Why are my business emails going to people's junk folder?
A common cause is email that cannot be proven to come from you. Inboxes check SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Messages that fail are more likely to land in junk. Check that every service sending for you is in those records, then look at content and sending volume.
Last read from the sources at the foot of this page.
What does it mean for a business?
Quotes, invoices and replies sit unread. Google says plainly what happens to mail that is not authenticated.
Messages that aren't authenticated with these methods might be marked as spam or rejected with a 5.7.26 error.
What should you check?
If your third-party senders aren't included in your SPF record, messages from these senders are more likely to be marked as spam.
- List every service that sends email as you: your mailbox provider, invoicing, newsletters, booking tools.
- Make sure each one is in your one SPF record, or signs with DKIM for your domain.
- Publish a DMARC record if you have none.
- Ask a recipient to open the message in junk and read the authentication results in the full header.
- Then look at content: one link, a plain signature and no attachment the reader did not expect.
Where is the change made?
Your DNS settings, for SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Each sending service shows the records it needs in its own settings.
What else do people ask about this?
Why does only some of our email go to junk?
Different services send different messages. Your mailbox might pass while your invoicing tool fails because it is not in your SPF record or does not sign with DKIM.
Will DMARC make my email go to junk?
Not at p=none. A stricter policy only affects mail that fails both SPF and DKIM, so fix those first.
Where does this come from?
- Google, Gmail Help: Email sender guidelinessupport.google.comRead 16 October 2026
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