Microsoft 365 email bouncing back from providers like Gmail and Yahoo

Last updated: March 14, 2024

Email providers like Google, Yahoo, AOL and Verizon.net have set new regulations for all email, which may result in your messages bouncing back. These changes are part of ongoing efforts to reduce spam, protect users and enhance the overall integrity of email communication.

Why are these changes happening?

By implementing stricter email policies, these email providers aim to verify the authenticity of every email sent. This can better protect users against spam and phishing emails that pose serious security risks.

What are the changes?

The changes involve 3 email authentication methods: SPF, DKIM and DMARC. These methods help prevent spoofing, where spammers send email that appear to come from your domain.

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework): An SPF record is a DNS record that identifies specific mail servers that are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain.
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): DKIM involves adding a digital signature to the headers of your email, which is used by receiving mail servers to check if the email was sent from your domain and check for tampering.
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance): DMARC is built on top of SPF and DKIM. It allows the sender to specify what should happen if an email fails the SPF or DKIM checks at the recipient's mail server.

Email platforms are now requiring that all emails use these standards. If your email doesn’t pass these checks, it’s more likely to be marked as spam or rejected.

What do I need to do?

To ensure your email is delivered, set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your domain. Use our articles for help:

1. Add an SPF record to your domain
2. Enable and add DKIM to your domain
3. Add a DMARC record to your domain

If you use an email marketing program or send more than 5,000 messages a day, make sure to keep spam rates low, avoid sending unwanted email and make it easy for recipients to unsubscribe.

If your email is bouncing when you’re using an email client, try sending from Outlook on the web instead.

We’re actively investigating what it would take to automatically set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC on Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy, but in the meantime if you have any issues, you can reach out to a GoDaddy Guide.

More info

• Find out more about the new Gmail protections from Google.
• Learn about the email sender requirements enforced by Yahoo and Google.
• Check out our tips for protecting your email.