Bluehost is one of the largest shared-hosting companies and bundles DNS hosting with its hosting plans. The DNS editor lives in the Domains section of the new Bluehost account portal. This guide walks you through publishing a TXT record at Bluehost — the kind you'll need for SPF, DKIM, DMARC, or domain ownership verification.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Log in to your Bluehost account.
  2. Go to Domains → My Domains.
  3. Find your domain and click Manage → DNS.
  4. Scroll to the TXT section and click Add Record.
  5. Host Record: use @ for the root domain, _dmarc for DMARC, or your DKIM selector.
  6. TXT Value: paste the record content.
  7. TTL: default (4 hours / 14400) is fine.
  8. Click Save.

If you're using Bluehost for shared hosting AND its mail, your existing SPF probably points at Bluehost. When adding a record for a separate mail provider (Google Workspace, etc.), merge — don't replace.

What you might be adding

The most common TXT records published at a DNS provider are the three that make up modern email authentication:

  • SPF — a single TXT record at the root (host @) listing which servers may send mail as your domain. Build one with the SPF checker.
  • DKIM — a TXT (or CNAME) record at a per-selector host like google._domainkey, holding the public key your mail provider uses to sign your mail. Look yours up with the DKIM lookup.
  • DMARC — a single TXT record at _dmarc that tells receivers what to do when SPF or DKIM fail. Build one with the DMARC checker.

Other common TXT records are domain-verification tokens for services like Google Search Console, Microsoft 365 onboarding, and various SaaS tools — they all use the same "add a TXT record" flow above.

After you've added the record

Once you save, Bluehost publishes the record to its nameservers — usually within minutes, sometimes up to an hour. Other DNS resolvers around the world will cache the change based on the TTL you set, so it can take a bit longer for the rest of the internet to see it. The safe wait is 15–30 minutes before re-checking; full propagation is usually under 4 hours.

When you're ready to verify, paste your domain into the full diagnostic or the specific tool for the record you added — SPF, DMARC, or DKIM. If the record doesn't appear after an hour, log back in to Bluehost and confirm it actually saved — the most common cause of "missing" records is the save click being skipped.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take for a new TXT record to take effect?

Most DNS providers publish a new TXT record in minutes. Cloudflare is near-instant. GoDaddy, Namecheap and IONOS can take up to an hour. Some receivers cache DNS for longer, so it's normal to wait 1–4 hours before re-checking. If a record still isn't visible after 24 hours, the change probably didn't save — log back in and confirm it's there.

What TTL should I use for a TXT record?

The default is almost always fine — usually 1 hour (3600 seconds) or Auto. A lower TTL (300 seconds) is useful only while you're actively testing, so changes propagate faster. Once the record is stable, leave the TTL alone.

Can a domain have more than one TXT record?

Yes — a domain can have many TXT records at the same name, and they're served as a set. The catch is per record type: SPF, for example, requires exactly one TXT record at the root that starts with v=spf1. Publishing two SPF records breaks SPF entirely. DMARC has the same one-record rule at _dmarc. DKIM is different — each selector is a separate record at its own host, so multiple selectors live side by side without conflict.

Why does my TXT value need to be in quotes sometimes but not others?

DNS stores TXT values as one or more quoted strings. Some control panels (Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap) ask for the raw value and add the quotes for you. Others (sometimes Route 53 or Cloud DNS) want the quotes typed in. When in doubt, paste without quotes first — if the record doesn't show up, try with quotes.