Your domain shows Pending or Not Verified after adding your records. Usually that's normal. Here's what's happening and how to fix the real causes.

You added your DNS records, went back to the Domains page, and it still shows amber or "Not Verified". Take a breath: this is the single most common thing people hit, and in most cases nothing is wrong. This guide separates "just wait" from "actually needs fixing" and walks the real causes in order of likelihood.

What you'll do:

Understand what each status color means
Rule out propagation delay (the usual cause)
Fix the handful of things that genuinely break verification

First, what the status colors mean

MailAfiniti checks your live DNS and shows each record in one of three states:

Green (Verified): the record is present and correct. Nothing to do.
Amber (record set, DNS not yet verified): MailAfiniti found something at that record, but it does not yet match, or DNS has not fully propagated. Usually temporary.
Red (missing): MailAfiniti found nothing at that host. The record was never added, was added in the wrong place, or was saved under the wrong host.

Amber almost always resolves itself. Red almost always means a real fix is needed.

Cause 1: Propagation delay (most common, no action needed)

When you add or change a DNS record, the change is not instant everywhere. It has to spread across the internet's DNS servers, which is called propagation. This is usually quick, but it can take anywhere from a few minutes up to 48 hours in rare cases, depending on your provider and its cached TTL settings.

What to do: if you only just added the records, wait. Give it 15 to 30 minutes, then reopen the Domains page (MailAfiniti re-checks automatically). If it is still amber after an hour, check the causes below. You can cross-check the record yourself at Google's Dig tool: enter your domain and record type (MX, TXT), and confirm the value it returns matches what MailAfiniti shows on the Domains page.

Cause 2: A trailing space or a copied error in the Value

The most common real fault. When you pasted the record value, a hidden space slipped in at the end, or a character got dropped, so the value MailAfiniti reads does not match what it expects.

What to do: open the record in your DNS provider and look carefully at the end of the Value field. Delete any trailing space. For DKIM especially, which is a long random string, delete the whole value and re-paste it using the copy button on the MailAfiniti Domains page. Do not retype it by hand.

Cause 3: The wrong Host, or a doubled domain

If a record shows red, the host is the first thing to check. Many providers automatically append your domain to the Host field, so entering the full domain yourself produces a doubled host like _dmarc.acme.com.acme.com, which MailAfiniti will never find.

What to do: confirm each host reads correctly after saving:

MX and SPF should be on @ (the root domain).
DKIM should be dkim._domainkey.acme.com (not doubled).
DMARC should be _dmarc.acme.com (not doubled).

If you see your domain appearing twice, delete the record and re-add it entering only the short host portion (@, dkim._domainkey, _dmarc), letting the provider append the domain.

Cause 4: A duplicate or conflicting SPF record

DNS allows only one SPF record per domain. If you previously used Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or another mail service, an old SPF record may still be there. Two SPF records is invalid, and it can cause the whole check to fail.

What to do: in your DNS provider, look for any TXT record on @ that starts with v=spf1. There should be exactly one, and it should be MailAfiniti's. If you see an old one, remove it. If you genuinely need to send from more than one service, the two SPF records must be merged into a single record. Email us and we will help you merge them safely.

Cause 5: Old MX records from a previous mail host

If mail still is not flowing even though DNS looks green, you may have leftover MX records pointing at Google or Microsoft alongside MailAfiniti's. Mail follows the lowest-priority MX, so an old record can quietly hijack delivery.

What to do: in your DNS provider, make sure the only MX records present are MailAfiniti's. Delete any that point to google.com, outlook.com, pphosted, or any prior host.

Cause 6: Editing DNS in the wrong place

If your domain's nameservers point to Cloudflare (or your web host) but you are editing records at your registrar, your changes have no effect, because the registrar is not the one answering DNS queries.

What to do: confirm where your DNS actually lives with a nameserver lookup, then edit records there. Our Find your DNS provider guide covers exactly how.

When to contact us

If you have waited an hour, checked the value for trailing spaces, confirmed the hosts are not doubled, and removed duplicate SPF and stale MX records, and it is still not green, that is our cue to step in. Email support@mailafiniti.io with your domain name. We can read your live DNS from our side and tell you precisely which record is off.

Next steps

Copy your records without mistakes to re-add anything that looks wrong.
DNS Configuration for the full record reference.
Send and read your email for once everything is green.