I got two identical emails from different people and noticed something weird with my Gmail extensions.
In one email, none of my usual Gmail extensions appear. But in the other email, all my extensions work perfectly fine.
I decided to check the raw email headers to see what was different. The first email (where extensions don’t work) shows SPF result as SOFTFAIL. The second email (where extensions work normally) has SPF, DKIM and DMARC all showing PASS status.
Does Gmail disable extensions when emails fail authentication checks? I’m wondering if Google blocks Gmail extensions from running when there are authentication failures like SOFTFAIL or FAIL in email security protocols.
Has anyone experienced similar behavior where Gmail extensions stop working based on the sender’s email authentication status?
Yeah, Google added this protection a few years ago but never really publicized it. I ran into this at work when dealing with automated emails from different services. Gmail basically flags emails that fail authentication as sketchy, so extensions can’t access or mess with them as much. Makes sense - if someone’s spoofing emails or the sender screwed up their security setup, there’s more risk of malicious stuff. Extensions that read email content, add tracking pixels, or change the interface get locked out to prevent exploits. You’ll see this with SPF softfails, DKIM failures, or when DMARC policies are missing. Annoying for users, but it’s actually pretty smart security-wise.
same here! i thought my extensions were just acting up lol. turns out gmail blocks extension access for unverified emails since they’re seen as potentially dangerous. pretty annoying when legitimate emails get caught in the crossfire though
The behavior you’ve observed is indeed a security measure implemented by Google. When Gmail identifies authentication issues such as SPF softfail, it restricts access to third-party extensions for that specific email. I faced this issue while working with various productivity tools in my Gmail account. It makes sense that if an email isn’t authenticated, the risk of it being a phishing attempt or containing malware increases. Consequently, Gmail generally limits functionalities for such emails, especially for extensions that interact deeply with email content and functions.