What is the default reporting interval for DMARC aggregate reports?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 11 May 2025
Updated 22 Sep 2025
7 min read
When you implement DMARC, one of its primary functions is to provide you with visibility into your email ecosystem through various reports. These reports are crucial for understanding how your domain's emails are performing, whether they're passing authentication checks like SPF and DKIM, and if any unauthorized senders are attempting to spoof your domain. Among these, DMARC aggregate reports (RUA reports) are the most common and provide a comprehensive overview of your email traffic.
A key aspect of these reports is the frequency at which you receive them. This is controlled by a specific setting within your DMARC record. Understanding this default interval and how to adjust it is essential for effective DMARC monitoring and maintaining optimal email deliverability and security.
The reporting interval dictates how often receiving mail servers should send you these valuable insights. Without proper configuration and awareness, you might either be overwhelmed with reports or miss crucial data points. Getting this right helps in effectively analyzing DMARC reports and responding to potential threats.
The default 24-hour reporting interval
The default reporting interval for DMARC aggregate reports (RUA reports) is 86400 seconds, which translates to 24 hours (1 day). This means that mail servers receiving emails from your domain are expected to send you a summarized report of that day's email activity once every 24 hours. These reports provide a high-level overview of email authentication results, including SPF and DKIM alignment, email sources, and the actions taken based on your DMARC policy.
Aggregate reports do not contain sensitive information, unlike forensic (RUF) reports. They are XML files that detail email flows, authentication results, and policy actions. Understanding what information is contained within these reports is essential for making informed decisions about your email security.
This 24-hour interval is a standard practice and is generally sufficient for most organizations to gain adequate visibility without being inundated with reports. Many ISPs, including Google and Yahoo, adhere to this default, sending daily summaries to the email addresses specified in your DMARC record. If you're not receiving reports, it might indicate an issue with your DMARC record's `rua` tag configuration.
The 'ri' tag and customizing report frequency
The reporting interval is controlled by the ri DMARC tag within your DMARC DNS record. This tag specifies the interval in seconds between successive aggregate reports. If the `ri` tag is omitted from your DMARC record, the default value of 86400 seconds (24 hours) is automatically applied by receiving mail servers.
While you can technically specify a different interval using the ri tag, it's important to note that this is a request, not a command. Receiving mail servers are not obligated to honor your specified interval, especially if it's significantly shorter than the default. Most will adhere to their own internal policies, often defaulting to 24 hours regardless of your `ri` value. Setting a much shorter interval (e.g., every hour) can also overwhelm receiving mail servers and might lead to your domain being throttled or even blocklisted (blacklisted) for excessive requests.
It's generally recommended to stick to the default 86400 seconds for aggregate reports. For those cases where more immediate insight into email failures is needed, forensic reports (RUF reports) provide near real-time failure samples. However, due to privacy concerns, RUF reports are less commonly sent by ISPs.
Practical considerations for reporting intervals
For the vast majority of DMARC implementations, the default 24-hour reporting interval is perfectly adequate. It provides a consistent stream of data without creating an unmanageable volume of reports. Daily reports allow you to track trends, identify new sending sources, and detect potential spoofing attempts effectively. This frequency ensures that you have fresh data regularly, which is important for maintaining email security and deliverability.
Initial deployment: During the early stages of DMARC implementation, you might be tempted to shorten the interval to get faster feedback. However, even at p=none, the default interval is usually sufficient. Focus on comprehensive data collection over speed initially.
High volume domains: For domains with extremely high email volumes, extending the interval might be considered to reduce the sheer number of reports received. However, this is generally not recommended as it could delay your response to potential security incidents. Most DMARC reporting tools can efficiently manage and process large volumes of reports, making manual adjustments unnecessary.
The key is to receive enough data to observe patterns and address issues promptly without being overwhelmed. If you're managing many reports manually, it might be a sign to consider a DMARC monitoring solution.
Best practices for 'ri' tag usage
Default is best: Unless you have a very specific reason, rely on the default 86400-second interval.
Avoid excessively short intervals: Mail servers may ignore or penalize requests for overly frequent reports.
Consistency: Maintaining a consistent interval helps in analyzing data over time and identifying anomalies.
Monitor reports: Regardless of the interval, actively monitor the aggregate reports for actionable insights.
Analyzing your DMARC aggregate reports
While the reporting interval is straightforward, the real value of DMARC lies in the analysis of the aggregate reports you receive. These reports, often in XML format, can be complex and challenging to read manually, especially for organizations receiving reports from numerous mail servers. This is where DMARC monitoring solutions become indispensable.
A good DMARC reporting tool, like Suped, processes these raw XML reports into an easy-to-understand format. It provides dashboards, charts, and actionable recommendations that highlight potential issues, such as unauthorized senders, misconfigurations, or authentication failures. This allows you to quickly identify and address problems that could impact your email deliverability or expose your domain to spoofing attacks. You can learn more about reading DMARC reports for Google Workspace on their support pages.
Manual DMARC report handling
Complexity: Requires parsing raw XML files, which is time-consuming and prone to errors.
Overwhelm: Can lead to a deluge of emails, making it hard to find critical information.
Delayed response: Slow identification of security threats or deliverability issues.
Limited insights: Lack of visual trends or aggregated data views across multiple reports.
Automated DMARC monitoring with Suped
Simplicity: Automatically parses, aggregates, and visualizes complex DMARC data.
Actionable recommendations: AI-powered insights guide you on how to fix issues and strengthen your policy.
Real-time alerts: Get notified immediately about critical events impacting your domain.
Unified platform: Combines DMARC, SPF, and DKIM monitoring with blocklist and deliverability insights.
Optimizing your DMARC strategy
The default reporting interval for DMARC aggregate reports is 24 hours (86400 seconds), providing a balanced approach to receiving critical email authentication data. While the `ri` tag allows you to request different intervals, it's important to understand that mail servers may not always honor these requests, and attempting to shorten the interval significantly can have adverse effects.
Effective DMARC management goes beyond merely setting the reporting interval. It requires consistent monitoring and intelligent analysis of the reports. Utilizing a robust platform like Suped allows you to transform raw XML data into actionable insights, ensuring your email security and deliverability remain uncompromised.
By adhering to best practices and leveraging powerful tools, you can confidently navigate the complexities of email authentication and protect your domain from impersonation and fraud. This strategic approach helps safeguard your brand reputation and ensures your legitimate emails reach their intended recipients reliably.
Google and 
Yahoo, adhere to this default, sending daily summaries to the email addresses specified in your DMARC record. If you're not receiving reports, it might indicate an issue with your DMARC record's `rua` tag configuration.
Google Workspace on their support pages.
