What is DMARC?
DMARC is like a special set of instructions that tells recipients what to do with an email if it doesn't match your SPF and DKIM setup.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that helps prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks. It allows domain owners to specify how email receivers should handle unauthenticated emails from their domain, providing better protection against email fraud.
A DMARC record tells receiving servers how to handle an email that comes in that doesn't align with the DNS record's existing SPF and DKIM setup. It can be set up to "reject" (bounce) or "quarantine" (send to spam or junk) an email, or, while being established, it can be set to "none" which would not affect emails that don't pass DMARC. The "none" option should only be used during initial setup and for testing.
Why is it needed?
As of February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo require a DMARC policy in place for any domain that ever sends more than 5000 emails out in a given day. Sending without a DMARC policy (as well as SPF/DKIM to support it) can result in your emails bouncing or being treated as spam.
With these policies in place, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC must be set up if you want your contacts to receive your emails.
Not sure if you have it set up? Read More: Does my domain have DMARC set up?
Go to the setup guide:
or
Go to the DMARC step: