Microsoft Outlook Bulk Email Changes: What You Need to Know

Microsoft Outlook Bulk Email Changes: What You Need to Know

Dear Marketers,

We want to bring your attention to an important upcoming change announced by Microsoft (Outlook) that will impact users sending bulk emails to Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, and other Microsoft-hosted inboxes. This update focuses on strengthening email authentication to improve inbox security and reduce spam. These measures will help reduce spoofing, phishing, and spam activity, empowering legitimate senders with stronger brand protection and better deliverability.

Microsoft's New Requirements for Bulk Senders:

Microsoft is introducing new requirements for domains sending more than 5,000 emails per day. Starting May 5th, 2025, Outlook will begin enforcing stricter email authentication standards.

Key Changes to Be Aware Of:

  • Mandatory SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Your sending domain must pass SPF authentication. Ensure your domain's DNS record accurately lists all authorized IP addresses and hosts that send emails on your behalf.

  • Mandatory DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Your emails must pass DKIM authentication. This validates the integrity and authenticity of your emails.

  • Mandatory DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance): Your domain must have a DMARC record in place, and alignment with either SPF or DKIM (preferably both for optimal deliverability).

Impact on Non-Compliant Senders:

  • Initial Routing to Junk: After May 5th, 2025, emails from high-volume senders that do not comply with these authentication requirements will initially be routed to the Junk folder.

  • Future Rejection: Microsoft has stated that in the future, non-compliant emails will be rejected entirely to further protect their users.

Recommendations for Zoho Marketing Automation Users:

As users of Zoho Marketing Automation, especially if you send bulk email campaigns that might exceed 5,000 emails per day to Microsoft-hosted inboxes, it's crucial to take the following steps now to ensure your email deliverability is not affected:

  • Review Your DNS Records: Audit your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for the domains you use to send emails through Zoho Marketing Automation. Verify that they are correctly configured and accurately reflect your sending infrastructure.

  • Ensure SPF Passes: Confirm that your SPF record includes all necessary sending sources for Zoho Marketing Automation.

  • Ensure DKIM is Implemented: Verify that DKIM signing is properly set up for your sending domains within Zoho Marketing Automation.

  • Implement DMARC: If you haven't already, implement a DMARC record in your DNS. Starting with p=none allows you to monitor your email authentication results before moving to stricter policies.

  • Configure Custom Return Path: This dedicated custom return-path address allows you to receive detailed notifications about email bounces, enabling you to analyze delivery issues and proactively manage your email lists.

  • Follow Email Hygiene Best Practices: While not strictly mandatory yet, adopting the following practices will further enhance your deliverability and sender reputation:

    • Use compliant and valid "From" and "Reply-To" addresses.

    • Include functional and easily accessible unsubscribe links.

    • Maintain clean email lists and manage bounces effectively.

    • Practice transparent mailing practices with clear subject lines and proper consent.

Next Steps for You:

  1. Prepare Now: Review and update your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records immediately.

  2. Help Resources: If you need assistance with setting up SPF, DKIM, or DMARC, refer to Zoho Marketing Automation's help documentation.

This update from Microsoft underscores the increasing importance of proper email authentication for ensuring reliable email delivery. By taking proactive steps now, you can safeguard your email campaigns and maintain strong deliverability to Outlook inboxes.

We will continue to monitor this situation and provide any further updates or guidance relevant to using Zoho Marketing Automation. Keep an eye on our community forums and announcements.

Notes
It's important to note that Zoho Marketing Automation will not impose restrictions on email sending; however, users are strongly encouraged to proactively implement these authentication measures on their end to maximize deliverability

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support@zohomarketingautomation.com or engage in the community forums.

Happy Marketing!
The Zoho Marketing Automation Team

    • Sticky Posts

    • Marketer’s Space - Automating CRM Actions with Journeys – Part 2

      Hello marketers! Welcome back to another post in Marketer’s Space. In our previous post, we explored how CRM actions in Journeys help marketing and sales teams work together by nurturing CRM leads and pushing only engaged prospects back to sales. If you

    • Introducing automation and utility conversations in WhatsApp marketing

      We’re excited to announce the addition of two new features to our WhatsApp integration: Automation and Utility conversations. These enhancements will allow you to streamline your marketing efforts and engage with your customers more effectively by automating

    • Tip of the week 02 - The art of 'seeing' your leads

      What's the last page that your lead visited before signing up for your brand? What was the page that first convinced your lead to explore more about you? Where are your leads coming in from? Well, these are some perennial questions today's marketers live upon. And, knowing the answers to these questions is crucial, considering the vitality of leads in every business. In the journey of finding lead opportunities, it's important to understand that every detail about a lead is useful. While the channels

    • Zoho Marketing Automation Update: Topics, Contacts, and List Management

      At Zoho Marketing Automation, our highest priority is making it easier for you to use our product to accomplish your business goals. With that in mind, we are updating three of our pivotal features: Topic, Contacts, and List Management.   These existing

    • Important: Zoho MarketingHub is now Zoho Marketing Automation

      Hello Everyone,   We hope you all are doing well. We'd like to notify you that we have rebranded Zoho MarketingHub to Zoho Marketing Automation. We'll discontinue using the term "MarketingHub" from May 26, 2021. However, there will be no changes in the

    • Recent Topics

    • Search handwriting using sketch card and OCR

      Hi It's possible using Sketch Card for handwriting and search them using AI and OCR in Pro edition? Thanks

    • Autoresponders in Zoho CRM will be discontinued—transition to Cadences for enhanced engagement

      Zoho CRM’s Autoresponder feature will be discontinued by September 30, 2025. If you're currently using Autoresponders to automate email follow-ups, we recommend switching to Cadences, a more powerful, flexible, and multi-channel engagement tool for today's

    • Recovering a note

      Hi, I accidentally deleted an important academic not from my notebook. Can I recover it? Thanks

    • Unable to schedule posts!

      Hi everyone, I'm on the free account. I just realised it doesn't give me the options to schedule posts anymore, I can only 'post now'. I don't understand why I can't even see what I scheduled before. Can anyone help? Thanks, Benedetta

    • ZUG is Hitting the Road — Across the USA!

      We’re bringing the Zoho User Group (ZUG) meet-ups back to various cities across the United States — and we’re more excited than ever to reconnect with our incredible community! Whether you're a seasoned Zoho user or just getting started, this event is

    • SPF, Zoho Books, Send from my domain

      I am unable to verify my domain through Zoho Books: this is the text record: v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:zohomail.com -all I waited 24 hours already with error: SPF record not found. Contact your domain provider.

    • How do I record timesheet invoices generated in Zoho Workerly against a Sales Order?

      We have customers who issue us a Purchase Order for an aggregate amount of hourly services, which we invoice against on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis (contract dependent). For simplicity, let's say the customer PO is for $50,000 (1,000 hours at

    • One Place for All Your Automation Needs

      All automation settings are grouped under Settings ()> Automation. This helps you find everything related to automation from one place. Under Workflow Rules, Email Alerts, Email Templates, and Webhooks: Use the Projects tab for project-specific settings.

    • How Do I Refund a Customer Directly to Their Credit Card?

      Hi, I use books to auto-charge my customers credit card. But when I create a credit note there doesn't seem to be a way to directly refund the amount back to their credit card. Is the only way to refund a credit note by doing it "offline" - or manually-

    • header and footer for templates

      Hi,   I created many templates for my activity. Nevertheless I have a big problem, the HTML is varies from a quote to another, there is sometime less or more text. In order to have a nice layout I require Header and Footer. I looked for into the CRM tool, couldn't find it. Can someone explain to me if it's possible ??   It's very urgent, thanks very much,   Eric Marois

    • Simple Text Search Function

      Would it be too much to ask for a simple text search function? My slide decks are often simply collections of slides of a random over, and I often have to find the slide I need at a moment's notice. A text search function, no matter how rudimentary, would

    • How to validate Rich Text in Zoho Creator! Urgent!

      Hi members, Recently I just started to use Rich Text field. Now I have a requirement where I need to validate to ensure this Rich Text field must contain a value. Meaning must contain something. I use the below script if(input.Rich_Text == null) { alert

    • Rich-text fields in Zoho CRM

      Hello everyone, We're thrilled to announce an important enhancement that will significantly enhance the readability and formatting capabilities of your information: rich text options for multi-line fields. With this update, you can now enjoy a more versatile

    • Introducing the Reviews sub-module in Zoho Recruit

      Across every recruitment process, candidates are assessed by multiple stakeholders—recruiters, interviewers, hiring managers, and clients. These evaluations influence hiring decisions, yet they often exist in silos across assessments, emails, or interview

    • We need customizable sub-form layouts

      Currently, we can arrange sub-form fields only in a single row. The single row layout means salespeople must horizontally scroll to uncover information. As a result, salespeople cannot see all of the relevant information simultaneously.  The administrator

    • Fetch function not working for CRM Contacts

      I've created a flow that checks if a contact exists in CRM (based on form input), and if it does, then it updates one of the fields for the contact. In my test, the fetch function correctly identifies that a contact exists (based on email address), but

    • How to add a discount (percent %) field?

      My particular case it’s regarding the “Opportunities” module. I’ve created a subform to calculate the value of the opportunity, and now I’d like to include a discount field in the form of a percentage. However, no matter how or where I add the "percent"

    • Automate Pricebook per Customer

      Example Scenario: I want to create a customer package (Silver Package, Gold Package, Platinum Package) and associated it with a Price Book that contains discounted prices for certain products. When a customer assigned to this Silver Package places an

    • Automate pricebook per customer

      Example Scenario: I want to create a customer package (Silver Package, Gold Package, Platinum Package) and associated it with a Price Book that contains discounted prices for certain products. When a customer assigned to this Silver Package places an

    • Automate pricebook per customer

      Example Scenario: I want to create a customer package (Silver Package, Gold Package, Platinum Package) and associated it with a Price Book that contains discounted prices for certain products. When a customer assigned to this Silver Package places an

    • Client Side Scripts for Meetings Module

      Will zoho please add client side scripting support to the meetings module? Our workflow requires most meeting details have a specific format to work with other software we have. So we rely on a custom function to auto fill certain things. We currently

    • Document Tracking

      Hi all Zoho crmplus user here. I am migrating from hubspot and in Hubspot when my sales team email a document they can see when the client has opened the document and how many minutes they sepend on it. This persists for additional openings and readings

    • Apply partial payments to invoices from the Banking Module

      We need this! Why is this not possible?

    • Setting admin only field values in widget

      Hello If I'm using a Widget addRecord function invoked by a user input (the user has write permission not developer) can he set values to a field that is set to be visible to Admin only?

    • Forecast UI improvements

      Hi I have two improvement requests for the UI in the Forecast function. Can you add the ability to reorganise the Pipeline, Committed and Best Case columns on the Forecast? I thought they were in alphabetical order, so we renamed them so that we could

    • Missing services/ features / buttons

      Hello, 1. I can't locate the DKIM information in ZoHo CRM that I need to add as txt strings to our DNS in GoDaddy. 2. In other activities I cannot locate the 'Help' button for context senstivie help 3. I wish to merge two records into a single record

    • Global Sets for Multi-Select pick lists

      When is this feature coming to Zoho CRM? It would be very useful now we have got used to having it for the normal pick lists.

    • [Free Webinar] Building Data Relationships Using Lookup Fields - Creator Tech Connect

      Hello Everyone! We welcome you all to the upcoming free webinar on the Creator Tech Connect Series. The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar that runs for around 45 minutes. It comprises technical sessions in which we delve deep into

    • Staff Tracking in

      Hi , I would like to see what activity my staff does over Zoho CRM and over Zoho Mail . I need to know which deals in CRM haven't been touched or had an activity on by a particular staff member . Basically need to establish what work.gets done by WFH

    • Is there a way to force a page refresh after changing a Subform via Workflow / Function?

      I have a workflow which triggers a function, and in this function i am changing the values of a certain subform. The changed are only visibile when i manually refresh the page and this is a no-no for my use-case. When other workflows, that change certain

    • Allow non admins to create folders

      I want to allow users in my company to create their own reporting based upon selected Datasources, however they currently can't create folders to save their work in. This can only be done by admins, which seems excessive. Is this possible ?

    • Episode I : Exploring the World of Custom Functions in Zoho Desk

      Hello Again! Welcome to an Automation Adventure in the World of Zoho Desk Join us on a journey to explore how custom functions can enhance and extend the capabilities of Zoho Desk. Automation is everywhere. From robotic arms assembling products on factory

    • Add picklist in subform lookup

      Hello, I am trying to rewrite a script that works on a from as parent form, to the same form when is is a subform. Here is what I did in the form itself : RefCat = Offre_de_produits.distinct(Categorie_OFFRE); clear Categorie_LIGNE; for each Record in

    • Free Webinar - Overview of Zoho Sign and latest updates- May 2025

      Hello there! What's the digital alternative to endless paperwork? Zoho Sign. Designed for digital-first businesses, Zoho Sign is a complete digital signature solution with powerful features and seamless integrations that streamline your entire workflow.

    • Multiple Forecast configurations

      Hi all Is it possible to have multiple Forecast Configurations? That is, not just multiple forecasts, but rather different forecasts assigned to different configurations? The use case here is that we currently have the Forecast module configured for Revenue

    • Discussions from Ask The Experts 19: Inside Zoho Desk Spring Release 2025 : Zia in Focus

      Hello everyone, We had insightful discussions in both the sessions of Ask the Experts(ATE) 19, diving deep into engaging conversations around Zia and the spring release. Your enthusiastic participation and thought-provoking questions brought the sessions

    • Basic campaign set-up

      I have been trying hard to get Zoho CRM and Zoho Mail connected, but somewhere I seem to have wires loose in my brain. I'm not winning. Could anyone just show me (1) how to set up a scheduled email campaign (test to only six internal staff), (2) how to

    • Add template Categories Qoutes sendmale

      Is there other way to add other template categories in sendmail qoute?

    • What’s New in Zoho Inventory | April 2025

      Hello users, April has been a big month in Zoho Inventory! We’ve rolled out powerful new features to help you streamline production, optimise stock management, and tailor your workflows. While several updates bring helpful enhancements, three major additions

    • Remote Control Functionality During Screen Sharing in Zoho Cliq

      Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We would like to request the addition of remote control functionality during screen sharing sessions in Zoho Cliq. Currently, while screen sharing in Cliq is very useful, it lacks the ability for another participant to take control

    • Next Page