How to Set Up a DKIM Record on Cloudflare - Step-by-Step Guide

For effective email outreach, DKIM is essential.

It helps authenticate both the sending domain and the emails’ content.

If you don’t have a DKIM set up, email service providers tend to treat your emails as spam.

However, if you do have a DKIM set up, you will enjoy better open rates and enhanced security.

If Cloudflare is your domain provider, we’ll help you set up a DKIM below.

Step 1: Generate Your DKIM Record 📝

Before actually diving into Cloudflare, you need to generate a DKIM record.

This is usually done through your email service provider (Google Workspace/Gmail, Office 365, Zoho Mail, etc).

1. Navigate to your email service provider’s domain settings
2. Go to “Domain” or “Email authentication settings.” Ask your ESP if you can’t find it.
3. Now look for “DKIM settings” or similar. Other names could be “DomainKeys,” “DKIM,” or “Email Authentication.”
4. Look for a button called “Generate DKIM keys.” If you can customize your DKIM, follow your ESP’s guidelines. Click on the button.
5. Now copy the generated DKIM record.
6. Also, save the DKIM selector. Your ESP should have provided one, which should be visible on the screen.

Step 2: Add Your DKIM Record to Cloudflare

⬇️ Now it’s time to take the record you generated and add it to your domain’s DNS.

1. Log in to Cloudflare
2. Find your domain on Cloudflare’s dashboard and click on it
3. Now click on the “DNS button”
4. In the DNS section, you can create a new DNS record
5. The type should be set to “CNAME” if your record looks like this: s145.domainkey.u3793320.wl559.lemlist.com - If your record is much longer than this, your ESP probably uses TXT records for DKIM. In that case, select “TXT” as the type.
6. In the “Name” field, enter your DKIM selector, for example: s145._domainkey
7. Paste your DKIM record into the “Target“ field
8. Click save

Step 3: Enable Your DKIM Record

Go back to your ESP’s DKIM settings and look for an “enable” button.

Click on the button to enable DKIM for your ESP.

Step 4: Validate Your DKIM Record ☑️

It can take up to 48 hours for your DKIM to activate.

Usually, it’s much faster, though.

After a few hours, you can run a DNS check to see if your DKIM is active.

Use our deliverability tester to get the full lowdown on your technical setup.