Verifying a sender
Setting up the address you send from, and why DNS is part of it.
Before you can send you need a sender: the email address that appears in the from line of your newsletter. That address has to be verified.
Start on this early. Verification depends on DNS records, and those need time. You can do all the other preparation while you wait.
Why this is necessary#
Sending mail on behalf of an address that is not yours is exactly what spammers do. So Gmail, Outlook and the rest check whether the sender demonstrably belongs to the domain. Skip that, and your newsletter lands in spam or is refused outright.
Setting the DNS records is how you provide that proof. Your mail is signed digitally, and returned mail ends up in the right place.
Adding a sender#
- Go to Senders and add one. Enter the name recipients should see, and the email address.
- You get a confirmation mail at that address. Click the link in it. That proves you control the mailbox. Until then the status reads Awaiting confirmation.
- DNS verification then starts and you are shown the records to set.
If the confirmation mail does not arrive you can have it sent again. Check your spam folder too.
The DNS records#
There are two kinds:
- DKIM signing. Every mail is signed digitally, so the receiving server can check that the content was not altered in transit and really comes from your domain.
- Bounce subdomain. A separate subdomain where returned mail arrives. The default is
send; if you already use that for something else you can pick another prefix. Technically this is set as the Return-Path.
Enter these records at your DNS provider. As with your own domain, there are toggles to match the notation to your DNS panel, and a button to copy everything at once.
Waiting and checking#
Verification happens automatically, but the Check status button asks for an immediate look at whether the records are found. The status moves through these stages:
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Awaiting confirmation | The link in the confirmation mail has not been clicked yet |
| Verification pending | The records are being checked |
| Verified | Ready to use, and you get a mail about it |
| Verification failed | The records were not found for 72 hours |
Verification failed means nothing is broken: checking simply stopped. Fix the records and restart verification with the button on the sender.
Several senders#
You can have more than one, for example news@yourband.com and info@yourband.com. Drag them into order; the top one is the primary and is suggested by default on a new newsletter.
Practical tips#
- Use an address on your own domain. A free Gmail or Hotmail address cannot be verified as a sender, because you do not control the DNS of those domains.
- Do not remove the DNS records after verification. They have to stay, or sending eventually stops working.
- If you switch DNS providers, check that these records came along.
Updated on 21 September 2026