How to Check if Your Domain Is Blacklisted (And What to Do About It)

Start here if your emails are landing in spam

If your open rates have dropped suddenly, your emails are landing in spam, or a client mentions they are not receiving your messages — check your blacklist status before anything else. It takes thirty seconds and might explain everything.

Step 1 — Check your domain

Go to your BounceProtect dashboard and click Blacklist Monitor in the sidebar. Enter your sending domain — this is the domain in your From address, not necessarily your website domain. If you send from hello@company.com, check company.com. If you send from a subdomain like mail.company.com, check that too. You can check multiple domains at once by entering them comma-separated or one per line.

Step 2 — Understand the results

Clean means you are not on any of the four major lists we check. If you are listed, BounceProtect shows you exactly which list flagged you. Spamhaus DBL is the most urgent to resolve because it affects the most mail servers globally. Barracuda and SURBL are serious but affect a narrower range of recipients. NordSpam matters most if you send to European audiences.

Step 3 — Request delisting

Each list has its own removal process.

Spamhaus has a lookup tool at check.spamhaus.org where you can see why you were listed and submit a removal request. They will only remove you if the underlying issue is fixed first. Sending spam from a compromised account and immediately requesting delisting will not work — you need to resolve the root cause before submitting.

Barracuda's removal request form is at barracudacentral.org/rbl/removal-request and is typically faster, often processing within a few hours.

SURBL requests go through their website and can take 24 to 48 hours.

NordSpam accepts removal requests via their website and typically responds within 24 hours.

Step 4 — Fix the root cause

Delisting without fixing the root cause means you will be relisted within days. The most common fixes are publishing a valid SPF record that explicitly lists your sending IP, adding a DMARC policy (even p=none to start), auditing your contact list for spam traps using BounceProtect's bulk validation, and changing your sending IP if it was shared with a bad actor. If a compromised account caused the listing, revoke its access, reset credentials, and audit your sent mail logs before requesting removal.

Why checking monthly matters

Blacklist status changes without warning. A campaign that performs fine today can trigger a listing tomorrow if enough recipients mark it as spam. Checking your domain monthly — or before any major campaign send — catches problems before they compound. The BounceProtect Blacklist Monitor makes this a ten-second task rather than a manual process across four different websites. It is included on every plan, including free, because sender reputation is not a premium concern — it is a basic one.