SPF Record for Google Workspace: Copy-Paste Setup Guide

You're about to send your first mail merge from your Google Workspace address, and someone told you to "set up SPF". This guide gives you the SPF record for Google Workspace to copy, shows where to paste it, and covers a common snag: a domain that already has an SPF record.

It takes about 10 minutes, then up to 48 hours to take effect. You don't need the Google Admin console or any technical background.

What is the SPF record for Google Workspace?

If Google Workspace is the only service that sends email from your domain, copy this:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

That's the record Google gives in its own help pages. What each part means:

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a line of text on your domain (the part after the @, like yourcompany.com) that lists which services may send email as you. When Gmail or Outlook gets an email from you@yourcompany.com, it checks that list. If the sending server is on it, the email passes SPF.

SPF is one of three settings that prove who you are. The other two are DKIM (a digital signature on each email) and DMARC (rules for what to do when a check fails).

For a plain-English tour of all three, read SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained.

Check whether your domain already has an SPF record

Check first: adding a second SPF record is an easy way to break SPF, and your domain can have only one. If you bought your domain through Google when you signed up for Workspace, it may already be set up.

Run your domain through our free SPF, DKIM and DMARC checker to see what's there now.

You'll get one of three results:

How to add the SPF record at your domain host

You add SPF at your domain host: the company that manages your domain's DNS settings, usually where you bought the domain. DNS is the internet's address book for your domain, and SPF lives there as a TXT record, which is simply a record that holds text.

1. Sign in to your domain host. If you're not sure who that is, check where you pay for your domain.

2. Open the DNS settings for yourcompany.com. Hosts call this page "DNS", "DNS records" or "Manage DNS".

3. Add a new record with these values:

   Field	What to enter
   Type	TXT
   Host (or Name)	@ (this means yourcompany.com itself)
   Value	v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

4. Save the record. Some hosts ask you to wrap the value in quotation marks; your host's help page will say.
5. Wait. Google says it can take up to 48 hours for SPF to start working.

Google warns that typos, extra spaces or the wrong quotation marks make the record invalid, so copy and paste rather than type.

If your domain is with GoDaddy, our GoDaddy setup guide for Google Workspace shows where each field is.

What to do if an SPF record already exists

If your domain already has an SPF record, add Google to it. Don't create a second one. With two SPF records, the SPF check fails for every email, and Google warns this can send your mail to spam.

This happens when another service already sends email for your domain, such as a contact form, an online store, a newsletter tool, or the email that came with your web hosting. To merge them:

1. Open the existing SPF record. It's the TXT record that starts with v=spf1.
2. Keep v=spf1 at the start.
3. Add include:_spf.google.com straight after it.
4. Keep the other service's include: if that service still sends email for you.
5. Keep a single all at the end. Use ~all, which is what Google recommends.
6. Save, and delete any second SPF record so only one is left.

So if your existing record looks like this:

v=spf1 include:[your other email service] ~all

your merged record looks like this:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:[your other email service] ~all

Replace [your other email service] with the exact value from your existing record. Don't type the square brackets.

A real example: GoDaddy's email server

Say your domain is with GoDaddy and you see this record:

v=spf1 include:secureserver.net -all

secureserver.net is GoDaddy's email server. GoDaddy's help page says customers using GoDaddy's own email or web hosting need this value.

• If you still send some email through GoDaddy (its email service, or a website hosted there), keep it and add Google:

  v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:secureserver.net ~all
  

  Copy

  This matches the "Google Workspace and GoDaddy" example on Google's own setup page. Note the -all changed to ~all.

• If you've moved all your email to Google Workspace, remove include:secureserver.net. Google advises taking out any service that no longer sends email for you. Your record becomes v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all.

Watch the 10-lookup limit

Each include: makes receiving servers look up another list, and SPF allows at most 10 lookups, counting lists inside lists. Go over 10 and SPF fails. Two or three services are nowhere near the limit; for a long record, Google's free Check MX tool (opens in a new tab) counts them. Records also have a 255-character limit.

How to check SPF is working

Wait a few hours, then test with a real email. Two quick ways:

1. Run the domain check again. Our checker shows whether your domain has exactly one SPF record and whether it includes Google.
2. Read the message details in Gmail. Send an email from you@yourcompany.com to a personal Gmail address. Open it, click the three-dot More menu next to Reply, then Show original. The summary at the top shows your SPF result. You want it to say PASS.

If it still fails after 48 hours, check the record for typos and make sure there's only one SPF record.

Common SPF mistakes and how to fix them

What SPF does and doesn't do for your mail merge

SPF proves your email really comes from your domain. Gmail requires anyone emailing Gmail addresses to set up SPF or DKIM, and senders of more than 5,000 messages a day need all three.

But passing SPF doesn't decide where your email lands. Inbox providers like Gmail also weigh your sender reputation (your domain's track record), how people react to your email, and what it says.

Spam complaints matter most. When people click "Report spam", your reputation drops fast, even with perfect SPF. Gmail's sender guidelines say to keep your spam rate in Postmaster Tools (Google's free dashboard for senders) below 0.10%, and never let it reach 0.30%.

So once SPF is set up:

• Email people who expect to hear from you, such as customers, candidates who applied, or contacts you've already spoken to.
• Write like a one-to-one email. Keep links to one or two and skip attachments.
• Make it easy to opt out, and stop emailing anyone who asks.

For what else filters look at in the email itself, see our guide to spam trigger words.

SPF also doesn't build trust for a new or quiet inbox. If you haven't sent in bulk from this address before, Warmuply warms it up in the background and shows you a daily safe-send number: how many emails your inbox can safely send today.

Next: DKIM and DMARC

Google recommends setting up all three settings.

Next, follow our guide to turning on DKIM in Google Workspace.

Then add a starter policy with our guide to setting up DMARC for Google Workspace.

Before you hit send

• Your domain has exactly one SPF record, and it includes include:_spf.google.com.
• Any other service that sends email for yourcompany.com is in that same record, and old ones are removed.
• A test email to a personal Gmail address shows SPF as PASS under Show original.
• Everyone on your list expects to hear from you, and your email gives them an easy way to opt out.

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