammers send emails on your behalf, because they&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"ht-kb-category":[6,11],"ht-kb-tag":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/668"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ht_kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=668"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3007,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb\/668\/revisions\/3007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-category?post=668"},{"taxonomy":"ht_kb_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyhost.be\/en\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ht-kb-tag?post=668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}