Written correctly
One @ sign, a mailbox name before it, and a real domain after it, following the rules in the email standards.
Free email address checker for sales
Email Address Checker
Paste an email address before you send. Get a plain-English answer: is it written right, is it a typo, does the domain take mail, and is it a throwaway?
- Free, no sign-up
- Nothing you type is stored
- Every rule shows its source
What the Email Address Checker checks
Each check is explained in plain words. They rest on email standards, Gmail’s and Yahoo’s published rules for senders, and an open list of throwaway domains, not on studies. A lookup that cannot finish is marked Not checked, never failed.
Common typo
Catches slips like gmial.com, gmail.con, or hotmial.com and suggests the fix. This is our own rule of thumb.
Our own rule of thumb
Domain accepts email
Looks up the domain's mail servers in the Domain Name System (DNS). A domain that does not exist, or says it takes no mail, will bounce.
Not a throwaway address
Compares the domain with an open list of about 9,000 temporary email services, kept inside this site.
A person's own inbox
Notes shared inboxes like info@ or sales@. That is a note, not a fail. No-reply addresses are flagged.
Our own rule of thumb
Domain age
Reads the registration date from the public registry. A domain under 30 days old gets a second look.
Your sender records (optional)
Add your own address to check its Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DMARC records, which Gmail and Yahoo ask senders to set up.
Questions
Why do bounced emails matter for a salesperson?
Mailbox providers watch how your email is received. Yahoo's sender rules tell senders to watch hard and soft bounces and to remove invalid recipients from their list promptly, and say that sending to people who do not read your email harms your delivery and reputation. Gmail's sender guidelines say to lower your sending volume when delivery errors go up, then increase it slowly. Checking an address before you send is a simple way to avoid a bounce in the first place.
Does this prove the mailbox exists?
No. It checks that the address is written correctly, that its domain is set up to receive email, and that it is not a throwaway or mistyped address. It never emails the address and never connects to its mail server to test the mailbox, because that is unreliable and can look like spam activity. The only sure test is a real reply.
What is a throwaway email address?
A temporary inbox from a service like Mailinator that anyone can open, usually used to get past a sign-up form. Nobody reads it for long, so a sales email sent there is wasted. The checker compares the domain with an open, public-domain list of these services that is copied into this site.
What are SPF and DMARC, and do I need them?
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) lists the servers allowed to send email for your domain. Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) tells mailbox providers what to do with email that fails those checks. Since February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo ask every sender to set up SPF or DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and bulk senders (Gmail counts 5,000 or more messages a day to its users) to also set up DMARC. Add your own address in the optional box to see whether your domain has them.
Why does the domain's age matter?
A domain registered in the last few weeks has no history yet. For an address you send to, that can mean a fake or short-lived sign-up, so check where it came from. For your own sending domain, Gmail's sender guidelines ask new senders to start with a low volume and increase slowly. The 30 day line this tool uses is our own rule of thumb, not a study.
Is the Email Address Checker free? Do you store the addresses?
It is free with no sign-up, and nothing you type is stored or logged. Only the domain (the part after the @) is looked up, in the public Domain Name System and at rdap.org for the registration date. The mailbox name is never sent anywhere.
Every source is on the sources page, labeled as a standard, a mailbox provider rule, or an open data list.
Address looks good? Check the email itself
The Free Sales Email Grader grades your subject and body against published sales research and several sales methods, and suggests a rewrite.
Try the Free Sales Email Grader