New email addresses and recently registered domains often have their initial messages delivered to the spam folder. Internet service providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook evaluate unfamiliar domains cautiously until a positive sender reputation is established. Warming up your Hostinger Mail domain gradually builds trust with recipient email providers and improves inbox delivery rates over time.
What is email warm-up?
Email warm-up means gradually increasing how much you send while getting real engagement — replies, opens, and “Not spam” actions — from real people. It proves to mailbox providers that your new domain is safe and wanted, instead of a fresh domain suddenly sending a burst of mail (which looks like spam).
How to warm up (first 2–3 weeks)
Week 1: Start small and personal
- Send only a few emails per day (around 5–10) to people you know will reply — colleagues, partners, existing customers
- Keep them personal and conversational, not promotional
- Don’t email large lists or many strangers at once
✅ Goal: steady opens and genuine replies.
Ask recipients to show trust (very impactful)
Ask a few trusted recipients to:
- Reply to your email (even a short reply helps)
- Add your address to their contacts
- Mark it as Not spam if it lands in the spam folder
These simple actions teach providers that your emails are wanted.
Week 2: Increase gradually
- Slowly raise your daily volume
- Keep the replies and engagement coming
- Avoid sudden spikes — jumping from 10 to 200 emails in a day is a red flag
Week 3+: Send at your normal pace
- Keep growing step by step
- Prioritize people who actually engage with you
✅ Goal: long-term sender trust.
A few things that speed it up
- Send like a human, not a machine — send regularly instead of in one big burst, and reply within real conversations when you can.
- Keep content clean — good spelling, no ALL CAPS or spammy subject lines, and a healthy balance of text and images (avoid image-only emails).
- Send only to valid addresses — bounces hurt your reputation quickly when you’re new.
What about DNS records?
Your domain needs SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to prove your emails are really from you — this is essential for reaching the inbox.
If your domain is managed by Hostinger, these are set up automatically when you activate email, so there’s nothing to do. If your domain points to another provider, you’ll need to add the records there manually — Hostinger shows you the exact values in hPanel → Emails.
Planning a marketing campaign?
Hostinger Mail is built for business correspondence, not bulk sending. For newsletters, promotions, or large lists, use Hostinger Reach — our email marketing product with built-in warm-up and deliverability tools.