I'm reaching out for some help with an email deliverability issue we're facing. We recently launched a gym management platform that sends various transactional emails like class reminders and membership updates. Previously, we were hosted by Lovable, who assigned us an IP address linked to their DNS. Unfortunately, that IP was associated with Cloudflare's Germany data center, where another user had reportedly sent spam, causing our domain to end up on a blocklist. Although we've moved to a different hosting provider, Microsoft (including Outlook and Hotmail) continues to flag our emails as spam. We've confirmed that our SPF, DKIM, and DMARC settings are all properly configured, but it doesn't seem to help. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this situation and knows how to appeal to Microsoft to get our domain delisted or if a domain change is necessary. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
6 Answers
Sending automated emails from a subdomain can help protect your main domain's reputation. You might want to consider that to keep important emails safer from being flagged.
Is it only your automated notifications being marked as spam, or are direct emails too? If it’s both, that suggests a broader issue with your domain reputation.
Have you checked your unsubscribe feature? If users have trouble with it, they might report you as spam which could hurt your reputation. Just a thought!
We actually just launched last week, and haven't sent out annoying marketing emails yet. We're onboarding clients from an old system, so everyone should go live in two weeks. We really need to fix this problem first.
Since your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC settings are correct, it’s likely your IP has been flagged. You could try sending a normal stream of manual emails for a bit, rather than automated ones, to improve your standing with Microsoft.
I think you're right; it sounds like Microsoft has flagged our whole domain. We've been sending manual emails to clients, but nothing seems to be improving our reputation.
Check your email content too. Are you using any hidden tracking methods or links that might look suspicious? Also, if users find unsubscribing annoying, they might report you as spam instead.
Your issue may not even depend on your website since it’s about where your mail comes from. Where exactly are your emails being sent from? That could be a major factor in this situation.
Our emails are sent from Google Workspace.

It's both! Any automated email or direct communication we send to Microsoft gets flagged.