Guide

DKIM Not Signing? How to Diagnose and Fix Missing or Failing DKIM

Updated June 10, 2026

If DMARC reports show dkim=none or dkim=fail, mail is going out unsigned or with a broken signature. Here’s how to find which.

1. Confirm a key is actually published

Run the checker with your selector, or query <selector>._domainkey.yourdomain.com directly. No record means DKIM isn’t set up for that selector. Common selectors: google (Workspace), selector1/selector2 (Microsoft 365), k1 (Mailchimp), dkim.

2. Wrong selector

dkim=none usually means your provider signs with a different selector than the one published. Check the provider’s DKIM settings for the exact selector and publish that record.

3. Revoked or empty key

If the record exists but p= is empty, the key was revoked. Re-publish the public key from your provider. Our checker flags this as a hard fail.

4. Key too short

1024-bit keys are weak and increasingly distrusted. If the checker warns about key length, rotate to a 2048-bit key in your provider’s DKIM settings.

5. Body altered in transit

A mailing list or gateway that modifies the message body breaks the existing signature (dkim=fail). For lists, this is expected — rely on DMARC alignment via SPF instead, or use ARC-aware forwarding.

Verify a real message with the header analyzer: the Authentication-Results line should read dkim=pass with a d= domain matching your From.

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