Why It Matters
Without TXT records, email authentication simply doesn't work. SPF? That's a TXT record. DKIM? Part of it is a TXT record. DMARC? Also a TXT record. If you can't add or edit TXT records in your DNS, you can't properly authenticate your email — and unauthenticated email increasingly ends up in spam. It's one of the first things any deliverability expert checks.
How It Works
You add TXT records through your domain registrar or DNS hosting provider. Each record is associated with a name (like your domain or a subdomain) and contains a text string. For email authentication, common examples include:
example.com TXT "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all"— SPF record.selector._domainkey.example.com TXT "v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIGf..."— DKIM public key._dmarc.example.com TXT "v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:dmarc@example.com"— DMARC policy.
DNS changes typically propagate within minutes to a few hours, though some providers take up to 48 hours.
Quick Tips
- Use a DNS lookup tool (like MXToolbox or dig) to verify your TXT records are published correctly after making changes.
- Remember: only one SPF TXT record per domain. Multiple SPF records invalidate all of them.
- Keep TXT record values under 255 characters per string. Longer records need to be split into multiple quoted strings within the same record.