All systems operationalReal-time DNS, email and infrastructure monitoring
SupportAPIContactSign in

DKIM: selectors, key length and rotation

DKIM signs your messages with a private key; the public key lives in DNS under a selector.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a cryptographic signature to each message. The receiver fetches the public key from selector._domainkey.yourdomain.com and verifies the signature.

Selectors

The selector is chosen by whoever signs the mail (Google uses google, Microsoft 365 selector1/selector2). You can publish many selectors — one per sending system.

Key length

Use 2048-bit RSA. 1024-bit keys are still accepted but discouraged; anything shorter is rejected by major receivers.

Rotation

Rotate keys yearly: publish the new selector, switch signing, then remove the old record after a week.

Check any selector with the DKIM Lookup or create a new key with the generator.


More articles