How to fix DKIM failing due to apostrophe in From header at ATT.net?
Summary
What email marketers say8Marketer opinions
Email marketer from EmailGeek explains that you need to ensure the header doesn't violate RFC specifications or mailbox provider requirements
Email marketer from Litmus recommends using email testing tools to preview emails across different email clients and identify rendering issues. Since From headers can be interpreted differently, testing can reveal whether the apostrophe is causing display problems or DKIM failures.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Tips suggests checking the bounce codes and error messages provided by the receiving mail server. These messages often contain detailed information about why the email was rejected, which can help diagnose the cause of the DKIM failure.
Email marketer from Reddit recommends double-quoting the entire display name in the From header, especially when it contains apostrophes or spaces, to ensure compatibility across different email providers and prevent DMARC failures. This is a common practice to avoid parsing issues.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow suggests that the issue is with character encoding. They suggest ensuring the email is encoded with UTF-8 and the headers declare this encoding.
Email marketer from Email on Acid recommends testing email rendering across various email clients and providers, as inconsistencies in how they interpret From headers can lead to deliverability problems. They suggest using tools to preview how the email will appear and adjust the From header accordingly.
Email marketer from Mailjet states that ensuring proper email authentication setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is crucial, but also highlights the importance of cleaning email lists and avoiding spam trigger words to maintain a good sender reputation and improve deliverability.
Email marketer from SuperUser shares that some email providers have quirks in how they handle email headers. They recommend keeping the headers as simple and standard as possible, which includes quoting display names with special characters.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise recommends keeping email headers as simple and standards-compliant as possible. They suggest using double quotes around display names that contain special characters like apostrophes to avoid issues with email providers that may have different parsing rules.
Expert from SpamResource suggests testing the sending setup with multiple email providers. Check if the DKIM signature is valid and the From header is correctly formatted. It is possible some providers have stricter RFC compliance than others.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that the mail being sent has an invalid From: header. AT&T fixes it, which breaks the DKIM signature. The solution is to send a valid From: header, easily achieved by quoting the friendly from in double quotes.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests quoting or escaping the apostrophe in the From header to resolve the issue with AT&T.
Expert from Email Geeks recommends quoting anything with unusual characters in the From header, ideally quoting it all the time, to avoid grey areas and ensure compatibility.
Expert from Email Geeks confirms that invalid From headers are the root cause. AT&T's servers fix them, leading to DKIM failures when handed over to Yahoo. They suggest sending valid From headers.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from ietf.org specifies that the display-name in the From header can be an atom or a quoted string. Apostrophes are valid within an atom but quoting is necessary when spaces or other special characters are present.
Documentation from Port25 suggests ensuring that the From header is properly formatted and compliant with RFC standards. They recommend using quoted strings for display names containing special characters to prevent DKIM validation failures.
Documentation from DKIM Wizard advises sanitizing the From header to remove or escape special characters, or enclose the display name in quotes. They suggest that while certain characters might be technically valid, they can cause issues with some mail servers.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains the importance of DKIM alignment for DMARC compliance and provides insights into how strict DMARC policies (like p=reject) can affect email delivery when DKIM fails. They suggest carefully monitoring DMARC reports to identify and address DKIM failures.