DMARC record validator: check a record tag by tag
In short: Paste the record before you publish it, or one you copied from a lookup. Each tag is read and checked against the syntax in RFC 7489, and every error, warning and note is listed with the tag it belongs to. Limit: It checks syntax, not whether the record is published or whether your mail passes DMARC.
Paste a DMARC record and the validator checks it against RFC 7489: v=DMARC1 has to come first and p second, p and sp take none, quarantine or reject, pct is 0 to 100, adkim and aspf are r or s, and rua and ruf are lists of URIs. Unknown tags are noted as ignored. Nothing is looked up in DNS.
Price: this tool is free. Checking a whole email list is from $9/mo, and the first 100 checks are free with Google, no card. Check your list free nowSee pricing
Shows the host name the record belongs at.
Sample result
The example record has six tags, no errors and no warnings, and belongs at _dmarc.example.com.
- Errors
- 0
- Tags
- 6
- Publish at
- _dmarc.example.com
What this means for you
Two notes remain: p=none is the monitoring setting, and subdomains follow p.
- v first, p second
- Policy and alignment values
- pct, ri, rua and ruf
- Unknown tags noted
- DMARC
- RFC 7489
- Syntax
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated · Runs in your browser; nothing you paste is sent to us
A valid record is one part of getting mail delivered.
- Next, make sure the addresses you send to exist before the first campaign.
- Upload or paste it at /verify. Every address gets a live mailbox check, and the first 100 email checks are free with a Google sign-in, no card.
How do I validate a DMARC record?
- Paste the TXT value of the record. Quotes and split strings are fine.
- Optionally type the domain, to see the exact host name the record belongs at.
- Fix every error first: the record or a tag is invalid. Then read the warnings and notes.
- Publish the record as a TXT record at _dmarc.yourdomain, then look it up again to confirm.
Example
- You enter
v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc-reports@example.com; pct=100; adkim=r; aspf=rfor example.com.- You get
- Six tags, no errors and no warnings. Two notes: p=none is the monitoring setting, and with no sp tag subdomains follow p. The record belongs at _dmarc.example.com.
- Limits
- Runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
What does a valid DMARC record look like?
RFC 7489 defines the record format. It starts with v=DMARC1, and the p tag comes straight after it. After those, tags such as sp, rua, ruf, adkim, aspf, pct, ri, fo and rf can appear in any order, separated by semicolons. If the version tag is wrong or missing, a receiver ignores the whole record.
What do the tag values mean?
The p and sp tags are the policy for the domain and for its subdomains: none, quarantine or reject. The adkim and aspf tags set relaxed (r) or strict (s) alignment for DKIM and SPF. The pct tag is the percentage of messages the policy applies to, from 0 to 100. The rua tag lists where aggregate reports go, and the standard requires receivers to support mailto: addresses there.
Where is the record published?
As a TXT record on a name that starts with _dmarc, so the record for example.com sits at _dmarc.example.com. To read what is published for a domain, use the bulk DMARC checker; to build a record from scratch, use the DMARC generator.
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- Cold email senders
- Check the record on a new sending domain before it goes into DNS.
- Deliverability consultants
- Find the exact tag that makes a client record invalid.
- Sales ops
- Confirm that a record sent by IT has the reporting address it should.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- It checks syntax, not whether the record is published or whether your mail passes DMARC.
- It does not check that report addresses at other domains have authorised reports.
- Newer tags that RFC 7489 does not define are reported as notes.
- It cannot say which policy is right for your domain.
Common questions
- Does a valid record mean DMARC is working?
- No. It means the syntax is right. DMARC also depends on SPF or DKIM passing and aligning with the From domain.
- What happens to tags the standard does not define?
- RFC 7489 says unknown tags must be ignored. The tool lists them as notes so you can spot a typo.
- Does the order of tags matter?
- For v and p, yes: v first, then p. For the others, no.
- Is p=none a valid policy?
- Yes. It asks receivers to take no action on failing mail, and is the monitoring setting while you read reports.
- Does the tool check my live record?
- No. It checks the text you paste, so it works before publishing.
- Is the record uploaded?
- No. The checks run in your browser.
Sources
A tidy list can still be full of dead addresses.
Extracting, deduplicating and syntax checks all work on the text of an address. None of them can tell whether the mailbox exists. Only the server that hosts it can answer that, through an SMTP check, and that is what the paid product does.
- Upload the cleaned file as it is: CSVs up to 100,000 rows
- A real SMTP mailbox check on every row, with catch-all detection
- Small list? Starter at $9/mo covers 2,500 emails a month, cancel anytime
Plans from $9 a month, cancel anytime, no contract. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. The free tools stay free either way.