Guide
Why are my emails going to spam?
Facts checked Oct 7, 2026
Emails usually go to spam because three settings on your domain (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) are missing or wrong.
See which you have with Email check.
You don't set them up yourself: you ask whoever runs your email to.
The three settings, in plain English
- SPF
- A list of the servers allowed to send email as you. Without it, anyone can claim to be you.
- DKIM
- A signature on each email that proves it came from you and wasn't changed on the way.
- DMARC
- Your rule for what happens to email that fails the first two: deliver it anyway, send it to spam, or refuse it. Gmail and Yahoo have expected one from busy senders since 2024.
What to do
- Run Email check and note what's missing.
- Send the results to whoever set up your email: your web host, your IT person, or the company you pay for email.
- If you use Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, both have a page in their admin help called "authenticate email" that gives the exact settings, and DKIM is a switch you turn on in the admin console.
- After a few weeks of DMARC set to "watch only" (p=none) with no problems, change it to send fakes to spam (p=quarantine).
Emails going to spam all of a sudden?
If your emails were fine and now land in spam, something changed. The usual ones:
- You moved. A new web host, website builder or email provider, and the SPF and DKIM settings didn't come with you.
- You added a sender. A newsletter tool, booking system or website form that sends as you, but isn't in your SPF or doesn't sign with DKIM.
- The rules got stricter. Since February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo expect SPF or DKIM from everyone, and DMARC from anyone sending in bulk.
Email check shows which settings are there now.
Other reasons email lands in spam
Sending from a free address (@gmail.com) for business, lots of links or one big picture instead of text, words like "FREE!!!", and sending to people who never asked. A short, plain email from an address at your own domain does best.
Send this to your email provider
Not sure what to say? Copy this into an email, add your website's address, and send it.
Hi, Emails from my domain, [your website address], are landing in spam. PageKiwi's Email check shows [what's missing, for example no DMARC record, or DKIM not found]. Could you: 1. Set up SPF to cover every service that sends email as us (our mailbox, our website's forms, any newsletter tool). 2. Turn on DKIM signing. 3. Add a DMARC record, starting with p=none so nothing is lost while we watch. Please send me the settings you add, so I have them on file. Thanks