How do I verify forwarding, SPF, DNS, and TXT records in Zendesk?

Question

How can I check my SPF records? Where do I confirm if my DNS records are correct? How can I see if TXT records are configured?

Answer

Important: Wait up to 48 hours for the check marks in the email settings to turn green. The email admin configures these records outside Zendesk, and they take time to update in the account.

Only an admin can verify a successful DNS setup with these options:

• Verify in Zendesk
• Verify outside of Zendesk

Note: Zendesk auto-verifies the TXT record when you add a support address. Zendesk may require you to add the value to the DNS record in the future. For more information, see Allowing Zendesk to send email on behalf of your email domain.

Verify in Zendesk

To verify in Zendesk:

1. Go to Email settings in Admin Center
2. Click Manage support addresses
3. Look for the Failed verification status, which indicates an email verification error
4. Click the three dots, then select Verify forwarding, Verify SPF, or Verify DNS as needed
5. Click Verify to start the check
6. Wait up to 48 hours for the records to update. Check the external inbox and Sent folder, and the tickets to confirm that emails are sent and received.

Note: Each email setup is different, and some DNS records are optional. The configuration may not require you to fix all three errors.

To help prevent this error:

• Check the support addresses in the email settings on a regular cadence
• Ask the email admin to share any external changes that can affect email forwarding to Zendesk

Verify outside of Zendesk

Email forwarding verification

To verify the custom email address, Zendesk sends a verification email to the email server. The email server must automatically return that verification to the Zendesk account.

If Zendesk creates emails by forwarding but the forwarding status shows Failed, ask the email provider to confirm that the outbound email server doesn’t block the verification email.

SPF and DNS verification

After you fix the DNS records with the email admin, or if you still have send issues, verify the records outside Zendesk to detect any problems.

Many email admins use third-party tools such as MXtoolbox.com or DMARC Analyzer to diagnose issues with DNS records. The example below uses MXtoolbox.com.

Note: Resolving these errors requires steps outside the Zendesk account. Contact Zendesk Customer Support for further help. This article shows example steps in third-party tools, which may differ from how the email admin resolves the error.

To verify outside of Zendesk:

1. Open the third-party tool you use to troubleshoot
2. Go to the section for the DNS record test: SPF Record Lookup, DNS Check, and TXT Lookup
3. Enter the record in the field, format it correctly, and press Enter to start the lookup. The test steps differ slightly by record.
   • To test an SPF record, copy the text after the @ sign in the company email, the domain.com. For example, copy myexamplecompany.com
     
   • To test a DNS record, enter the email domain. For example, myexamplecompany.com
     
   • To test the TXT record, add zendeskverification in front of the email domain. For example, enter zendeskverification.myexamplecompany.com
     
4. The tool shows a green verification message for the record. See the examples below:
   • This SPF record includes the recommended information and shows a green Pass
     
   • This DNS check shows green verification check marks and no glaring issues
     
   • The TXT record is found and passes verification
     
5. If the record doesn’t pass the external verification check, the error message from the third-party tool helps the email admin identify what to fix in the DNS record