DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is a DNS record published for your domain that tells receiving mail systems (for example: Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft/Outlook.com) what to do when an email claiming to be from your domain fails authentication checks, and where to send DMARC reports.
What a DMARC report is
A DMARC aggregate report is a summary of email activity that a receiving provider has seen for your domain. It helps answer questions like:
- Which services are sending email “from” your domain?
- Are those messages passing SPF and/or DKIM?
- Is anything suspicious (spoofing) showing up?
These reports are usually sent as XML attachments (often compressed). They’re useful, but not human-friendly without a reporting tool.
Why you’re receiving them
You’re receiving DMARC reports because your DMARC DNS record includes a reporting destination (the rua tag), such as:
v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc-reports@yourdomain.com
How often are DMARC reports sent?
Most providers send DMARC aggregate reports about once per day by default. You can request a different interval using the optional ri tag (in seconds), but each provider may choose whether to honor it.
If the reports aren’t useful to you, we can redirect them to a different destination (recommended) rather than removing DMARC entirely.
Why we don’t recommend removing DMARC
DMARC helps protect your domain from spoofing and can reduce phishing that abuses your brand. It also helps major mailbox providers understand what “legitimate” mail from your domain looks like, once SPF/DKIM are correctly configured and aligned.
We also do not recommend sending DMARC reports to a non-existent mailbox, because those messages will bounce back to the sending providers.
Best way to read DMARC reports
Instead of receiving raw DMARC XML files in your inbox, most domain owners use a DMARC reporting/monitoring service that collects and summarizes the data in a dashboard (and sometimes via email summaries).
Option A (Free if you use Cloudflare DNS): Cloudflare DMARC Management
If your domain’s DNS is hosted at Cloudflare, you can use Cloudflare’s DMARC Management feature to view DMARC reporting in the Cloudflare dashboard (no extra cost).
- Pros: Free (for Cloudflare DNS users), convenient dashboard, good for quick checks.
- Cons: It’s dashboard-based — you typically have to log in and look for updates (it does not show up as a weekly email in your inbox by default).
Cloudflare documentation: DMARC Management overview and Enable DMARC Management.
Option B (Recommended for ongoing monitoring): Postmark DMARC Monitoring
For clients who want to stay current on DMARC health without logging into Cloudflare, we still recommend Postmark’s DMARC monitoring tool because it provides a weekly email summary that’s easy to read.
- Pros: Human-readable weekly email summaries, quick visibility, great “set it and forget it” monitoring.
- Cons: Separate service (not built into your DNS provider’s dashboard).
Postmark DMARC monitoring: https://dmarc.postmarkapp.com/
Next steps
- Decide where you want DMARC reports to be processed:
- Cloudflare DMARC Management (free if you use Cloudflare DNS), or
- Postmark DMARC Monitoring (recommended if you want automatic weekly email summaries).
- If you’re currently receiving raw DMARC XML files in a mailbox you check daily, we can update the DMARC record so reports go to a reporting tool instead.
- Once we confirm all your legitimate senders (mailboxes, forms, newsletters, CRMs, alerts, etc.), we can tighten your DMARC policy over time (from
p=nonetop=quarantineorp=reject) to better block spoofing.
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