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

Issue symptoms

How do I fix the following email errors?

1. Forwarding check failed
2. SPF does not include Zendesk Support
3. DNS records are not set up correctly and TXT record is missing for zendeskverification.DOMAIN.com
   

Resolution steps

Click the sections below for the instructions on how to fix email errors in your account:

• How to fix the Forwarding check failed error
• How to fix the SPF does not include Zendesk Support error
• How to fix the DNS records are not set up correctly error
• Additional information

Important: To resolve these errors you require to take action outside of your Zendesk account. Zendesk Customer Support cannot access or advise on your external email settings. The example instructions provided below are from a third-party tool and may be different than how your email admin will resolve the error.

How to fix the Forwarding check failed error

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

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

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

How to fix Google Connector forwarding

1. Navigate to your 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 your Gmail address.
6. The error is resolved if within 48 hours you see a green verification checkmark in your Zendesk Email settings.

How to fix standard Gmail forwarding

1. Navigate to your Zendesk Email settings. 2. Locate the Gmail support address causing the Forwarding check failed error.
3. Open a new tab and navigate to your Google settings. 4. Go to the Forwarding and POP/IMAP section.
5. Make sure your settings are set to Forward a copy of incoming mail to your default support address. If forwarding is not set up, Add a forwarding address. 6. Click Save changes.
7. Go back to your Zendesk Email settings and click Verify forwarding.
8. The error is resolved if within 48 hours you see a green verification checkmark in your Zendesk Email settings.

How to fix external email forwarding

1. Inside your Zendesk account, navigate to your Email settings. 2. Locate the Support Address receiving the Forwarding check failed error. This error message is often accompanied by two other DNS errors.
3. Outside your Zendesk account, inform your email admin of an "email forwarding" issue in your Zendesk account on the specific email address. 4. If you are the email admin, navigate away from Zendesk and log into your email domain provider. In this example, the steps are from a GoDaddy account.
5. Navigate to your external email provider settings
6. Navigate to the Forwarding section of your email domain. 7. Confirm that your forwarding rules are turned on and set up correctly. You should forward your external email domain to your Zendesk default support address. In our example, the company email domain is forwarded to the Zendesk default address, [e-mail].
8. Confirm in your external email account that your forwarding is set up successfully. It could take up to 48 hours for this successful setup to be recognized in your Zendesk account.
9. Navigate back to your Zendesk Email settings. 10. Click the drop-down button, See Details, and click Verify forwarding. 12. Wait up to 48 hours for a green confirmation check mark next to the Forwarding verified message.

If normal traffic is being forwarded but the support address won’t verify, contact your domain admin to confirm that the required email x-headers are not being stripped as part of the auto-forward. Otherwise, use the option Connect other.

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

How to fix the SPF does not include Zendesk Support error

The error SPF does not include Zendesk Support prevents emails from sending out of Zendesk. To resolve the error message follow the steps below or watch the video demonstration.

Note. While SPF is optional to configure, we highly recommend it and it could be the source of your current email issue.

1. Navigate to your 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 your email admin and inform them you are experiencing an SPF issue with the specific email address. Your email admin may inform you that because SPF is optional (but highly recommended) that you can ignore the SPF error message.
5. Continue resolving this SPF error if you are the email admin and this SPF error still applies to your account.  6. Log into your external email provider account. In this example, the steps are from a GoDaddy account.
7. Navigate to your DNS settings for your specific domain.
8. Make sure you have added your recommended SPF record that includes Zendesk to your DNS settings.
9. Confirm in your external account that the SPF record is added successfully.
10. Navigate back to your Zendesk Email settings. 11. Locate the support address receiving the SPF error. 12. Click the drop-down button: See Details. 13. Click the button 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 the article: Why my SPF record won't validate.

How to fix the DNS records are not set up correctly error

To resolve the error message DNS records are not set up correctly and TXT record is missing in your email settings follow the steps below or watch the video demonstration. 

1. Navigate to your 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 will see what the TXT value should be set to.
4. Contact your email admin about this issue, or if you are the email admin, log into your external email account.  5. Navigate to your DNS settings for your specific domain. In this example, the steps are from a GoDaddy account.
6. Make sure you have added the recommended Zendesk verification TXT record.  7. Make sure the value matches the TXT value provided to you in your Zendesk email settings.
8. Click Save and make sure you receive confirmation in your external email settings.
9. Navigate back to your Zendesk Email settings. 10. Locate the support address receiving the DNS error. 11. Click the drop-down button: See Details. 12. Click the button 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 the article: 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?
• Learn about SPF, DNS, and TXT records and how to resolve any DNS errors. 
• If you were following our GoDaddy examples, here are some external links to GoDaddy resources: How to add a TXT record, How to add an SPF record, and Manage your DNS settings.