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DMARC verification failed

The DMARC record card on the deliverability dashboard shows a red Failed badge and a “DMARC didn’t verify” message with the reason, even though you’ve added the record to your DNS settings.

What’s happening

Section titled “What’s happening”

MapleGather checks your DMARC record by looking it up in DNS at _dmarc. followed by your domain. The most common cause of a failure is a casing error in the DMARC record value. The DMARC protocol requires the version tag to be v=DMARC1 in uppercase. A value starting with v=dmarc1 (lowercase) is invalid and causes verification to fail.

Other causes include:

  • The record hasn’t finished propagating through DNS (can take up to 48 hours after being added).
  • A typo or extra character in the Host or Value.
  • Some DNS providers (including Cloudflare) automatically wrap TXT values in double quotes. If you also add quotes manually, the value is malformed.
  • The record was added as the wrong type — DMARC requires a TXT record, not a CNAME.

How to fix it

Section titled “How to fix it”

1. Check for the uppercase v=DMARC1 tag

Section titled “1. Check for the uppercase v=DMARC1 tag”
  1. Log in to your DNS provider and find the DMARC TXT record. Its Host must match the Host on the DMARC record card — _dmarc. followed by your domain, for example _dmarc.yourorg.org (some DNS providers want only _dmarc).
  2. Check that the value starts exactly with v=DMARC1; — capital letters, no space before the semicolon.
  3. Go to Email deliverability (at /admin/email/deliverability) in MapleGather and compare your DNS value to the value shown on the DMARC record card. Copy the value from the card directly — it is confirmed correct.
  4. If you find a discrepancy, update the record and save.

2. Wait for propagation

Section titled “2. Wait for propagation”
  1. After making a correction, return to Email deliverability (at /admin/email/deliverability). Select Verify on the DMARC card. While you keep the page open and the record isn’t verified, it also checks again automatically (up to 20 times per visit, paused while the tab is hidden). [amended pre-merge 2026-10-20, c21 E panel-r2] Full propagation can take up to 48 hours.

3. Check for double-quoting

Section titled “3. Check for double-quoting”
  1. MapleGather accepts a DMARC value that your DNS provider wraps in quotes or splits into several strings. If your DNS provider (such as Cloudflare) automatically adds double-quote characters around TXT values, don’t add your own quotes as well when entering the value.
  2. In your provider’s edit UI, the raw value you type should not start and end with " — if the provider adds quotes, they’ll be shown differently in the UI.

4. Confirm the record type is TXT

Section titled “4. Confirm the record type is TXT”
  1. Find the DMARC record in your DNS settings and confirm its type is TXT, not CNAME, A, or any other type.

If that didn’t work

Section titled “If that didn’t work”
  • Use an external DNS lookup tool to query your _dmarc TXT record and see exactly what DNS is serving. Compare it character by character to the value on the record card.
  • Contact your DNS provider to confirm that TXT records at the _dmarc prefix are supported.
  • Read the reason on the DMARC card — it says which of three things the check found: no DMARC record at _dmarc. followed by your domain, more than one DMARC record there (keep exactly one), or a value that starts with a lowercase v=dmarc1. If an external lookup shows one correct record but the card still says none was found, MapleGather’s DNS lookup is still getting an older answer — select Verify again later; DNS changes can take up to 48 hours.
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