Set up DKIM and SPF for your Zoho apps so emails don't go to spam

Set up DKIM and SPF for your Zoho apps so emails don't go to spam

Set up email authentication (DKIM and SPF) for the Zoho apps that send email on behalf of your domain, so your emails don't end up in your recipients' spam folders. This article is for administrators who manage their organisation's domain and Zoho apps.

Applies to: Zoho One (Zoho Mail, Zoho CRM, Zoho Campaigns, Zoho Sign) – All clients

Why this matters

Several Zoho apps can send emails on your behalf, so the email comes from @yourdomain.com. This article covers the most popular apps in the Zoho suite. If you send email on your domain's behalf from another app, including non-Zoho apps such as Mailchimp, follow a similar process for that app.

Why is this important? Imagine you get an email from @yourbank.com.au asking you to change your password. It's very easy to "spoof" an email address like this. So when an email server receives an email, it checks whether the sending app is actually authorised to send emails for that domain. If the check fails, your email is marked as spam, or even quarantined or rejected by the recipient's email server (this depends on how their administrator has set up the server).

Before you start

DKIM and SPF are two records you set up in the DNS records for your domain. Your DNS records are held at your domain registrar, or where your website is hosted. If you're not sure, contact your web developer.

You create a DKIM record for each app. If 4 apps send email on your behalf, you have 4 DKIM records: one for each app.
You can only have one SPF record for your domain. Include all the other apps in that one record. See the example below.

Example SPF record:

v=spf1 include:zoho.com include:transmail.net include:zcsend.net include:mail.zohoanalytics.com include:mailer.zohoshowtime.com ~all

Zoho Mail

  1. In the Zoho Mail Control Panel, go to Email Authentication.
  2. Follow the instructions for DKIM and SPF.

When it's set up correctly, DKIM shows a green dot (instead of grey) and SPF shows a confirmation message.

DKIM:

SPF:

Zoho CRM

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Under Channels, select Email.
  3. Click the Email Deliverability tab and follow the instructions.

When everything is set up correctly, you see green check marks.

Zoho Campaigns

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Under Deliverability, select Domain Authentication.
  3. Follow the instructions for SPF and DKIM.

When deliverability is set up correctly, you see green check marks.

Zoho Sign

  1. Go to Settings and follow the instructions.

When it's set up correctly, the status shows as Verified.