Secure your web server
– If you were blacklisted due to email accounts being compromised and used for sending out spam, please make sure the source of the problem is removed by securing your mail server and, if applicable, your websites
Ensure your IP address is not listed on any blacklists
– Use a tool such as MxToolbox (http://mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx), a blacklist lookup tool that checks your server IP address against over 100 DNS-based email blacklists, to verify that your IP address is not listed on any other blacklists
– If this above step returns any listings, please follow the instructions on MxToolbox, or those explained on this page, in order to get the IP addresses de-listed.
Set a SPF record
– Microsoft blocks email from IP addresses that are not specified in the DNS zone file of the sender’s domain
– An SPF record is a TXT record that you can set up in your DNS zone file. The TXT record authorizes specific hosts to send emails from a certain domain
– To read more about TXT records, please visit our article on DNS record types
Set up a PTR record
– Just like in the case of missing SPF records, Microsoft generally does not accept emails from IP addresses that do not identify themselves with a pointer record (PTR). You can set your PTR record in the Customer Portal.
– To read more about PTR records, please visit our article on PTR records and Reverse DNS
Verify your mail server setup
– To verify whether you have completed the above steps successfully, use the MxToolbox diagnostics tool:http://mxtoolbox.com/diagnostic.aspx.If any of the checks fail, please follow the provided suggestions
Request delisting with Microsoft
– If you succeeded with all the above steps, you can proceed by requesting delisting through Microsoft’s sender information form.
