How to add an SPF record (1st Domains, Freeparking, Crazy Domains and others)

An SPF record is a line of text on your domain that lists which services are allowed to send email as you. Without it, your emails are much more likely to land in junk. Adding one takes about ten minutes.

Step 1: Find out where your DNS is managed

Your SPF record goes wherever your domain’s DNS is managed. That’s usually your registrar (1st Domains, Freeparking, Crazy Domains, Discount Domains and so on), but sometimes your web host or Cloudflare.

To check, look up your domain’s nameservers using any “nameserver lookup” tool:

• Nameservers with your registrar’s name in them: DNS is at the registrar.
• Nameservers ending in cloudflare.com: DNS is at Cloudflare.
• Anything else: usually your web host.

Step 2: Check you don’t already have one

Run our free email check. If it shows an SPF record already, edit that one. A domain must only have one SPF record; two count as broken.

Step 3: Work out what goes in it

An SPF record starts with v=spf1, lists your senders, and ends with ~all. The common senders are:

Other services that send as you, such as accounting software, newsletter tools or booking systems, publish their own value in their help pages. Search their help for “SPF”.

For a business on Google Workspace only, the full record is:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

For Microsoft 365 only:

v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all

Step 4: Add it at your DNS provider

The menus differ between providers, but the steps are the same:

1. Log in and open your domain.
2. Find the section called DNS, DNS records, Manage DNS or Zone editor.
3. Add a new record (or edit the existing SPF one):
   • Type: TXT
   • Host / Name: @ (some providers want it left blank, or your full domain)
   • Value / Content: your SPF record from step 3
   • TTL: leave the default
4. Save.

Changes usually show up within an hour. Run the free email check again to confirm.

Common mistakes

• Two SPF records. Combine them into one.
• More than 10 lookups. Every include: counts, including the ones inside it. Too many and the record fails. Our free check counts them for you.
• Ending in +all. That allows anyone to send as you. Use ~all or -all.
• Forgetting a service. If invoices from your accounting software still land in junk, it’s probably missing from the record.

SPF is one of three settings. To finish the job, switch on DKIM in your email provider and add a DMARC record.