Fix email delivery issues with Amazon SES

Overview

This guide assists users experiencing email delivery challenges when connecting emails to Chatty. It addresses bounce messages, spam filtering, and DMARC authentication failures by explaining how to add Amazon SES to your SPF record.

Who should read this guide?

Users who:

• Experience email delivery issues like bounces or spam filtering
• See DMARC authentication failures in email reports
• Notice emails going to customer spam folders

When you need this guide

Follow this guide if experiencing:

Email delivery problems:

• Bounce messages mentioning SPF failures
• DMARC authentication failures
• Emails going to spam or junk folders
• Delivery delays from major email providers like Gmail or Outlook

Note: If emails are already delivering successfully through Amazon SES, no changes are necessary. Only update your SPF record when experiencing delivery problems.

Before you start

SPF record requirements:

• Only have one SPF record per domain
• Replace the existing record, don't create a duplicate
• Always keep ~all at the end of the record
• The order of include statements doesn't matter

Multiple AWS regions: If using Amazon SES in multiple regions, you might need region-specific includes instead of the general amazonses.com. Contact support for multi-region setup assistance.

How to add Amazon SES to your SPF record

Find your current SPF record

1. Go to your domain's DNS management panel
   • Access through your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.)
   • Or through your DNS provider if different from your registrar
2. Look for a TXT record that starts with v=spf1
   • This is your current SPF record
   • Example: v=spf1 include:_spf.example.com ~all

Update your SPF record

1. Locate the existing SPF record — find the TXT record containing your current SPF settings
2. Add Amazon SES to the record — add include:amazonses.com to your existing SPF record, placing it before the ~all at the end
3. Example update:
   • Before: v=spf1 include:_spf.example.com ~all
   • After: v=spf1 include:amazonses.com include:_spf.example.com ~all

Save and verify changes

1. Save the DNS changes in your DNS panel
2. Wait for propagation — DNS changes take 15–60 minutes to take effect (some providers may take up to 24 hours)
3. Send a test email through Chatty and check if delivery issues are resolved

Verify your SPF record

1. Use an online SPF checker — search "SPF record checker" and enter your domain to verify that Amazon SES is included
2. Check DNS propagation using tools like "DNS checker" to see if changes have propagated globally

Need help?

If email delivery issues persist after updating your SPF record:

1. Contact your DNS provider — some providers have specific SPF record requirements
2. Check email authentication — ensure DKIM and DMARC are also properly configured

Contact the Customer Success team for 24/7 assistance via email and live chat in app.