How to use Google Postmaster Tools
Google Postmaster Tools shows how Gmail sees the mail your domain sends to personal Gmail accounts: the spam rate users report, how much of it passes SPF, DKIM and DMARC, how much arrives over TLS, which messages were rejected or deferred and why, and, in the current v2 interface, a compliance status against Gmail's sender guidelines. You add your domain at postmaster.google.com and prove you own it with a DNS TXT or CNAME record. Data appears once enough of your mail reaches Gmail; Google publishes no minimum. The domain and IP reputation dashboards of the old interface are being retired.
What it covers
According to Google's Postmaster Tools dashboards help page, the data covers mail sent to personal Gmail accounts. A few points shape how you read it:
- It is not real time. Dashboards usually update within 24 hours, sometimes later, and dates are in UTC.
- Some dashboards count only DKIM-signed mail. The spam rate is one of them, so unsigned mail is invisible there.
- Forwarded mail is meant to be excluded, although Google says some may still show up.
- Low-volume days can be blank. Google leaves data out when there is too little to protect its users' privacy.
- Time ranges of 7, 30, 60, 90 or 120 days can be selected.
Set up and verify your domain
The steps are in Google's Monitor outgoing email with Postmaster Tools article. You need a Google Account or a Google Workspace account.
Which domain to add
Add the domain that authenticates your mail: the DKIM signing domain (d=) or the SPF domain (the Return-Path, also called the bounce domain). If they are the same, the data includes mail authenticated by either. If your newsletter platform signs with its own domain instead of yours, there is little to see for your domain; set up DKIM on your own domain first (DKIM selectors and key rotation).
Add and verify the primary domain first, then add subdomains the same way. Google says subdomains of a verified primary domain need no separate verification.
Verify with a DNS record
- Sign in, open Manage Domains and click Add new domain. Enter the domain and click Create.
- Next to the domain, open More options and choose Verify domain.
- Copy the TXT (or CNAME) record Google shows and add it at your DNS provider.
- Return and click Verify.
A TXT record looks like this, with the value Google gives you:
example.com. 3600 IN TXT "google-site-verification=<value from Postmaster Tools>"Google says verification usually happens right away, though the status can take up to 10 minutes to change. If it fails, wait a few minutes for the DNS change to spread, then check the value. You can skip verification, but no data appears until the domain is verified. Each Google account that verifies the same domain needs its own record.
Leave the record in place. Google's article on removing someone from your domain explains that deleting an owner's verification record is how you end that owner's access; the status then expires in about 30 days. To share access without a second record, use Manage users on a verified domain. Google does not notify the people you add.
The v2 interface and its dashboards
Google launched Postmaster Tools v2 in 2024. Its notice on the old interface says users are redirected to v2 automatically and that the v1 API will be retired. Google has postponed the shutdown of the old web interface and gives no date.
| Dashboard | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Compliance status | Whether your domain meets each requirement of Gmail's sender guidelines |
| Spam rate | The share of inbox-delivered messages that recipients marked as spam |
| Feedback loop | Spam rates per campaign, for mail that carries a Feedback-ID header |
| Authentication | The share of mail passing SPF, DKIM and DMARC |
| Encryption | The share of inbound and outbound mail sent over TLS |
| Delivery errors | Rejected and temporarily failed messages, with the reason |
What happened to domain and IP reputation
The same notice says the domain and IP reputation dashboards are not part of v2 and will be retired. Google's reasons: most senders find reputation data hard to act on, it reacts slowly to changes in behavior, and it is only one of many factors in delivery, so it can mislead. Google says the reputation view will be replaced by a new version and that more dashboards will follow, but has not said what they will show. The dashboards help page still describes the old ratings (High, Medium, Low and Bad) for senders who see them. For a wider view of what reputation is built from, see sender reputation.
How much mail you need
Google publishes no minimum volume for data to appear. Its help pages say only that days with too little mail may be left out, and that the compliance status shows No data found when not enough mail arrived to judge a requirement. If the dashboards stay empty, check again once you send more to Gmail. The Feedback loop dashboard has its own floor: a Feedback-ID value appears only after it has collected a minimum number of spam reports, again with no number given.
Volume does decide which rules apply to you. Gmail treats a domain that sends about 5,000 messages or more in 24 hours to personal Gmail accounts as a bulk sender, and the compliance status checks bulk senders on more requirements (sender guidelines FAQ).
Reading the spam rate
The spam rate is the percentage of your messages delivered to the inbox that recipients then reported as spam. A message that went to the spam folder and was later marked "not spam" counts as delivered to the inbox. Mail that Gmail filtered into spam on its own is not in the figure, so a low rate is not proof that your mail reaches the inbox.
Compare the daily figure with the thresholds in Google's email sender guidelines and its FAQ:
| Spam rate | What Google says |
|---|---|
| Below 0.1% | The level Google recommends staying under |
| 0.1% to below 0.3% | Already hurts inbox delivery |
| 0.3% or more | Breaks the requirement for all senders; hurts delivery more |
For bulk senders there is a further cost. Since June 2024, a bulk sender above 0.3% is not eligible for Gmail's mitigation, and becomes eligible again after seven days in a row below 0.3%. Google says improvements take time to show, so a single good day does not reset anything.
Find out what people report
The spam rate is per domain. To see which campaign or customer drives it, add a Feedback-ID header, which Google's Feedback Loop article defines as up to three optional identifiers and a mandatory sender ID of 5 to 15 characters:
Feedback-ID: spring-sale:newsletter:cust123:examplesenderThe header must be covered by a DKIM signature from a domain you have verified in Postmaster Tools. More on this and other providers' programs in email feedback loops.
When the compliance status shows a problem
The dashboard lists each requirement with one of three states: Compliant, Needs work or No data found. All senders are checked on SPF and DKIM, DNS records, message formatting, encryption and the user-reported spam rate. Bulk senders are also checked on DMARC, one-click unsubscribe and honoring unsubscribes. The status is shown for primary domains only; mail from subdomains counts toward the primary domain.
What Google's dashboards page suggests for a requirement marked Needs work:
- SPF and DKIM: check that the SPF record covers every service that sends for you, and that the DKIM record is correct. Use the SPF checker and the DKIM checker; if SPF hits its limit, see the SPF lookup limit.
- DNS records: every sending IP needs a PTR record (reverse DNS). A missing one often shows up as 550 5.7.25.
- Encryption: look for TLS failures in your logs and keep certificates valid and current.
- Spam rate: mail only people who asked for it, confirm addresses, make unsubscribing easy, remove people who do not engage, and use Feedback-ID to find the campaigns people report.
- DMARC: publish a valid record, make sure your mail passes SPF and DKIM, and keep the From: domain aligned. The DMARC aggregate reports show which sources fail.
- One-click unsubscribe and honoring it: send the one-click headers and remove people within 48 hours (one-click unsubscribe).
The status uses a rolling average over several days, so a fix can take up to 7 days to show; Google advises checking again after that. No data found on a DNS check reflects what Gmail saw on mail it received, not your current records. Google also offers a Deliverability analysis tool on this dashboard with recommendations for your domain.
If your domain meets the guidelines and Gmail still rejects or misfiles your mail, use Report delivery issue in Postmaster Tools. Google's reporting article requires a verified domain that meets the guidelines and a sample message that passes DKIM and SPF with an aligned From: domain.
Questions
Why are my dashboards empty?
Either the domain is not verified yet, the domain you added is not the one that signs or bounces your mail, or too little of your mail reached personal Gmail accounts that day. Check the DKIM d= domain in a message header first.
Does Postmaster Tools show mail sent to Google Workspace users?
Do not expect them in it. Google describes the data as covering mail sent to personal Gmail accounts.
Is a spam rate of 0.2% acceptable?
It meets the 0.3% requirement, but Google says rates above 0.1% already hurt inbox delivery. Treat it as a warning and look at the Feedback loop data for the campaigns behind it.
Try it
Spam complaints often come from old or badly collected addresses. Test a few with the free email checker, or run your list through bulk email verification before the next campaign.
Related
- Gmail and Yahoo sender requirements: the rules the compliance status checks.
- DMARC checker: see what your domain publishes.
- Gmail bounce codes: 421 4.7.28 (rate limited) and 550 5.7.26 (unauthenticated).
- Glossary: sender reputation.
Related guides
- Gmail and Yahoo sender requirements
- Sender reputation explained
- Email feedback loops explained
- Microsoft SNDS and JMRP explained
- How to read DMARC aggregate reports
- All guides
Sources
- Google: Postmaster Tools dashboards: dashboards, data scope, spam rate definition, compliance states and fixes, Deliverability analysis.
- Google: Monitor outgoing email with Postmaster Tools: adding and verifying a domain, subdomains, users, low-volume data.
- Google: Learn about the deprecation of the old Postmaster Tools interface: v2, retirement of the reputation dashboards, v1 API.
- Google: Remove someone from your domain in Postmaster Tools: verification records and owner access.
- Google: Report delivery issues in Postmaster Tools: eligibility for a delivery report.
- Google: Email sender guidelines: spam rate thresholds.
- Google: Email sender guidelines FAQ: bulk sender definition, spam rate effects, mitigation eligibility.
- Google: Feedback Loop: Feedback-ID header format and requirements.
How we wrote this: drafted by the email-validation.org team with the help of AI writing tools, from our product documentation and the sources linked in the text.