SPF Checker: Validate SPF Records
What SPF does
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a DNS-based mechanism that tells receiving mail servers which hosts are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain. Without it, anyone could try to send mail as your domain; with it, receivers can reject or flag messages from unauthorized IPs.
A correct SPF record reduces spoofing and improves deliverability. Many providers and filters expect SPF to be present and aligned with your actual sending infrastructure.
SPF is published as a TXT record. You can discover it with a DNS lookup or MX lookup context, but this SPF checker is built to find and interpret SPF specifically: it shows whether the record exists, how many DNS lookups it triggers, and whether you are over the limit.
What this checker shows
The tool finds TXT records that start with v=spf1 and reports whether SPF is present. It also parses the record to count DNS lookups (include:, a, mx, exists:, redirect=, etc.).
SPF has a limit of 10 DNS lookups. Exceeding it can cause SPF to fail or be ignored by some receivers, which hurts deliverability. The checker flags when you are over the limit so you can simplify or flatten includes.
You can run the check against a single resolver or "Query all resolvers" to see if SPF is consistent globally—useful after changing DNS or migrating email providers.
How to interpret results
If multiple SPF records exist for the same domain, that is a misconfiguration. Receivers typically use only the first or behave unpredictably. Consolidate into a single SPF record.
The record should end with a disposition: -all (reject non-matching), ~all (softfail), or +all (allow all—not recommended). Most setups use -all or ~all depending on risk tolerance.
After fixing SPF, add DKIM and DMARC for stronger email authentication. Then verify that your mail server is reachable with an SMTP test and that MX records point to the right hosts.
Common mistakes
Too many include: directives that chain into more than 10 lookups. Flatten the list or use a single include that points to a record that stays under the limit.
Leaving old providers in SPF after migration. Remove them to avoid confusion and to stay under the lookup limit.
No SPF at all. Add at least a minimal record (e.g. v=spf1 -all for "no sending" or v=spf1 include:yourprovider.com -all) so receivers have a clear policy.
Next steps
Use our MX lookup to confirm mail servers and our SMTP test to confirm connectivity. Monitoring your mail and web endpoints helps you catch configuration or availability issues before they affect users.