A brand-new domain has zero sending reputation, so providers throttle it. Warming up means ramping volume slowly while keeping engagement high. Plan for 4–8 weeks.
Get authentication right first — run the checker. Warming a domain with broken SPF/DKIM/DMARC just teaches providers to distrust you faster.
A simple ramp schedule
| Week | Emails / inbox / day | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5–10 | Send to engaged contacts who’ll open/reply. |
| 2 | 15–25 | Keep replies high; avoid spam-trap lists. |
| 3 | 30–50 | Introduce more recipients gradually. |
| 4 | 50–80 | Watch bounce + complaint rates. |
| 5–8 | +20–30% / week | Level off at your real sending volume. |
Run multiple inboxes in parallel rather than blasting one. Cap cold outreach around 25–40/inbox/day even after warm-up.
Rules that protect reputation
- Keep the spam-complaint rate under 0.3% (Gmail’s threshold).
- Verify your list to kill bounces before you send. (We may earn a commission from list and warm-up tools we link to — see the disclosure.)
- Encourage replies early; engagement is the strongest positive signal.
- Use a subdomain for cold outreach so issues don’t taint your primary domain.
Automate it
Warm-up tools auto-send and auto-reply across a network of inboxes to build reputation faster. They pair well with a correctly authenticated domain — fix the records first with the checker, then warm up.