GoHighLevel emails going to spam or bouncing
Short answer
GoHighLevel email lands in spam when it goes out on the shared domain or from a free address like Gmail, without your own authentication. Set up a dedicated sending subdomain in Settings > Email Services, add a DMARC record, send from an address on your own domain, and warm the domain up. Bounces are a separate problem: HighLevel warns at a 3% bounce rate and pauses sending at 5%, so clean the list.
How to fix spam
- Add a dedicated sending domain. Settings > Email Services > Dedicated Domain and IP > Add Domain. Use a subdomain you don't use for anything else, like mg.yourbusiness.com. HighLevel can add the DNS records for you, or you add them and verify. Allow up to 24 hours.
- Clear old records first. If that subdomain already has MX or SPF records, remove them. HighLevel doesn't support more than one DKIM record on the same domain.
- Add a DMARC record. A TXT record with the host _dmarc and the value v=DMARC1; p=none; is HighLevel's minimum.
- Send from your own domain. Never from @gmail.com or @yahoo.com. The From address should match the sending domain's root: sending domain mail.yourbusiness.com, From you@yourbusiness.com.
- Keep unsubscribe in place. LC Email adds a one-click unsubscribe header to everything except one-to-one emails. Marketing email still needs a visible unsubscribe link in the footer.
- Warm up a new domain. HighLevel's guide starts at up to 100 an hour and 1,000 a day, then 300 an hour and 2,500 a day, over about four weeks.
- Watch your reputation. Connect Google Postmaster Tools under Settings > Email Services > Postmaster Tools. Google asks bulk senders to keep spam complaints below 0.1% and never reach 0.3%.
How to fix bounces
- Check the numbers. Campaigns: Marketing > Emails > Campaigns > the campaign > Statistics. Workflows: open the workflow's email step > Statistics. Both show hard and soft bounces, spam reports and sends skipped for DND.
- Stay under 3%. HighLevel warns at a 3% bounce rate and suspends sending for 12 hours at 5%. Repeated suspensions lead to a block until support reviews it.
- Clean the list before you send. HighLevel recommends email verification and double opt-in. Hard bounces are already marked invalid.
- Stop emailing bounced addresses. Optional: a workflow with the Email Events trigger set to bounced, and a DND Contact step for email. It blocks soft bounces too.
Google's and Yahoo's rules
Since February 2024 Gmail and Yahoo require every sender to authenticate with SPF or DKIM. Bulk senders, more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail, also need DMARC, one-click unsubscribe and a low spam rate. Yahoo asks senders to honor unsubscribes within two days.
Common questions
- Should my DMARC record say p=reject?
- HighLevel's DMARC article gives p=none as the minimum and its warm-up guide recommends a stricter policy once you're set up. Start at p=none, then tighten it when your mail is passing.
- Can I use my own SMTP, like Mailgun?
- Yes: Settings > Email Services > SMTP Service > Add Service. Only one service is active at a time, and you lose LC Email's in-app tools like the dedicated domain setup and Postmaster Tools connection.
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More email fixes
GoHighLevel email sending domain not verifying
Usually old MX or SPF records on the subdomain, a wildcard record, Cloudflare's proxy, or a value that's one character off.
GoHighLevel emails not sending at all
Usually a bounce-rate suspension, a sending domain problem, the contact on email DND or marked invalid, or a bad From address in the step.
GoHighLevel unsubscribe link not working, or missing
Test emails disable the link on purpose. Otherwise it's the Business Profile toggle, a missing or doubled link, or the inbox hiding its own button.
GoHighLevel email template broken on mobile
Preview on mobile, then use mobile formatting, hide elements or layouts per device, and set images to auto size. Dark mode isn't adjustable yet.
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