How to check if your domain is on a blocklist and get it delisted

If mail from or about your domain suddenly bounces, or recipients report that your links are blocked, the domain may be on a reputation blocklist. This guide explains how to confirm a listing on the most widely used domain list, the Spamhaus Domain Blocklist (DBL), how to find and fix what caused it, how to ask for removal, and how to avoid being listed again. Most of the steps apply to other blocklists as well.

• Bounce messages that mention a blocklist, often with an SMTP code such as 550 5.7.1 and a URL pointing to a lookup page.
• Mail landing in spam folders at several unrelated providers at once, rather than at one.
• Links being stripped or flagged in other people's messages, forums or URL shorteners, which suggests the domain itself (not your mail server's IP address) is listed.
• A warning from your host or registrar that the domain or a hostname under it is reported for abuse.

Note whether the problem is with a domain or an IP address. Shared web or mail hosting means an IP listing may have been caused by another customer; that is your provider's problem to fix, whereas a domain listing is about your own name.

Enter the domain (and, separately, your mail server's IP address) at the official Spamhaus reputation checker. It shows current listings across the Spamhaus datasets and, where removal is possible, links to the request form.^[1][2] Spamhaus asks that its website not be queried with automated tools.^[1]

Administrators can also test from a command line, provided the query goes through their own DNS resolver rather than a public one such as Google, Cloudflare or Quad9; public resolvers get an error answer instead of data.^[3]

dig +short example.com.dbl.spamhaus.org
# no output (NXDOMAIN): not listed
# 127.0.1.x: listed; x gives the reason
# 127.255.255.254: public resolver used, ignore

Spamhaus keeps dbltest.com permanently listed so that a test query can confirm the lookup itself works.^[1] Other operators run their own domain lists (for example SURBL and URIBL), and large mailbox providers keep internal reputation; if mail still fails after a clean Spamhaus result, check those too.

Spamhaus does not publish its exact listing criteria, but the return code and the checker's explanation narrow things down.^[1] Submitting a removal request before the cause is fixed usually fails, and the domain may be re-listed automatically if the activity continues.

Authentication will not by itself remove or prevent a listing, because spammers can publish these records too, but it is expected by major mailbox providers and makes it far easier to see who is sending as your domain.^[1][8] All three are DNS TXT records you can add at your DNS host or registrar.

• SPF (RFC 7208) lists the servers allowed to send mail for the domain, for example v=spf1 include:_spf.yourmailprovider.example -all.^[5]
• DKIM (RFC 6376) adds a cryptographic signature; your mail provider gives you a public key to publish under a selector such as s1._domainkey.^[6]
• DMARC (RFC 7489) tells receivers what to do when SPF or DKIM fail and where to send reports. Start with v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.example, read the reports, then move to quarantine or reject.^[7]

Also make sure abuse@ and postmaster@ addresses exist and are read, and sign up for mailbox providers' feedback loops. Spamhaus describes these as a domain's own abuse-detection system.^[1] If you have no mail at all on a domain, publish v=spf1 -all and a p=reject DMARC record so others cannot easily spoof it.

1. Look the domain up again at check.spamhaus.org and open the listing's details.
2. Follow the removal link. Spamhaus handles requests only through this checker and ticket system, not by email.^[2]
3. Submit from a connection that can be associated with the domain or its servers, not through a VPN or proxy, and give an email address on the domain itself (for example postmaster@) rather than a free webmail address.^[2]
4. Explain, briefly and specifically: what caused the problem, what you did to fix it, when you fixed it (date and time), and what you have changed to stop it happening again.^[2]

Spamhaus says removal requests must come from the registered owner of the domain or IP address; if that is a hosting company or employer, ask them to file it. A request does not guarantee removal, and people who submit repeatedly or abuse the form may be blocked.^[1][2]

After you submit, the request is not active until you confirm the email address you entered. Spamhaus sends a message, usually with a subject beginning "Spamhaus request verification for…", containing a confirmation link.^[9] Open it and click the link; the page it opens reports whether the request was accepted, or whether staff need more information.

• Check the spam or junk folder. If your own domain is listed, your provider may have filtered the very email you are waiting for.
• Wait several minutes before trying again; repeated submissions slow things down.
• Make sure the mailbox you gave can receive external mail (an address on a domain with no MX record cannot).

Once Spamhaus approves a domain removal it is processed immediately. Most receiving systems update within minutes, but some keep cached data for up to 24 hours; Spamhaus asks owners to get back in touch if a listing still shows a day after approval.^[1] Spamhaus also notes that some networks may take one to two hours, occasionally longer, to catch up.^[2] Many DBL listings also expire on their own once the domain stops matching the listing criteria, so a domain whose problem has been fixed may drop off without a request.^[1]

If bounces continue from only one or two receivers after removal, the issue is with those receivers or a different list, not Spamhaus.^[2]

Spamhaus states that there is never a charge to remove any of its listings, that any offer to remove a listing for a fee is a scam, and that no third party can influence or speed up a removal.^[1] Deliverability consultants can help diagnose a problem, but the request itself is yours to file for free.

• Keep CMS software, plugins and themes updated; remove unused ones; use two-factor authentication on hosting, DNS and registrar accounts.
• Protect every public form with CAPTCHA, rate limits and confirmed opt-in.
• Never send to purchased or scraped lists; remove addresses that bounce or never engage.
• Send from one long-lived domain and warm up new sending gradually.
• Publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC and read the DMARC reports.
• Monitor abuse@, postmaster@ and feedback loops, and check the domain at the Spamhaus checker after any security incident.
• Consider extension reputation when choosing a name: some low-cost endings have a large share of their zone listed, which can make filters more suspicious of them (see Spamhaus: most-abused TLDs).

Will SPF, DKIM and DMARC get my domain removed? No. They help mailbox providers trust your legitimate mail, but Spamhaus lists domains with and without them. The cause of the listing has to be fixed.^[1]

I just registered the domain and mail is being rejected. Why? Newly observed domains appear on Spamhaus's Zero Reputation Domains list for 24 hours, and some receivers treat any new domain cautiously. Wait, then build volume slowly.^[4]

The checker says I'm not listed but mail still bounces. Read the bounce text: it may name a different list, your mail server's IP address, or the receiver's own filter. Recent removals can take an hour or two to reach every network.^[2]

Can I ask someone else to file the request? Only the registered owner of the domain or IP, or its service provider, should file it.^[2]

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1. Spamhaus — FAQs: Domain Blocklist (DBL) (listing factors, abused-legit fixes, removal timing, no fees, test domain; retrieved 11 November 2026).
2. Spamhaus — FAQs: General questions (how to submit a removal request, who may request, information required, propagation).
3. Spamhaus — FAQs: DNSBL usage (public resolver restriction, free-use conditions).
4. Spamhaus Technology — Blocklists via DNS Query, free account (Zero Reputation Domains: 24-hour listing of new domains).
5. RFC 7208 — Sender Policy Framework (SPF).
6. RFC 6376 — DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) Signatures.
7. RFC 7489 — Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC).
8. Google Workspace Admin Help — Email sender guidelines (authentication requirements for senders to Gmail).
9. Spamhaus — Reputation Checker (lookup, removal form and verification step).