Add a DMARC record in GoDaddy

Updated 2026-09-27 · Setup Guides

If your domain's DNS lives at GoDaddy, publishing a DMARC record is a two-minute job in its DNS manager. The record itself is identical everywhere; what varies by provider is how the form wants the name typed. Here's the GoDaddy version, plus the checks that confirm it worked.

One thing first: these steps only apply if the domain actually uses GoDaddy's nameservers. Plenty of GoDaddy-registered domains have been pointed at Cloudflare or another DNS host — in that case the record must be added there instead, and anything you save in GoDaddy's DNS manager is ignored. If you're unsure, check the domain's nameservers (its NS records) before you start.

The record you're publishing

The Value is your DMARC policy. If you're onboarding with DMARCmetric, the wizard in Add your first domain builds the complete value for you — including your workspace's unique rua= reporting address — with a copy button. Use it; the reporting token must arrive intact. Starting at p=none means pure monitoring: nothing about your mail delivery changes.

The steps below add a new record, for a domain with no DMARC record yet. If _dmarc already has one, don't add another — edit the one you have instead.

Step by step

1. Sign in to GoDaddy and open your product list (My Products), then find the domain and open its DNS settings — GoDaddy's DNS manager, where your existing records are listed.
2. Choose to add a new record.
3. Set Type to TXT.
4. In Name, enter _dmarc — and only that. GoDaddy appends your domain automatically, so _dmarc becomes _dmarc.example.com. If you type _dmarc.example.com yourself, you'll publish the record at _dmarc.example.com.example.com, where no receiver will ever look. This is the single most common GoDaddy mistake.
5. In Value, paste your v=DMARC1; … string, exactly as generated.
6. Leave TTL on the default and save.

If you already have a DMARC record

A domain can have only one DMARC record, so don't add a new one — change the one that's there. Never add a second _dmarc record next to the old one: with two, email providers ignore both.

1. In GoDaddy's DNS manager, find the existing TXT record at _dmarc in the list of records.
2. Edit that record.
3. What you change depends on what DMARCmetric shows you — check which of these two it is before you touch anything:
   • If DMARCmetric shows only an address (mailto:rua+…, shown when it couldn't read your DNS at that moment), don't replace anything. Add that address to your existing rua= tag, separated by a comma. If the record has no rua= tag, add one: rua= followed by the address, separated from the tag before it by a semicolon. Leave your policy and every other tag as they are.
   • If DMARCmetric shows a full record (starting with v=DMARC1), replace the record's whole Value with it. That value is built from your existing record: your policy and tags are kept, and it includes your DMARCmetric reporting address.
4. Save the record.

If there are several. If the list shows more than one TXT record at _dmarc that starts with v=DMARC1, delete the extras and keep one, then change the one you keep exactly as in step 3: if DMARCmetric shows a full record, that record becomes its Value; if it shows only an address, add the address to its rua= tag. Until only one is left, receivers treat the domain as having no DMARC policy at all.

Propagation: give it up to an hour

GoDaddy's default TTL is longer than some providers', and its changes are not always instant even at its own nameservers. Most records are visible within minutes; allow up to an hour before concluding something's wrong, and longer for resolvers that cached a "no such record" answer just before you published. Publishing the record and coming back later is completely fine — nothing else in the setup depends on you watching it propagate.

Verify it's live

From a terminal:

dig TXT _dmarc.example.com +short

Your v=DMARC1; … value should come back in quotes. Prefer a browser? Run the domain through the free DMARC checker — it fetches the live record and also validates the syntax. If you published the record as part of DMARCmetric onboarding, press Verify DNS in the wizard; Verify your domain walks through each possible result and what to do about it.

Common mistakes

• The double-domain name. Worth repeating because it's so frequent here: _dmarc in the Name field, never _dmarc.example.com. Check what GoDaddy shows in the record list after saving — it should read _dmarc, not _dmarc.example.com.
• Two DMARC records. A domain may have only one; two TXT records at _dmarc cancel each other and receivers see no valid policy. If one already exists, edit it rather than adding another — merge your reporting address into the existing rua= if needed.
• Adding quote marks. Paste the raw value beginning v=DMARC1 — no surrounding quotes. The quotes you see in dig output are display formatting, not part of the record.
• Hand-editing the value. A dropped semicolon or a typo in the mailto: address invalidates the record or misroutes your reports. Paste, don't retype — then confirm with the checker.

Done at GoDaddy but have other domains at Cloudflare? The Cloudflare walkthrough covers the same record in that panel. And once the record is live, reports start arriving on the mailbox providers' daily cycle — typically within 24–48 hours — landing straight in your dashboard if your rua= points at DMARCmetric.