How to Fix the 550 SPF Check Failed Error?

There are certain errors that is hard to determine whether it results from the system or server side. One of them is the 550 SPF check failed error. It is an email error that recipients receive. While the error is indeed frustrating, it can be solved easily. Learn how to fix the 550 SPF check failed error.

The Reason Behind this Error

Before fixing this error, its worth learning why the 550 SPF Check failed error occurs in the first place.

SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework. It contains all the information that the mail server needs to check if the sender is genuine. Among other details, it lists the IP addresses of the servers that are authorized to send emails on the domain’s behalf. If the IP address is not listed in the SPF record, you’re likely to the 550 SPF error, which reads:

In Microsoft Exchange mail server, if you’re employing an anti-spam tool like Sophos, you may get an error message like:

Also, hackers input just anyone’s details on the ‘From’ line to make it appear genuine in social engineering attacks.

All in all, The 550 SPF errors hints that the domain has incorrect SPF records or the ‘From’ address is spoofed.

Fixing the 550 SPF Check Failed Error

There are two ways you can follow to fix the error. Those are:

• Correct the SPF record of the sender

Even though the error is displayed at the recipient side, the problem lies at the sender side. Therefore, check the SPF record of sender’s domain and ensure they are set up properly.

Among other things, you need to make sure that the IP address is present and correct in the record. If you find any error, then contact the server admin of the sender’s domain to notify him/her of the error. They should get it resolved.

• Use valid sender

The next thing senders should do is take note of the following things:

• The ‘From:’ field (make sure it uses the correct domain)
• The domain and its MX (mail records) are pointing to the correct domain
• The domain is associated with the right SPF record

After the sender has fixed the above things, you should get email as usual.