SPF Record for Shopify: Setup Guide for Custom Domains

Shopify sends a lot of email on your behalf — order confirmations, shipping updates, abandoned cart reminders, and customer account notifications. Whether those emails reach the inbox or end up in spam depends partly on your SPF configuration. For a comprehensive overview of SPF, see our complete SPF guide. This guide explains how Shopify handles email authentication and what you need to do to make sure your SPF record is set up correctly.

How Shopify Sends Email

By default, Shopify sends notification emails from its own servers using a Shopify-managed email address. When this is the case, Shopify handles SPF entirely on their end. You do not need to change anything in your DNS because the emails come from Shopify's domain, not yours.

However, most store owners eventually want emails to come from their own custom domain — something like orders@yourstore.com instead of a generic Shopify address. When you set up a custom sender domain, you need to update your DNS records so receiving email servers know that Shopify is authorized to send on your behalf (Shopify Help: Set up email authentication).

Check Your Current SPF Record

Before making any changes, see what SPF record your domain currently has published. If you already have one, you will need to add Shopify's include to it rather than creating a new record.

Setting Up Shopify Sender Authentication

Shopify has a built-in sender authentication process that walks you through the DNS changes you need to make. Here is how to access it and what each step involves.

Adding Shopify to Your SPF Record

When Shopify provides the DNS records to add, they will include an SPF include statement. Add this to your existing SPF record.

If you do not have an SPF record yet

Create a new TXT record with the following format:

v=spf1 include:shops.shopify.com ~all

If you already have an SPF record

Add Shopify's include statement to your existing record. Do not create a second SPF record — your domain can only have one.

Example: Adding Shopify to a domain that already uses Google Workspace.

Before:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

After:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:shops.shopify.com ~all

If you also use an email marketing platform like Klaviyo or Mailchimp, include that as well:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:shops.shopify.com include:sendgrid.net ~all

If you are not sure how to combine multiple services into one SPF record, SPF Creator can build the correct record for you.

Common Issue: Shopify Emails Going to Spam

One of the most frustrating problems Shopify store owners face is customer notification emails landing in spam. Here is what to check if this is happening to you.

Missing sender authentication

If you set a custom sender email address but did not complete the DNS authentication steps, your emails are being sent from Shopify's servers without proper authorization from your domain. This is the number one cause. Go to Settings > Notifications in Shopify and complete the sender authentication process.

SPF record not published

Your domain might not have an SPF record at all, or the record might not include Shopify. Use the checker at the top of this page to verify.

Multiple SPF records

If your domain has two TXT records starting with v=spf1, both are invalid. This is a common mistake when adding Shopify's SPF without checking for an existing record first. Combine everything into a single record.

Missing DKIM

SPF alone may not be enough. Shopify provides DKIM records during the authentication process — make sure you added those too. Check your DKIM configuration with DKIM Test.

No DMARC record

Without a DMARC record, receiving servers have less confidence in your email authentication. Even a basic DMARC record helps. Check your DMARC status with DMARC Record Checker.

Shopify Email (Marketing) vs. Notification Emails

Shopify has two types of email sending:

1. Notification emails — order confirmations, shipping updates, account invitations. These are transactional emails sent automatically by your store.
2. Shopify Email — the email marketing feature for campaigns, newsletters, and promotions.

Both use Shopify's email infrastructure, and the sender authentication process covers both. When you authenticate your domain in Shopify's notification settings, it applies to Shopify Email campaigns as well.

Verifying Everything Works

After completing the setup, verify that your email authentication is working correctly.

1. Check your SPF record. Use the lookup tool at the top of this page to confirm Shopify's include is present and no errors are flagged.

2. Send a test order. Place a test order on your store and check the notification email in your inbox. In Gmail, click the three dots and select "Show original." Look for spf=pass in the authentication results.

3. Check all three records. For the most reliable email delivery, verify that SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are all configured. Deliverability Checker can evaluate all your email authentication records in one check.

Complete Your Email Authentication

SPF is one layer of email authentication. For the best deliverability from your Shopify store, set up all three:

• DKIM proves your emails have not been tampered with in transit. Shopify provides DKIM records during sender authentication. Verify them with DKIM Test.
• DMARC tells receiving servers how to handle emails that fail authentication and gives you visibility into who is sending email as your domain. Check yours with DMARC Record Checker.

When all three are configured correctly, your Shopify notification emails have the best chance of reaching your customers' inboxes.

References

• RFC 7208: Sender Policy Framework (SPF) — The current SPF specification
• Shopify Help: Set Up Email Authentication — Official Shopify email authentication guide