DMARC's three policies - none, quarantine, reject - express requested receiver handling. p=none requests no special handling for failing mail; aggregate reports are requested separately through rua and depend on receiver participation. p=quarantine asks receivers to treat failing mail as suspicious, often by placing it in spam. p=reject asks receivers to reject failing mail during SMTP. Receivers can apply local policy and may override these preferences.
Start with p=none and inspect aggregate reports before enforcing a stricter policy. The evidence you need is coverage: every legitimate source should authenticate and align, and unexpected sources should be investigated. Use the DNS checker for DNS inspection.
Move to p=quarantine once you are confident every legitimate sender is aligned. Participating receivers may place misaligned messages in spam instead of rejecting them, subject to their local policy. This gives you a safety net while you continue to verify.
Move to p=reject only after quarantine evidence shows that legitimate mail remains aligned. The policy requests SMTP rejection for failing mail, so advancing on a calendar alone can break an overlooked sender.
PulsePigeon's domain console exposes the current and recommended DMARC policy, readiness blockers, and the next record. The progression is none to quarantine to reject, and advancement fails closed while required evidence is missing.