How to fix the email error messages on forwarding, SPF, DNS, and TXT records

Issue symptoms

I see the following email errors:

• Forwarding check failed
• SPF doesn't include Zendesk Support
• DNS records aren't set up correctly and TXT record's missing for zendeskverification.yoursubdomain.com

Resolution steps

To fix email errors in the account, select the sections below:

• How to fix the Forwarding check failed error
• How to fix the SPF doesn't include Zendesk Support error
• How to fix the DNS records aren't set up correctly error
• Additional information

Important: Take action outside of the Zendesk account to resolve these errors. Zendesk Customer Support can't access or advise on external email settings. The example instructions below are from a third-party tool. These steps might differ from how the email admin resolves the error.

How to fix the Forwarding check failed error

The Forwarding check failed error message breaks the connection to the external email account. This prevents incoming emails from entering the account.

The solution to this error message differs based on how the email forwarding's set up. Follow the directions in the section that applies to you or skip to the desired section in the video below:

• I used the Google Connector to set up email forwarding
• I forwarded the company Gmail into Zendesk
• I forwarded the company external email address into Zendesk

How to fix Google Connector forwarding

To fix Google Connector forwarding: 1. Navigate to the Zendesk Email settings 2. Locate the connected to Google Mail support address that causes the Forwarding check failed error 3. Click See details	The error message says: Unable to receive emails from this address. We can't connect to your Gmail account because your OAuth credentials are invalid. Please reconnect
4. Scroll down and click reconnect
5. Follow the Google prompts to reconnect the Gmail address
6. The error's resolved if a green verification checkmark appears in the Zendesk Email settings within 48 hours

How to fix standard Gmail forwarding

To fix standard Gmail forwarding: 1. Navigate to the Zendesk Email settings 2. Locate the Gmail support address that causes the Forwarding check failed error
3. Open a new tab and navigate to the Google settings 4. Go to the Forwarding and POP/IMAP section
5. Confirm the settings are set to forward a copy of incoming mail to the default support address. If forwarding isn't set up, Add a forwarding address 6. Click Save changes
7. Go back to the Zendesk Email settings and click Verify forwarding
8. The error's resolved if a green verification checkmark appears in the Zendesk Email settings within 48 hours

How to fix external email forwarding

To fix external email forwarding: 1. Inside the Zendesk account, navigate to the Email settings 2. Locate the support address that receives the Forwarding check failed error. This error message often accompanies two other Domain Name System (DNS) errors
3. Outside the Zendesk account, inform the email admin of an email forwarding issue in the Zendesk account on the specific email address 4. If you're the email admin, navigate away from Zendesk and sign into the email domain provider. In this example, the steps are from a GoDaddy account
5. Navigate to the external email provider settings
6. Navigate to the Forwarding section of the email domain 7. Confirm the forwarding rules are on and set up correctly. Forward the external email domain to the Zendesk default support address. In this example, the company email domain forwards to the Zendesk default address, [e-mail]
8. Confirm in the external email account that the forwarding's set up successfully. It could take up to 48 hours for the Zendesk account to recognize this setup
9. Navigate back to the Zendesk Email settings 10. Click the drop-down button, See Details, and click Verify forwarding 11. Wait up to 48 hours for a green confirmation check mark next to the Forwarding verified message

If normal traffic forwards but the support address doesn't verify, contact the domain admin to confirm that the auto-forward doesn't strip the required email x-headers.

For more information, see Additional steps for using an external email address.

How to fix the SPF doesn't include Zendesk Support error

The SPF doesn't include Zendesk Support error prevents emails from sending out of Zendesk. To resolve the error message, follow the steps below or watch the video demonstration:

Note. While Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is optional to configure, we highly recommend it. It could be the source of the current email issue.

To fix the SPF error: 1. Navigate to the Zendesk Email Settings 2. Locate the email address with the SPF error message 3. Copy the email domain (the part after the @ sign)
4. Reach out to the email admin and inform them you experience an SPF issue with the specific email address. The email admin might inform you that you can ignore the SPF error message because SPF is optional
5. Continue to resolve this SPF error if you're the email admin and this SPF error still applies to the account 6. Sign into the external email provider account. In this example, the steps are from a GoDaddy account
7. Navigate to the DNS settings for the specific domain
8. Make sure you add the recommended SPF record that includes Zendesk to the DNS settings
9. Confirm in the external account that the SPF record's added successfully
10. Navigate back to the Zendesk Email settings 11. Locate the support address that receives the SPF error 12. Click the drop-down button: See Details 13. Click Verify SPF record
14. Wait up to 48 hours for a green confirmation check mark next to SPF record is valid

For more information, see Why my SPF record won't validate.

How to fix the DNS records aren't set up correctly error

To resolve the error message DNS records aren't set up correctly and TXT record's missing in the email settings, follow the steps below or watch the video demonstration:

To fix the DNS error: 1. Navigate to the Zendesk Email Settings 2. Locate the email address with the DNS error message 3. Click See details to expand the error for more information about the missing TXT record. You'll see what the TXT value should be set to
4. Contact the email admin about this issue. If you're the email admin, sign into the external email account 5. Navigate to the DNS settings for the specific domain. In this example, the steps are from a GoDaddy account
6. Make sure you add the recommended Zendesk verification TXT record 7. Make sure the value matches the TXT value provided to you in the Zendesk email settings
8. Click Save and confirm you receive confirmation in the external email settings
9. Navigate back to the Zendesk Email settings 10. Locate the support address that receives the DNS error 11. Click the drop-down button: See Details 12. Click Verify DNS records
13. Wait up to 48 hours for a green confirmation check mark to confirm DNS records are set up correctly

For more information, see Why do I receive the error "DNS records are not set up correctly"?

Additional information

• How to verify forwarding, SPF, DNS, and TXT records in Zendesk?
• See Learn about SPF, DNS, and TXT records and how to resolve any DNS errors.
• If you followed the GoDaddy examples, see: How to add a TXT record, How to add an SPF record, and Manage your DNS settings.