Fix: Emails Going to Spam or Junk Folder

Estimated reading: 2 minutes

If emails sent from your Veerhost email address keep landing in spam or junk, the problem is almost always missing or misconfigured email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Here’s how to fix it.

Step 1: Check Your SPF Record

An SPF record tells receiving mail servers which servers are allowed to send email for your domain. Without it, your emails are likely to be flagged as spam.

In your DNS zone, you should have a TXT record on @ (root) that looks like this:

v=spf1 +a +mx +ip4:YOUR_SERVER_IP ~all

Replace YOUR_SERVER_IP with your Veerhost server IP. If your domain’s DNS is managed in cPanel, this record is usually created automatically. Verify it exists in cPanel → Zone Editor.

Step 2: Enable DKIM in cPanel

DKIM digitally signs outgoing emails so receiving servers can verify they weren’t tampered with.

  • Go to cPanel → Email → Email Deliverability
  • Find your domain and check if DKIM shows a green checkmark
  • If not, click Repair to automatically generate and install the DKIM key

Step 3: Add a DMARC Record

DMARC tells receiving servers what to do with emails that fail SPF or DKIM. Add this TXT record in your DNS zone:

Name:  _dmarc
Type:  TXT
Value: v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected]

Start with p=none (monitor mode). Once you confirm legitimate emails are passing, you can switch to p=quarantine or p=reject for stronger protection.

Step 4: Verify All Records

Use cPanel → Email → Email Deliverability to check all three records at once. Everything should show green. You can also test at mail-tester.com — send an email to their test address and get a full deliverability score.

Other Things to Check

  • Email content: Avoid spam trigger words, all-caps subject lines, or emails that are 100% images with no text
  • Sending volume: Sending hundreds of emails at once from shared hosting triggers spam filters — use a transactional email service (e.g. Mailgun, SendGrid) for bulk sending
  • Blacklist check: Check if your server IP is blacklisted at mxtoolbox.com/blacklists
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