Failure Breakdown Chart

The Failure Breakdown chart gives you a visual overview of how your email is distributed across authentication states. It answers the question: "Of all the email sent from my domain, what proportion is fully authenticated, partially authenticated, or failing completely?"

Understanding the Segments

Both Pass (green)

Both SPF and DKIM passed with alignment. Fully authenticated email — the ideal state. Your goal is to push this segment as high as possible.

SPF Only / DKIM Only (yellow)

One method passes. DMARC still passes, but you have no redundancy. If SPF-only sources are in this segment, add DKIM. If DKIM-only, consider adding the source to SPF.

Both Fail (red)

Neither SPF nor DKIM passed. DMARC fails for these emails. Under a p=quarantine or p=reject policy, these are sent to spam or blocked. This segment should be as close to 0% as possible.

What the Chart Tells You Over Time

Watch the trend, not just today's snapshot:

Green growing, red shrinking — you're making progress. Keep approving sources.
Red growing suddenly — a new service started sending, or an existing one changed IPs. Go to Authentication Troubleshooting to identify it.
Yellow large, red small — good DMARC compliance, but DKIM is underused. Enable DKIM for more senders.
Flat at low green — not enough DMARC report data yet, or many unapproved sources. Work through the SPF Decision Queue.

Acting on the Chart

Large red segment: Go to Authentication Troubleshooting and fix Critical issues first. Approve legitimate sources in SPF Management.

Large yellow segment: SPF-only or DKIM-only passing. Enable DKIM for services that are SPF-passing only. Consider approving DKIM-passing sources in SPF too.

95%+ green: You're ready to consider upgrading your DMARC policy from p=none to p=quarantine. Check the Policy Readiness card.

Failure Breakdown Chart