Google Postmaster Tools: set it up and read the dashboards
Set up Google Postmaster Tools, verify your sending domain, read the Compliance status dashboard, and see why a dashboard can be empty or late.
On this page
Google Postmaster Tools (opens in a new tab) shows how Gmail sees the email you send to personal Gmail accounts: spam rate, authentication, delivery errors and compliance with Gmail's sender requirements. To set it up, add the domain you authenticate mail with (your DKIM d= domain or your SPF Return-Path domain) and verify it with a TXT or CNAME record at your DNS host. The dashboards (opens in a new tab) are not real-time.
What the dashboards show
The Postmaster Tools dashboards (opens in a new tab) include the rows below. The two reputation dashboards are in the legacy v1 interface (opens in a new tab) only and will be retired:
| Dashboard | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Compliance status | Your compliance with the requirements in Gmail's email sender guidelines |
| Spam rate | The percent of your messages that recipients manually mark as spam in Gmail |
| IP reputation (legacy v1 only, being retired) | The quality rating for the IP addresses you send from |
| Domain reputation (legacy v1 only, being retired) | The quality rating for the domains you send from |
| Feedback loop | Campaign messages that recipients marked as spam |
| Authentication | The percent of your email that passes SPF, DKIM and DMARC |
| Encryption | The percent of your email sent over an encrypted SSL or TLS connection |
| Delivery errors | The percent of authenticated messages (SPF or DKIM) that were rejected or temporarily failed |
Only verified domains appear in the domain menu, and you can select a time range of the last 7, 30, 60, 90 or 120 days. Times are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Check your domain now
See the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records your domain publishes and what to fix first. Free, no account needed.
Postmaster Tools v1 and v2
Google is moving senders (opens in a new tab) from the legacy Postmaster Tools (v1) to the new Postmaster Tools (v2), and will automatically redirect you to v2. Every v1 dashboard is available in v2 except Domain Reputation and IP Reputation, which will be retired; the v2 API also leaves out domain and IP reputation. Google has postponed switching off the legacy web interface and says a new dashboard will replace the reputation view.
Set it up: add and verify your sending domain
You need a Google Account or a Google Workspace account. Google's setup steps (opens in a new tab):
- Add the domain. On the Manage Domains page, click Add new domain and enter the domain you use to authenticate outgoing email with SPF, DKIM or both. Use either the DKIM (
d=) domain or the SPF (Return-Path) domain. - Verify it. Click Verify domain, copy the TXT or CNAME record from the Verify ownership of domain window, and add it to your domain's DNS records at your DNS host. Verification is usually immediate but can take up to 10 minutes to show. You can skip verification, but no data appears until the domain is verified.
- Give others access (optional). You can add users to verified domains only, and each needs a Google or Google Workspace account. Postmaster Tools does not notify them, so tell them yourself.
Subdomains get their own dashboards if you add them the same way as the primary domain. Once the primary domain is verified, its subdomains do not need separate verification.
Read the Compliance status dashboard
The Compliance status dashboard (opens in a new tab) checks your mail against Gmail's email sender guidelines. Some requirements apply to all senders, and some only to bulk senders, meaning anyone who sends about 5,000 messages or more to Gmail accounts in 24 hours:
| All senders | Bulk senders only |
|---|---|
| SPF and DKIM authentication | DMARC authentication |
| DNS records | One-click unsubscribe |
| Message formatting | Honor unsubscribe |
| Encryption | |
| User-reported spam rate |
There are three possible states for each requirement:
- Compliant: your setup and your messages meet the requirement.
- Needs work: you must change your email system to meet it.
- No data found: compliance is calculated from received emails that meet specific filter criteria, and there should be enough of them to evaluate the requirement.
The dashboard uses a rolling average over several days, and a fix can take up to 7 days to show. It reports primary domains only, not subdomains. For DNS requirements, it reflects the settings observed when your emails were received, not your current configuration.
If DMARC shows Needs work, see DMARC policy not enabled; if Gmail is rejecting mail outright, see 550 5.7.26.
Why a dashboard is empty or out of date
When data is missing or late, check these:
- Only personal Gmail accounts count. Data (opens in a new tab) covers messages sent to addresses ending in
@gmail.comor@googlemail.com. - The domain is not verified. Unverified domains do not appear in the dashboard menu (opens in a new tab).
- Volume was too low. Data might be missing on days with too few messages, to protect users' privacy.
- The data is not real-time. It is typically updated within 24 hours but can take longer.
- Some dashboards count DKIM mail only. Messages that are not DKIM-authenticated do not appear in those dashboards.
Keep the spam rate below 0.1%, never 0.3%
Gmail's email sender guidelines (opens in a new tab) ask senders to monitor their domain's spam rate in Postmaster Tools, keep it below 0.10%, and avoid ever reaching 0.30% or higher.
Postmaster Tools and a DNS check answer different questions
Postmaster Tools reports what Gmail observed about mail already sent. For DNS requirements, the Compliance status (opens in a new tab) reflects the settings seen when those emails were received, not what your domain publishes now.
The DNS check answers the other question: it is a free one-off check of the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records your domain publishes now. It only reads public DNS records, needs no account, and sends no email. A DNS finding shows how your domain is set up, not where a particular message landed. For a full Google Workspace setup, see Google Workspace SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
Sources
Tools for this
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SPF, DKIM and DMARC check
Check the email records a domain publishes today and see what to fix first.
Frequently asked questions
Which domain should I add to Postmaster Tools?
Add the DKIM (d=) domain or the SPF (Return-Path) domain you use to authenticate outgoing email, then verify it with the TXT or CNAME record Postmaster Tools gives you.
Why is my Postmaster Tools dashboard empty?
Data covers only mail to personal Gmail accounts, the domain must be verified, data might be missing on days with too little mail, to protect privacy, and some dashboards count only DKIM-authenticated mail.
How long does the Compliance status take to update?
It uses a rolling average over several days, and after you fix a requirement it can take up to 7 days for the change to show.
Check your domain now
See the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records your domain publishes and what to fix first. Free, no account needed.