Email Deliverability
DMARC Quarantine Triggered
When a domain has a DMARC policy of p=quarantine, emails that fail both SPF and DKIM alignment are sent to the recipient's spam or junk folder instead of being outright rejected. While less severe than p=reject, quarantined emails may never be seen by recipients, effectively blocking communication.
Symptoms
- Legitimate emails consistently landing in spam/junk folders
- DMARC aggregate reports showing quarantine dispositions
- Recipients manually whitelisting your domain to receive emails
- Email open rates dropping significantly after DMARC policy change
Common Causes
- Third-party services sending without proper SPF/DKIM alignment
- SPF include mechanism missing for a legitimate sending service
- DKIM not configured for one or more sending platforms
- Email forwarding breaking SPF alignment
- DMARC policy upgraded to quarantine before achieving full alignment
Step-by-Step Troubleshooting
- 1
- 2
Analyze SPF alignment
Verify SPF passes and aligns with the From domain for all sending services.
Use SPF Checker → - 3
Verify DKIM for all senders
Ensure every service sending on your behalf has DKIM properly configured.
Use DKIM Validator → - 4
Review DMARC reports
Analyze aggregate reports to identify which sending sources are failing alignment.
- 5
Fix alignment issues
Add missing SPF includes and configure DKIM for all identified sending services.
Recommended Diagnostic Tools
Monitor DMARC Results
Track quarantine rates and alignment issues in real time.