Why do I receive the error: DNS records are not set up correctly?

Question

I am trying to allow Zendesk to send an email on behalf of my domain, but I receive the error DNS records are not set up correctly when verifying my DNS records. Why does this error appear?

Answer

The error DNS records are not set up correctly appears when Zendesk is unable to verify your DNS records. This is often caused by DNS records that are either unpublished or published incorrectly. This article outlines how to determine possible issues when your DNS records do not validate and information on how to resolve it.

To ensure your DNS records are correctly configured and that Zendesk is allowed to send on your behalf, the below must be true:

You must add a TXT record (a domain verification record) to your DNS server contains your account's unique domain verification value.

The support address is present as an external support address

The records were published for longer than the specified TTL (time to live) and successfully propagated

Examining your DNS records

If the above is true, but you are still not able to verify your DNS records, manually inspect your DNS records for errors using a DNS lookup tool. A popular tool third-party tool for this task is MxToolBox. Use the following lookup tool for TXT records:

TXT Lookup

Note: The links provided above contain examples of how to correctly lookup your DNS records. Update the example lookup in MxToolBox and replace the value with your actual domain name.

If your records do not appear using the lookup tool above, the records are not properly configured.

Common issues with DNS records

One of the most common issues that occurs when configuring DNS records is that the TXT record is not set up properly.

The TXT record should appear as:

zendeskverification.yourdomain.com

If you are unable to see any of your TXT records using a MxToolBox lookup, reach out to your domain registrar or DNS server provider for further assistance, as they are the only ones able to resolve any propagation issues. If you have an error with an invalid SPF record, see Why does the SPF record fail to verify?