Last updated: July 2026

In short: DKIM at GoDaddy doesn’t come from GoDaddy’s DNS itself — it comes from your mail product. This guide shows how to generate the key at Microsoft 365 or cPanel/Plesk hosting and publish it in the GoDaddy Domain Portfolio.

Prerequisites

  • A domain whose DNS is managed at GoDaddy
  • A GoDaddy mail product that generates DKIM keys (Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy, or cPanel/Plesk hosting) — or an external sending service that gives you a key

What is DKIM?

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to outgoing emails, as GoDaddy’s own docs describe it — verifying they haven’t been altered and confirming the sender’s identity. The recipient checks the signature against a public key published in DNS.

For context: while SPF authorizes the server, DKIM secures the message. Only with DMARC does it become an enforceable foundation.

The starting point at GoDaddy — important

GoDaddy has no one-click DKIM for a bare domain. The key pair is always generated by the product that sends your mail; GoDaddy’s DNS just publishes it. Which path you take depends on your product:

  • Professional Email: domains purchased after April 2025 automatically have DKIM added to your domain’s DNS settings — you often don’t need to do anything.
  • Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy: you generate two CNAME keys in the Microsoft Defender Portal and add them to your DNS.
  • cPanel / Plesk hosting: you read the suggested TXT key from the hosting panel and add it to your DNS.

All setup instructions apply only to domains with email and DNS managed at GoDaddy.

Step-by-step guide

Path A — Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy (CNAME keys)

  1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 Defender Portal (with your Microsoft 365 credentials, not your GoDaddy login). Under DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), select your domain and choose Create DKIM keys — the keys will be generated as CNAME records. Copy both.
  2. In a new tab, open your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio, select your domain, then DNS → Add New Record. For the first key set Type: Select CNAME, enter the hostname as Name and the value as Value, TTL Default.
  3. Select Add More Records and repeat the steps to add your second CNAME record, then Save All Records.
  4. Back in the Defender Portal, turn on the Sign messages for this domain with DKIM signatures toggle to enable DKIM.

Path B — cPanel / Plesk hosting (TXT key)

  1. In cPanel, under Email, select Email Deliverability, then Manage next to your domain. Under Suggested “DKIM” (TXT) Record you’ll find the Name and Value. (In Plesk: Mail → Mail Settings → How to configure external DNS.)
  2. In your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio, open DNS → Add New Record, choose Type: TXT, and enter the Name and Value from your panel exactly. Leave TTL as Default and Save All Records.

Wait until the change is live

Most DNS changes take effect within an hour but could take up to 48 hours to update globally.

Verify the result

Check your configuration with the free MXAudit scanner — it shows you DKIM, SPF, and DMARC at a glance.

Common mistakes

Expecting a GoDaddy DKIM wizard. There is none for a bare domain — the key always comes from your mail product (Microsoft 365, cPanel, Plesk).

TXT instead of CNAME (or vice versa). Microsoft 365 delivers two CNAME records; cPanel/Plesk deliver a TXT key. Use the type your product specifies.

Only one of the two Microsoft 365 CNAMEs. M365 needs both — a single record leaves DKIM broken.

Enabling DKIM before the records propagate. If the Defender toggle errors out, wait up to 48 hours for the CNAMEs to propagate, then enable.

Further reading