How long should I wait before sending emails from a new domain?

It is generally recommended to wait at least 30-60 days before starting to send significant email volumes from a newly registered domain. This period allows the domain to age and appears less suspicious to mailbox providers and spam filters, helping to prevent immediate listing on blocklists.

What is email domain warm-up and why is it necessary for new domains?

Domain warm-up is the process of gradually increasing the volume of emails sent from a new domain over time. This helps to build a positive sender reputation with ISPs and MBPs by demonstrating legitimate sending behavior and avoiding sudden, large spikes in email volume that could be mistaken for spam.

What happens if I start sending high volumes of email immediately from a new domain?

If you send too much email too soon from a new domain, your messages are highly likely to be marked as spam, rejected, or your domain could be listed on various blocklists. This severely damages your sender reputation and can make it very difficult to achieve good deliverability in the future.

Are all newly registered domains automatically treated as suspicious?

Yes, many mailbox providers and security systems automatically treat emails from newly registered domains with heightened suspicion. This is a common defense mechanism against cybercriminals who frequently use fresh domains for phishing, malware, and spam campaigns.

Do email authentication protocols matter for a new domain?

Yes, email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are crucial. They verify your sending identity and help receiving servers trust that emails legitimately originate from your domain. Proper configuration from day one is essential for establishing a credible sending history.

Why avoid sending email from a newly registered domain? - Sender reputation - Email deliverability - Knowledge base

When you register a new domain, there's often an eagerness to get everything set up and start sending emails right away. After all, you've got a new brand, a new website, and you're ready to connect with your audience. However, if you rush into sending email from a domain that was just registered, you might encounter significant deliverability challenges that could impact your sender reputation and future email campaigns.

It might seem counterintuitive, especially if your intentions are legitimate, but internet service providers (ISPs) and mailbox providers (MBPs) like

Gmail and

Outlook have very specific reasons for treating newly registered domains with suspicion. This isn't arbitrary, it's a defense mechanism against a common tactic used by malicious actors.

Understanding these reasons is crucial for any email sender. By knowing why immediate sending from a fresh domain is problematic, you can adopt strategies to ensure your emails reach the inbox, build a strong sender reputation, and avoid being flagged as spam. It's all about establishing trust in a highly scrutinized environment.

The trust deficit and spam filters

One of the primary reasons to exercise caution with new domains is the inherent lack of trust. ISPs and MBPs rely heavily on sender reputation to determine whether an incoming email is legitimate or spam. A newly registered domain has no sending history, no established reputation, and therefore, no trust built with email receivers. This blank slate can be a red flag for automated spam filters.

Many spam filters are configured to treat emails from very new domains as suspect, sometimes automatically rejecting them or routing them directly to the spam folder. This is because spammers frequently register new domains for short-lived campaigns to avoid detection, a practice sometimes referred to as 'domain tasting' or 'fast flux spam.' These protections, while designed to combat malicious activity, can inadvertently affect legitimate senders who aren't aware of the protocols.

This heightened scrutiny means that even low-volume sends from a new domain can land in spam folders. It's a common issue for new businesses or those migrating to a new domain. For more insights on this specific challenge, explore why emails from new domains go to spam.

Immediate rejection risk

Mail servers often automatically reject emails if the domain is too new, as outlined by providers like SendLayer. Your messages could bounce before they even reach the recipient's inbox.

Low sender reputation

With no history, your domain starts with a neutral, often suspicious, reputation score, making it difficult for your emails to be trusted.

Blacklists and reputation building

Another significant risk is ending up on a blacklist (or blocklist). Many public and private blocklists track and list newly registered domains that begin sending email at high volumes too quickly. This behavior is a classic indicator of a spammer, as legitimate organizations rarely start mass emailing immediately after domain registration.

For instance, Spamhaus outlines best practices for owners of newly registered domains, noting that such domains are under heightened scrutiny. They mention that their Zero Reputation Domain (ZRD) service is specifically designed to thwart cybercriminals who rapidly deploy new domains for spamming. Being listed on one of these blocklists can severely hinder your ability to reach inboxes across the internet.

The existence of blocklists for newly registered domain names underscores the importance of a measured approach to email sending. If your domain gets blacklisted (or blocklisted), it can take a considerable amount of time and effort to get it removed and rebuild your sender reputation. You can learn more about what happens when your domain is on an email blacklist.

Monitoring your domain's status on various email blocklists is critical, but preventing a listing in the first place is always the best strategy. Prioritizing gradual sending and establishing a positive sending pattern from day one can help avoid these pitfalls.

Security risks and phishing prevention

Factor	Newly registered domain	Established domain
Trust score	Very low or neutral, often considered suspicious by default.	Established over time, based on consistent positive sending behavior.
Spam filter treatment	High likelihood of emails landing in spam or being rejected, even with low volume.	Emails generally reach the inbox if sender reputation is good and content is clean.
Blocklist risk	Higher risk of being listed on blocklists (e.g., Spamhaus ZRD) for aggressive sending.	Lower risk, primarily listed due to sustained spam complaints or malicious activity.
Warm-up period	Essential to gradually build reputation and avoid initial flags.	Not required, but reputation maintenance is ongoing through good sending practices.

Beyond deliverability issues, using a newly registered domain poses significant security risks, primarily due to how cybercriminals abuse them. Phishing attacks, malware distribution, and command and control (C2) servers frequently leverage fresh domains to carry out their illicit activities before security systems can catch up.

This makes security teams and mailbox providers extremely wary of traffic originating from recently activated domains. They often implement aggressive filtering or even automatic blocking policies for these domains as a preventative measure. This is why a legitimate email sender might find their messages caught in the crossfire of anti-phishing and anti-malware defenses.

For businesses, this means that even transactional emails, which are usually highly deliverable, could face issues if sent from a domain too soon after registration. It's not just about marketing emails, it's about all email communication. This is a key consideration if you're exploring how to prevent cold emails from harming your domain reputation or planning a migration.

The importance of warm-up

Spammer tactics with new domains

Domain tasting: Registering domains for short periods, often less than five days, to send large volumes of spam or conduct phishing. If caught, they simply abandon the domain and register a new one.
Fast flux spam: Rapidly changing the DNS records of a domain to hide phishing or malware sites. New domains are often preferred for this tactic due to their anonymity.
Typosquatting: Registering domains similar to popular brands (e.g., example.com vs. examp1e.com) to trick users. New domains are cheap and easy to acquire for this purpose.

Legitimate sender actions

Domain aging: Allowing a domain to age for a period (e.g., 30-60 days) before initiating email sends. This helps avoid immediate suspicion.
Gradual warm-up: Starting with low sending volumes to highly engaged recipients and slowly increasing the volume over time to build a positive reputation.
Authentication setup: Properly configuring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records from day one to prove legitimate sending identity.

Given these challenges, the most effective strategy for a newly registered domain is to implement a proper warm-up plan. Warming up a domain means gradually increasing your email sending volume over a period of time, allowing ISPs and MBPs to observe your sending behavior and build a positive reputation for your domain.

This process typically involves starting with small batches of emails to highly engaged contacts, monitoring your deliverability, and slowly scaling up. It teaches mailbox providers that your domain sends legitimate, welcomed emails, rather than spam. While there's no fixed rule, many experts recommend allowing a domain to age for at least 30-60 days before attempting any significant email volume, as suggested in articles on how to warm up a new sending domain.

Proper email authentication, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, is also vital from day one. These protocols verify your sending identity and are crucial for establishing trust. Setting them up correctly before you start any sending activity helps assure receiving servers that your emails are truly from your domain. You can learn more about how to warm up a new email sender address.

Building long-term deliverability

Starting with a new domain requires patience and a strategic approach to email sending. While the desire to hit the ground running is understandable, overlooking the inherent challenges associated with new domains can lead to significant deliverability issues, including your emails being routed to spam folders or even outright rejected. Mailbox providers err on the side of caution with unestablished sending identities due to the prevalence of malicious activities originating from newly registered domains.

By understanding the reasons why emails from new domains land in spam, implementing a proper warm-up strategy, and diligently configuring email authentication, you can build a solid sender reputation. This ensures your legitimate messages reach their intended recipients, fostering trust and engagement with your audience in the long run. Prioritizing long-term deliverability over immediate volume will always be the best choice for your email program.

Views from the trenches

Best practices

Allow your domain to age for at least 30-60 days before sending marketing emails to build initial trust with ISPs.

Implement a gradual warm-up plan, starting with small volumes to highly engaged recipients and slowly increasing over time.

Set up and verify all email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) immediately upon domain registration.

Common pitfalls

Sending large volumes of emails from a newly registered domain, which will trigger spam filters and blocklists.

Ignoring the domain aging process, leading to immediate reputation issues and poor inbox placement.

Neglecting to configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, making your domain appear unauthenticated and untrustworthy.

Expert tips

Expert tip: Focus on quality over quantity initially; consistent positive engagement is paramount for new domain reputation.

Expert tip: Even transactional emails from new domains need careful handling; don't assume they're exempt from scrutiny.

Expert tip: Understand that some blocklists specifically target new domains with suspicious sending patterns.

Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks says domains have to earn reputation, so you would not want to mail at full speed on a new domain. It is far more important that the DNS and rDNS be accurate and warming be done.

2020-01-29 - Email Geeks

Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks says there are dedicated public and private real-time blocklists for brand new domains that start to send at volume, which is a classic sign of a spammer. You would need to attach a strong reputation to a new domain if you expected inbox placement.

2020-01-29 - Email Geeks