← SMTP error codes

DKIM failure error: Rejected because DKIM failed or is missing

The receiver needed a valid DKIM signature and either found none or couldn't verify the one on the message.

permanentHard bounce · Authentication

How to fix DKIM failure

  1. Enable DKIM signing at your sending service and publish the public key it gives you at the selector it names.
  2. Check that nothing alters the message after signing (footers, link rewriting by a gateway).

Check the DKIM record →

Why this happens

The receiver checks SPF, DKIM and DMARC and expects the domain in the visible From address to line up with at least one of them. A missing record, a sending tool nobody added to SPF, or a signature for the wrong domain all fail this check.

How to keep it from coming back

Publish SPF, enable DKIM signing for your own domain on every tool that sends as it, and add a DMARC record. Check alignment on a real message after every change to your sending setup.

Should I retry a DKIM failure error?

Not as it stands. A permanent error means the same message will be refused again until the cause is fixed on your side. Fix the cause first, then send a fresh message; if it keeps failing after that, check the full text of the bounce for the exact reason.

Got the full bounce message?

The text after the code names the exact reason, and the same code can mean different things at different receivers. Paste the whole message into the decoder - it runs in your browser and nothing is sent.

Open the bounce decoder

Related error codes

Seeing this again and again? That's usually a reputation or authentication problem we can trace and fix at the source.

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