Request: ability to set a custom SPF with email forwarding

I used Google's email forwarding before the transition, and I had an SPF record like this

@ TXT "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com (my other servers) -all"

This worked very well: I could both use their automatic email forwarding and send email with my own servers. Gmail and other services would happily accept both as SPF-verified.

Now that my domain was moved to Squarespace I wanted to do the same thing, but unfortunately the UI does not currently allow that. It forces a single SPF record with: "v=spf1 include:mailgun.org ~all" which cannot be changed.

This causes emails sent from my servers to be rejected. For example, Gmail rejects emails with the error message "Your email has been blocked because the sender is unauthenticated. 550-5.7.26 Gmail requires all senders to authenticate with either SPF or DKIM."

The "~all" wildcard at the end might have been sufficient at one point but it's not anymore, email providers have gotten fairly strict on this.

Setting a new TXT record won't work either, because it's not valid to have two SPF records in the same domain. The only option offered by the UI is to delete the entire email forwarding setup.

Can you guys allow us to override the SPF record? I'd like to set it to something like  "v=spf1 include:mailgun.org (my stuff) ~all".

15 minutes ago, CeruttiGino said:

I used Google's email forwarding before the transition, and I had an SPF record. Now that my domain was moved to Squarespace I wanted to do the same thing, but unfortunately the UI...forces a single SPF record with: "v=spf1 include:mailgun.org ~all" which cannot be changed.

I understand the issue. The problem is that, when you enable email forwarding on a Squarespace domain, the required records are created as presets that cannot be modified. This means that the SPF record only includes mailgun.org; other services cannot be added.

Squarespace doesn’t use this forum to track technical issues (the guidelines - item 7) so, if you haven't already done so, please contact Squarespace Customer Support about this.

Do let us know how you get on.

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I'm coming up against a similar issue, but I'll be honest - I'm not the most tech-saavy and I could be out of my depth here. I'm trying to clean deliverability and ensure my SPF/DKIM/DMARC records are good. I've used Apollo.io to send emails in the past and have been able to add TXT records (via Namecheap, previously).

I would like to add the TXT record "v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all" to fix my DMARC issues. However, I currently have a Google Workspace account tied to my squarespace account and the DNS settings within SS are showing a TXT record of "v=spf1 include:spf.efwd.registrar-servers.com ~all".

Surely there must be a way to properly configure my domain/DMARC records to improve send-ability and comply with modern email regulations. Can I delete the "...spf.efwd.registrar-servers...."  record and replace it with the suggested record? If not, what would be solution?

Also...maybe somewhat separately...I setup up everything a few months ago and am confused if I ever (intentionally) setup email fwding. Is that a requirement/automatic process when connecting a Google Workspace acct?

Attaching screenshot

So good news, to anyone having this issue. I was able to update the TXT spf record, by creating a duplicate custom record. In about 10-15min the Mailgun SPF record was update to match mine, and my custom one was removed! The step does a delayed automated updating. Now my only issue is getting the SPF record correct. Hope this helps anyone else looking for answers!