How to 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: You may have to wait up to 48 hours for your checkmarks to turn green. Your email administrator configured these records outside of Zendesk and it can take some time to update in your account.

Only an admin can verify a successful DNS setup by following these steps:

• Verify in Zendesk
• Verify outside of Zendesk

Note: Zendesk auto-verifies the TXT record when you add a support address. It currently does not have a verification function, but Zendesk may require you to add the value to the DNS record in the future. For more information, please see this article: Allowing Zendesk to send email on behalf of your email domain.

Verify in Zendesk

1. Navigate to the Email settings in Admin Center
2. Locate your support address
3. Look for green verification check marks indicating a successful email setup
   
4. Click See details and verify each email error message using the Verify buttons
   
5. Wait up to 48 hours for these records to update and check your external inbox and sent folder, as well as your tickets, to see if emails are sending and being received.  

Note: Each email setup is different and some DNS records are optional. Your specific configuration may not require all three errors to be addressed.

To ensure this error won't happen again:

• Routinely check back on your support addresses in your email settings
• Ask your email admin to inform you of any external changes that may impact emails forwarding into Zendesk

Verify outside of Zendesk

Email forwarding verification

To verify your custom email address, Zendesk sends an email verification to your email server. Your email server must automatically return that verification to your Zendesk account.

If emails are created in Zendesk via forwarding but the forwarding status has failed, check with your email provider to ensure the verification email is not being blocked by your outbound email server.

SPF and DNS verification

After fixing your DNS records with your email admin, or if you still experience issues with emails sending, there are steps you can take outside of Zendesk to verify your records and detect any issues.

Many email admins enter their records into third-party email tools, such as MXtoolbox.com or DMARC Analyzer, to diagnose what is wrong with their DNS records. The example below uses MXtoolbox.com. 

Note: Resolving these errors requires steps outside of your Zendesk account. The Zendesk Customer Support cannot access or advise on your external email settings. This article provided example instructions in third-party tools that may be different than how your email admin will resolve the error.

1. Open the third-party tool you use for troubleshooting
2. Navigate to the appropriate DNS record testing section: SPF Record Lookup, DNS Check, and TXT Lookup
3. Test your record by entering the record into the field, formatting it properly, and hit "Enter" to begin the record lookup. Keep in mind that testing a DNS record differs slightly per record. See the examples below: 
   • In this example, to test this SPF record, copy the text after the @ sign in the company's email, the domain.com. For example, copy the text myexamplecompany.com.
     
   • To test this DNS record, copy just my 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 will show a green verification message about your record. See the examples below:
   • This SPF record includes the recommended information and has a green Pass description.
     
   • This DNS check resulted in green verification check marks and no glaring issues.
     
   • The TXT record was successfully found and passed verification.
     

5. If your record doesn't pass the external verification check, the error message from the third-party tool should help your email admin understand what needs to be addressed with your DNS record.

See below for a video demonstration of the steps listed above: