SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework. SPF records are DNS records of TXT type that specify which mail servers can send emails on behalf of a specific domain.
When an email is received, the recipient's mail server checks the SPF record of the sender's domain to verify if the sending server is permitted to send emails for that domain. This improves the deliverability of your messages and helps prevent them from being marked as spam.
If you use Hostinger Email with your domain, the default SPF record is the following:
Type | Host | TXT value | TTL |
TXT | @ | v=spf1 include:_spf.mail.hostinger.com ~all | 300 or default |
For subdomains, instead of the @ in the host field, enter the name of your subdomain; e.g. an SPF record for the subdomain shop.domain.tld, will look similar to this:
Type | Host | TXT value | TTL |
TXT | shop | v=spf1 include:_spf.mail.hostinger.com ~all | default |
You can also find the values Hostinger Email MX records on the Emails section of your hPanel:
Click on the Manage button next to the preferred email account
Select Connect Domain on the left sidebar
Check the Protect your reputation tab where the Expected records will be displayed:
To add this record to your domain, follow the steps depending on where your domain is pointing:
If your domain is pointing to Hostinger by nameservers, click on Connect automatically:
If your domain is pointing elsewhere by nameservers, you will need to add them manually, making sure to delete any existing SPF records before adding the new value. Check our guides for some popular domain registrars here: How to Change DNS Records in Other Registrars
Merging Multiple SPF Records
To avoid delivery issues, you must have only one SPF record on your domain. However, there may be the case that you require more than one value if, in addition to Hostinger Email, you are using an email marketing service requiring SPF validation. To solve this, you can combine them in a single line, as follows:
Take Hostinger Email SPF record:
v=spf1 include:_spf.mail.hostinger.com ~all
And your other marketing email provider record, for example:
v=spf1 include:emailmktprovider.tld ~all
Using a text editor such as Notepad, create the single record, following this format:
v=spf1 include:_spf.mail.hostinger.com include:emailmktprovider.tld ~all
And enter this as the TXT value for your SPF record.
After making any changes to your domain's DNS zone, consider a few hours for DNS propagation to complete. After that, your SPF record will be fully operational 💡