Setting up SPF at Hostinger — Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

Last updated: July 2026

In short: The SPF record formally authorizes Hostinger’s mail servers to send messages on behalf of your domain. You configure the record directly within the hPanel interface under Domains in the DNS Zone section.

Prerequisites

A Hostinger hosting or email plan with an attached domain
Access to your Hostinger account and hPanel (https://hpanel.hostinger.com)
A terminal or the free MXAudit scanner for propagation verification

What is SPF?

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a TXT record in your domain’s DNS that defines exactly which mail servers are permitted to send email using your domain address. Receiving mail servers (such as Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo) check this record whenever a message arrives claiming to be from your domain.

As Hostinger’s official documentation states: This authorizes Hostinger to send emails from your domain. Without a valid SPF record, external spam filters are likely to treat your outgoing messages with suspicion, route them to the spam folder, or reject them outright.

To achieve complete email security and optimal deliverability, SPF should always be configured alongside DKIM and DMARC.

The starting point at Hostinger

If your domain uses Hostinger’s nameservers, you can manage your DNS settings right inside your account dashboard. The support documentation explains the exact path to reach your DNS settings: Go to Domains in hPanel. Select your domain and open DNS Zone.

The authorization policy is published as a TXT record at the root of your domain. For Hostinger Email, the canonical SPF record is:

v=spf1 include:_spf.mail.hostinger.com ~all

Once you save the changes in hPanel, DNS caching across the internet begins to update. As noted in Hostinger’s technical guide: Once you add or update the necessary DNS records, your email service may take up to 24 hours to activate due to DNS propagation

Step-by-step guide

1. Check whether an SPF record already exists

Before making adjustments in hPanel, open your terminal to verify if your domain currently publishes an SPF record:

dig TXT example.com +short

Look through the output for any line starting with v=spf1. If a record is already present, you must edit it rather than creating a second one.

2. Open the DNS Zone in hPanel

Log in to your Hostinger account and navigate to hPanel (Go to Domains in hPanel. Select your domain and open DNS Zone.). Click on your target domain and select the DNS Zone option from the menu.

3. Create or update the TXT record for SPF

Inside your DNS Zone management table:

If no SPF record exists: Click to add a new record, select TXT as the type, enter @ in the Name field (or leave it blank according to the UI prompts), and paste the exact record value:
```
v=spf1 include:_spf.mail.hostinger.com ~all
```
If an SPF record already exists: Click edit next to the existing v=spf1 record and append Hostinger’s include string (include:_spf.mail.hostinger.com) before the final ~all mechanism (This authorizes Hostinger to send emails from your domain.).

Save your record (Once you add or update the necessary DNS records, your email service may take up to 24 hours to activate due to DNS propagation).

The components of the SPF policy

Component	Meaning
`v=spf1`	Protocol version identifier indicating the start of the SPF record
`include:_spf.mail.hostinger.com`	Dynamically imports the authorized IP addresses and mail servers used by Hostinger
`~all`	SoftFail mechanism instructing receiving servers to treat unauthorized senders with caution

Verification

Once you have saved the TXT record in your Hostinger hPanel DNS Zone, immediately verify your configuration using the free MXAudit scanner — the tool checks your SPF syntax and confirms you stay safely below the 10 DNS lookup limit.

You can also use your terminal to confirm that nameservers are serving the updated value:

dig TXT example.com +short

The returned output should exactly match "v=spf1 include:_spf.mail.hostinger.com ~all".

Common mistakes

Creating multiple SPF records: You must never publish more than one TXT record starting with v=spf1 on the same domain or subdomain. Having two separate records causes a permanent validation error (permerror) and leads to mail bounces.
Editing hPanel when using external nameservers: If your domain points to Cloudflare or another DNS provider, updating records in hPanel (Go to Domains in hPanel. Select your domain and open DNS Zone.) will have no effect. The SPF record must be added where your nameservers reside.
Misspelling the include hostname: Leaving out the leading underscore in _spf.mail.hostinger.com breaks the lookup mechanism (Once you add or update the necessary DNS records, your email service may take up to 24 hours to activate due to DNS propagation).