← Glossary

What is DMARC policy (p=none, quarantine, reject)?

The p= tag of a DMARC record: none monitors, quarantine sends failures to spam, reject refuses them.

How it works in practice

p=none collects reports and changes nothing for recipients. p=quarantine asks receivers to treat failing mail as suspicious, usually the spam folder. p=reject asks them to refuse it at the SMTP stage. The pct tag applies the policy to a share of failing mail, which lets you roll out gradually, and sp= sets a separate policy for subdomains.

The common mistake

Staying on p=none forever: it passes the bulk sender requirement but doesn't stop anyone spoofing the domain.

Check it yourself

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