How do I stop my emails from going to spam?
Short answer
Most spam problems come from unverified sending domains, sudden volume spikes, and lists full of dead addresses. Verify your domain, send consistent volume, remove people who never open, and give every message a real reason to exist.
Before you start
- Access to your domain's DNS settings.
- A list with known open and click history.
- A clear sender name and reply address.
- Recent send history to review for volume spikes.
Step by step
- 1
Verify domain authentication
Confirm the technical records for your sending domain are set up correctly.
Inboxes trust authenticated domains far more than unverified ones.
- 2
Check your sender reputation
Look at recent bounce and complaint rates before sending more volume.
A damaged reputation follows the domain, not just one bad send.
- 3
Remove chronic non-openers
Suppress contacts who have not opened anything in six months or more.
Mailbox providers watch engagement, not just complaints, to decide where mail lands.
- 4
Ramp volume gradually
Avoid jumping from a hundred sends a week to ten thousand overnight.
Sudden spikes look like abuse even when the content is fine.
- 5
Write mail people want
Keep subject lines honest and content relevant to why someone gave you their address.
Opens and clicks are the strongest signal that you belong in the inbox.
- 6
Give an easy way out
Make unsubscribing simple and honor it immediately.
Forcing people to mark mail as spam because they cannot unsubscribe hurts everyone after them.
- 7
Monitor after every send
Check bounce, complaint, and open rates the day after a campaign goes out.
Catching a problem early keeps it from compounding over several sends.
What good looks like
- More of your mail lands in the inbox instead of spam.
- Bounce and complaint rates stay low and predictable.
- Your list stays made up of people who actually want to hear from you.
- New sends do not put existing reputation at risk.
Common mistakes
The ways this goes wrong in communication, and what to do instead.
Skipping domain verification›
Sending from an unverified domain caps your deliverability from day one.
Do this instead: Complete domain verification before sending any meaningful volume of email.
Buying or scraping lists›
Cold, unverified lists produce high bounce and complaint rates immediately.
Do this instead: Only send to people who opted in through a form, job, or direct request.
Sudden volume jumps›
A new domain sending thousands of emails in one day gets flagged fast.
Do this instead: Increase send volume gradually over several weeks on any new domain.
Frequently asked
5 questions about stop emails from going to spamRelated guides
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