Free template · Outbound & prospecting
The 2026 Cold Email Deliverability Checklist
Google, Yahoo and Microsoft sender requirements plus every setup step to land in the inbox.
What's inside
- Mailbox-provider requirements in one table (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, spam rate, unsubscribe)
- Domain, inbox and warmup setup checklists
- List quality and content rules
- A weekly monitoring table and what to do if deliverability drops
Who it's for
Anyone sending cold email who wants to protect their domain.
Why it matters
A new startup domain has no sending reputation, so a handful of mistakes can send every email to spam. Missing DMARC, a cold list with bad addresses, or too much volume from one inbox are common causes. Once a domain's reputation drops, recovery is slow, and it can affect normal company email if you send from your main domain.
This checklist collects the sender requirements from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft and the setup steps that sit around them: secondary domains, warmup, list verification and plain content. It also gives you a weekly review routine, so problems such as rising bounces or complaints show up early instead of after a campaign has already hurt your domain.
How to use it
- 1Compare your setup against the mailbox provider requirements table and confirm SPF, DKIM and DMARC are published and passing for every sending domain.
- 2Work through the domains, inboxes and warmup checklists before your first campaign, then run a seed test across Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo inboxes.
- 3Apply the list quality rules right before each send: verify emails, remove risky and role addresses, and suppress customers, open deals and past opt-outs.
- 4Check each new sequence against the content rules: plain text, at most one link, one clear ask and a polite opt-out line.
- 5Block fifteen minutes each week for the monitoring table, and follow the 'if deliverability drops' steps the moment a metric moves the wrong way.
Read alongside it
- Email deliverability: the complete guide
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained (for cold email)
- How to warm up a sending domain
The 2026 Cold Email Deliverability Checklist: FAQ
- Do I need SPF, DKIM and DMARC for cold email?
- Yes. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft use them to confirm that mail really comes from your domain, and bulk senders must have them. Set up SPF and DKIM for each sending domain, publish a DMARC record starting at p=none with reporting, and tighten the policy once all of your mail passes.
- Should I send cold email from my main company domain?
- It is safer not to. Use separate secondary domains that look like your brand and redirect to your main website. If a cold campaign causes reputation problems, your primary domain, which carries invoices, support and customer email, stays protected. Warm each new domain for several weeks before sending.
- What should I do if my cold emails start going to spam?
- Pause sending from the affected domain or inbox. Check authentication and DNS first, since that is the most common fix. Then re-verify the list and narrow it to best-fit accounts, simplify the copy with fewer links and no tracking, and restart slowly at low volume.
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