Domain not verifying? Start here.

DNS changes are not instant. After you save a record at your registrar, it takes a little while for the rest of the internet (including our verification servers) to see it. This is called propagation, and it usually finishes within a few minutes. On some registrars, or if a record had a long TTL set before you changed it, it can take up to a few hours.

So before you change anything: wait a few minutes, then click Verify DNS again. If some rows turned green and others are still red, you are on the right track and just need a little more patience on the remaining ones.

This is the single most common cause once propagation is ruled out. DNS records are exact, and one wrong character means no match. A few things to look at:

• Copy the values exactly. Use the copy button next to each record in your dashboard rather than retyping. A single missing character in a long DKIM value will fail.
• Watch for trailing spaces. Pasting can sometimes pull in a space before or after the value. Trim it.
• Check the host (or name) field. For records on the root of your domain, the host is usually @ (sometimes shown blank, which means the same thing). For a subdomain record like the DKIM one, the host has to match exactly what the dashboard shows, without your domain name pasted on the end. Some registrars auto-append your domain, so mail._domainkey can turn into mail._domainkey.yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com if you are not careful.

If you used email on this domain before (a previous provider, a hosting bundle, or your registrar's own email product), leftover records can block the new setup. Look in your DNS panel and remove:

• Any MX record that does not point at the MailSprout mail server. Two competing sets of MX records confuse delivery and verification.
• Any duplicate TXT record. A second SPF line (another v=spf1 entry) is invalid, and an old verification TXT can sit alongside the new one and cause a mismatch.

The goal is a clean slate: only the records MailSprout asks for should be present for mail. After you delete the old ones, give it a few minutes and re-check.

Some registrars quietly add their own email or security records when you register a domain or enable a feature. These can conflict with the MailSprout values without you ever touching them. Common culprits:

• An auto-published SPF TXT pointing at the registrar's own mail servers.
• A default _dmarc TXT record the registrar set for you.
• A CNAME like autoconfig, autodiscover, or a mail CNAME pointing at the registrar's email product.

Scan your DNS panel for anything email-related that you did not add yourself, and remove or replace it with the MailSprout value. The registrar-specific guides call out the quirks for each provider, so find yours under the help center for the exact steps.

You do not have to wait around guessing. Your domain page in the dashboard re-checks DNS on demand: click Verify DNS any time and it runs a fresh check. The records table shows a per-record status dot, so you can see at a glance which rows are green (live and matching) and which are still red (missing or mismatched).

Use that to narrow things down. If only the DKIM row is red, the problem is that one record, not your whole setup. We also re-check automatically every few minutes in the background, so a domain can flip to Ready on its own once the records propagate.

If you have worked through all of the above and the domain still will not verify, we are happy to look at it directly. Email support@mailsprout.io with your domain name (the actual one, like yourbusiness.com) and a note about which records show red. We can see your DNS from our side and will tell you exactly what is missing or mismatched.