Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) is a fundamental email authentication protocol. It acts as a policy layer on top of SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), telling receiving mail servers what to do with emails that fail authentication checks. It's a critical tool in the fight against email spoofing and phishing.
Given its importance, you might wonder why anyone would consider removing their DMARC record. Usually, it's due to a misunderstanding of how it works or issues with email delivery that are mistakenly attributed to the DMARC policy itself. However, removing a DMARC record from your DNS is a significant step with serious consequences for your email security and deliverability. Let's explore what actually happens when you do.
Immediate loss of protection
The most immediate and critical impact of removing your DMARC record is the complete loss of control over unauthenticated email. Without a DMARC policy, you can no longer instruct mail servers on how to handle messages that falsely claim to be from your domain. This instantly re-opens the door for malicious actors to spoof your domain for phishing attacks and scams, damaging your brand's reputation and putting your customers at risk.
Essentially, you are removing the security guard from the front door of your email ecosystem. Mailbox providers like Gmail and Outlook will revert to their own individual, and often less strict, policies for handling unauthenticated mail from your domain. You lose the ability to enforce a strict policy like p=reject or p=quarantine.
You lose all visibility
A key component of DMARC is its reporting feature. By using the rua and ruf tags in your record, you receive aggregate and forensic reports about your email traffic. These reports are invaluable for:
- Identifying all services sending email on your behalf: DMARC reports show you every source using your domain to send email, helping you spot legitimate (but unauthenticated) senders and unauthorized ones.
- Troubleshooting authentication issues: The reports detail SPF and DKIM alignment successes and failures, which is critical for ensuring your legitimate emails are authenticated correctly.
- Monitoring for abuse: They are an early warning system for phishing attacks or spoofing campaigns targeting your domain.
When you remove the DMARC record, you stop receiving these reports. You are left completely blind to who is sending email from your domain and whether your legitimate mail is authenticating properly. This lack of insight makes it nearly impossible to manage your email program effectively or respond to security threats.
Potential for decreased email deliverability
Major mailbox providers like Gmail and Yahoo now require a DMARC policy for bulk senders. While removing your DMARC record won't necessarily get your emails blocked outright (unless you were already at p=reject and your emails were failing), it signals poor security hygiene. Mailbox providers use DMARC as a strong signal of trust. A domain with a DMARC policy is seen as more reputable than one without.
By removing your record, you lose this trust signal. This can lead to your legitimate emails being more heavily scrutinized, resulting in a higher likelihood of them landing in the spam folder or, in some cases, being rejected. You lose the deliverability benefits that DMARC enforcement provides.
A better alternative: set your policy to 'none'
If you're having trouble with your DMARC implementation and are tempted to delete the record, there is a much safer and more effective option: switch your policy to monitoring mode.
By setting your DMARC policy to p=none, you tell receiving servers not to take any action (quarantine or reject) based on the DMARC result. However, you will still receive the valuable DMARC reports. This allows you to collect data, identify all your sending sources, and fix any SPF or DKIM alignment issues without impacting your mail flow. Once you're confident that all legitimate mail is authenticating correctly, you can then move to a p=quarantine and eventually a p=reject policy.
In short, unless you are decommissioning a domain and will never send email from it again, you should not remove your DMARC record. The consequences—a loss of security, visibility, and trust—are simply not worth it. If you're facing issues, the solution is to diagnose and fix them using the data DMARC provides, not to abandon the protocol altogether.
What is the default value for the DMARC 'p' tag?
Is a DMARC record mandatory for email sending?
Can DMARC policies be applied without an SPF or DKIM record?
What DMARC policy allows for email delivery but marks suspicious emails?
Does DMARC prevent domain spoofing directly?
What DNS record type is used for DMARC?
