Managing e-mail deliverability settings in cPanel

E‑mail deliverability refers to how reliably your messages reach recipients’ inboxes instead of being flagged as spam. In cPanel, you can configure authentication records that help mail servers verify your domain’s legitimacy.

Key Technologies

1. DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)

• Purpose: Verifies that an incoming e‑mail is genuinely from the stated sender and hasn’t been altered.

• How it works

  • Sender signs the message with a private key.
  • Recipient retrieves the sender’s public key via DNS to validate the signature.

• Setup in cPanel

  1. Log in to cPanel → Email Deliverability.
  2. Locate your domain → click Manage.
  3. Under DKIM, view or copy the DNS record name/value pair.

2. Sender Policy Framework (SPF)

• Purpose: Prevents spammers from forging messages that appear to come from your domain.

• Benefits: Reduces bounce messages (backscatter spam).

• Setup in cPanel

  1. Log in to cPanel → Email Deliverability.

  2. Locate your domain → click Manage.

  3. Under SPF, view or customize the DNS record.

  4. For shared hosting, ensure the record includes:

     +include:spf.mysecurecloudhost.com

  5. If missing, click Customize → Add a New “+include” Item → enter the correct include line → Install Customized SPF Record.

3. Reverse DNS (PTR Records)

• Purpose: Maps IP addresses back to domain names (reverse lookup).

• Benefit: Helps receiving mail servers verify that your IP address corresponds to your domain, reducing spam flags.

• Setup in cPanel

  1. Log in to cPanel → Email Deliverability.
  2. Locate your domain → click Manage.
  3. Under Reverse DNS (PTR), view the record name/value pair.

Note

• You typically don’t need to modify these settings unless troubleshooting deliverability issues.
• Always confirm changes with your mail provider’s documentation.
• Propagation of DNS changes may take several hours.