--- title: "Why Microsoft Exchange SPF Check Is Essential And How To Avoid SPF Validation Error | DuoCircle" description: "Join the thousands of organizations that use DuoCircle Find out how affordable it is for your organization today and be pleasantly surprised.Interested in" image: "https://www.duocircle.com/images/og-default.png" canonical: "https://www.duocircle.com/content/spf-validation-failed/exchange-spf-check/" --- Content # Why Microsoft Exchange SPF Check Is Essential And How To Avoid SPF Validation Error Join the thousands of organizations that use DuoCircle Find out how affordable it is for your organization today and be pleasantly surprised.Interested in [ Talk to an Expert → ](/contact/) [ See what we make ](/products/) ## Why Microsoft Exchange SPF Check Is Essential And How To Avoid SPF Validation Error When it comes to preventing fraudulent emails, phishing attacks, and spoofing, IT administrators use several methods. _Using an SPF record with DKIM and DMARC enables domain owners to add authentication to their emails_. It also helps in **preventing spoofing** to a great extent. This article will be looking at why Microsoft Exchange SPF check is imperative. We’ll also look at measures that need to be taken to prevent [SPF validation error Office 365](/content/spf-validation-failed/spf-validation-error-office-365) alerts. [Fix Your SPF Errors Now](/email/spf-record-check) ![spf validation failed](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/12/check-spf-records.png) ### Why Adding SPF Records Is Important For Microsoft Exchange Servers? Adding an _SPF record is highly important as it helps prevent malicious actors and adversaries from using your domain name_ to send fraudulent emails to others. Missing to add an SPF record or having an [invalid SPF record](/content/spf-validation-failed/invalid-spf-record) will result in ‘[SPF validation unavailable](/content/spf-validation-failed/spf-validation-unavailable)’ errors. Once you add an **SPF record** to your domain, _the recipient email server checks if an SPF record is present every time an email is sent from the domain_. The list bearing the IP addresses or domain names is fetched and checked with the sender IP address if it is found. If the record matches, the email is processed further, or else will be rejected. ### Why Exchange SPF Check Fail? When it comes to ‘[SPF validation failed](/content/spf-validation-failed)’ alerts, several reasons contribute to an SPF check failure. If you receive an [SPF check failed Gmail](/content/spf-validation-failed/spf-check-failed-gmail) message, then it can be due to several reasons - **No Record:** If you have no SPF record, you will get an ‘SPF validation check failed’ error. - **Multiple records**: Every domain should have only one SPF record. If there are more records found, then it will throw an [SPF validation error](/content/spf-validation-failed/spf-validation-error). - **Too many DNS lookups**: An SPF record can only have a maximum of 10 DNS lookups; anything more will make the SPF record invalid. - **Syntax & Typo Errors**: Ensure that the **SPF record** is appropriately constructed with the proper opening and closing tags. ![invalid spf record](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/12/nslookup-spf.png)![email security services](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/12/test-spf.png) ### How To Check And Validate SPF Records? When it comes to checking and [validating your SPF records](https://www.autospf.com/), there are several online tools available. Remember, your job is not complete merely by creating an SPF record and adding it to your [DNS database](https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/1160287/How-To-Setup-an-SPF-Record-on-your-DNS-Server). One needs to ensure that the SPF record is valid and error-free and will not cause any issues when other email servers perform an **SPF check**. The article has provided useful information on why SPF check is essential in [Microsoft Exchange servers](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/office-365-security/set-up-spf-in-office-365-to-help-prevent-spoofing?view=o365-worldwide), why Exchange SPF checks fail, and how to prevent them. With it, one can conclude that adding SPF records is extremely important for every domain as it helps **prevent spoofing** to a great extent. Moreover, _it adds authentication to the email messages being sent and increases the email’s chances of getting delivered to the intended recipient_. ##### Join the thousands of organizations that use DuoCircle --- Find out how affordable it is for your organization today and be pleasantly surprised. [Auto SPF - Sign Up FREE](/email/spf-record-check)Interested in our Partner Program for MSPs and VARs? Visit Our [MSP Partner Program](/msp-partner-program). ## Ready to talk? Same-day response from someone technical. We tell you yes or no quickly. If yes, we get to work. [Talk to an Expert→](/contact/)[See what we make](/products/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}],"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://x.com/duocirclellc","https://www.facebook.com/duocirclellc","https://www.g2.com/products/phish-protection-by-duocircle/reviews","https://github.com/duocircle","https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/duocircle-llc"],"contactPoint":{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"customer support","url":"https://support.duocircle.com"},"knowsAbout":["Email Security","Email Authentication","SPF","DKIM","DMARC","Phishing Protection","Spam Filtering","SMTP Relay","Email Deliverability","Email Forwarding"]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebSite","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]}} ``` ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","name":"Why Microsoft Exchange SPF Check Is Essential And How To Avoid SPF Validation Error","description":"Join the thousands of organizations that use DuoCircle Find out how affordable it is for your organization today and be pleasantly surprised.Interested in ","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/content/spf-validation-failed/exchange-spf-check/","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".page-answer",".duo-rich-text p:first-of-type"]},"dateModified":"2023-07-29T11:33:44.000Z","datePublished":"2020-12-16T21:19:13.000Z"},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"DuoCircle","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Microsoft Exchange SPF Check Is Essential And How To Avoid SPF Validation Error","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/content/spf-validation-failed/exchange-spf-check/"}]}] ```