How to Check If An Email Is Valid or Not (7 Ways)
Learning how to check if an email is valid is the first step in running any successful cold email outreach campaign.
If the email addresses are invalid, your emails will bounce back and kill your sender reputation. Thus, your entire campaign will mess up along with your ROI from outreach.
Once the email validation is done, you are good to run any kind of cold email campaigns for sales or whatever purpose you have.
In this article, I will give you 7 methods on how to check if an email is valid or not. Also, I will present some extra tips to make your email validation process even easier.
7 Methods on how to check if an email is valid or not
Before we start on how to check if an email is valid and look at the various methods, there are 2 ways to check an email is valid or not:
Single email validation – Single email validation checks email addresses one by one. It is ideal for validating a small number of email addresses (3 to 5 emails) and there are even free tools that provide single email validation even without sign-up.
It’s your go-to way if you are looking for email validation for the sake of job applications to recruiters, networking with VCs or for sending some super personalized emails to a small group of people. .
Batch email validation – Unlike, single email validation, bulk email verification can help you in checking emails in hundreds. It’s generally useful for sales reps to run potential email outreach to those email addresses. Bulk email verification tools are typically paid services. .
In this section, we will be covering both ways.
Method 7) Mouse over your target email address
This is a brilliant free method to check if an email is valid. There are two ways you can do it —
A) Using Gmail
Head over to the Gmail application on your pc/phone ➡️ Click on the “Compose” button on the top ➡️ Put your target email address in the recipient box ➡️ Now put your mouse cursor on the name of the sender’s name
If the email is valid and the inbox exists, you will receipient’s full name with image (sometimes a logo) and the email address (as shown in the image below).

B) Using Google Sheet
Head over to the Google sheet ➡️ Now over your mouse over the cell your target email address is located in
Again if the email is valid, it will automatically the details of your recipient (as shown in the image below).

Method 6) Verify the domain age associated with the email address
This method works only for the professional emails. A long-standing domain associated with the email address is often a positive sign.
For example, a well-established company boasting a 15-year history shouldn’t have an email address tied to a domain just registered last week. This inconsistency can be a red flag.

Scammers can purchase aged domains. To be truly secure, consider the domain age alongside proper email formatting (matching sender name and company) to check if an email is valid.
Note that: Domain age is a clue, not a guarantee.
Tip: If you want to verify the role-based email addresses ([email protected], [email protected] etc.), always look at the suffix used after “@” in the email address (“smartreach.io”) and verify the domain age as shown in the above screenshot. This is the best way to check their validity.
Method 5) Send an email to the email address directly
Yeah, this is the most straightforward way to check if an email is valid or not. If your email is sent successfully to that address, know that the email address is valid.
This method works better for personal email especially when you are reaching out to a small email list.
This method is not recommended for professional email outreach since it doesn’t contain your domain name.
For example,
A professional email address will look like ▶ [email protected] (which contains the brand name “SmartReach.io” in it making it appear professional)
On the other hand, you might have noticed that a personal email usually looks like ▶ [email protected].
When you send email to an invalid email address, it results in hard-bounce (meaning an invalid email address, which doesn’t exist on the receiving server.)
And you will encounter one of the two messages on your Gmail app:
1) Message not delivered: There was a problem delivering your message to [email protected] (your recipient’s email). See the technical details below or resend the email in a few minutes.
2) Address not found: Your message wasn’t delivered to [email protected] (your recipient’s email) because the address couldn’t be found. Check for typos or unnecessary spaces and try again.
Apart from these, some email service providers implement a safety net called a catch-all address. This acts as a universal recipient, capturing any emails sent to non-existent addresses within that domain (e.g., [email address removed]). While it prevents messages from bouncing immediately, it doesn’t guarantee delivery to your intended recipient.
Method 4) Password recovery trick (limited use)
Common email service providers like Google, Yahoo and Outlook use a simple address checker at the time of password recovery. You can easily verify if an email exists using the trick below.
Here are the recovery pages links for your easy access:
Gmail: https://www.google.com/accounts/recovery
Outlook: https://account.live.com/password/reset
Yahoo mail: https://edit.yahoo.com/forgot
Visit the password recovery page of and put the email address you want to check. In this case, I have taken an Gmail address.

If the email service provider acknowledges the email address and allows password reset options, it suggests that the email address exists.

However, this doesn’t guarantee email deliverability, as inactive accounts might still show up.
If you are doing bulk email verification, this method is super inefficient and time-consuming. So, you better avoid it.
Method 3) Scrutinize the email format carefully
Carefully study the email format to check if the email is valid. Take a second look at the email address components to look for valis emails. This method is also known as “Syntax Checking” for email addresses.
A valis email address has usually three parts:
- Username: This precedes the “@” symbol and can contain letters, numbers, periods, underscores, and hyphens. Avoid unusual characters or excessive special symbols.
- “@” Symbol: The separator between username and domain.
- Domain Name: This identifies the email provider (e.g., gmail.com, yahoo.com). Check for common misspellings or typos in the domain (e.g., gamil.com instead of gmail.com).
For example,
✅ [email protected]
❌ subha.bhattacharya.smartreach.io
Again, this method is applicable for single email verification but for large number of professional emails, this method is not recommended.
Method 2) Search the email address on the internet
Yes, you heard it right. You can find most email addresses on the internet. This method tells you if an email is valid. Most people have their email addresses attached to their websites, social media profile or in some public forums such as Reddit and Quora.
Because search engines like Google keep crawling those pages and index them, you can find those email addresses with easy searches.
This approach has limitations. Fake profiles or outdated information can be misleading. Don’t rely solely on search results for email validation.
Method 1) Email verification tools (most accurate option)
Using an online email verification tool is the easiest and the most effective way to check if an email is valid. This method works great for personal as well as for professional email address verification in bulk.
Here’s what they typically do:
- Syntax Validation: They ensure the email address adheres to the correct format mentioned mentioned earlier in this article.
- Disposable Email Detection: They identify temporary email addresses used for sign-ups and might not be actively monitored.
- Domain Verification: They check if the domain name associated with the email address actually exists.
- SMTP Check: These services attempts to connect to the email server that handles the recipient’s address. A successful connection suggests the email address is valid and can receive emails.
- DNS Check: Email address verification services examines the Domain Name System records to see if they’re configured correctly for email delivery.
- MX Records: Mail Exchange (MX) records within the DNS point to the mail server responsible for the domain. Valid MX records increase the likelihood the email address is functional. This is a standard practice used by almost all the email verification services.
- Mailbox Existence Check: Some services attempt a limited verification to see if a mailbox exists at the address. However, this might not always be conclusive due to privacy settings or server limitations.
Look for reputable online email verification services with clear pricing structures and features. Free trials can be a good starting point to test their effectiveness for your needs.
We have curated a list of the the best email verification tools including the free, paid and freemium tools. Make sure you check out this article before you try an email verification tool to check if an email is valid.
Read more: Best Email Verification Tools To Clean Prospect List in 2024
Free unlimited email validation using SmartReach.io
If you are looking for email validation for the purpose of running cold outreach, now you don’t need to subscribe to separate tool for these two activities.
SmartReach.io provides an in-built email verification tool within its platform that verifies your email lists instantly before sending emails at those email addresses.
This email validation step is completely automated, comprehensive and involve various necessary checks such as SMTP checks, MX lookup, syntax validation etc. Through these checks, SmartReach.io catches invalid or non-existent email addresses helping you reduce email bounce rate and get more replies from your campaign. .
Here’s how to check if an email is valid using SmartReach.io 👇
Log-in to your SmartReach.io account ➡️ Click on “Prospects” tab from the left side bar ➡️ Upload your list of prospect emails by clicking on the blue colored “+ Add Prospect” dropdown button ➡️ Now you will see your list of prospect emails like this (shown in the Screenshot below).

Here’s a zoomed in version of the email addresses for you.

As you can see in the above screenshot, before each email address, there is red, green and yellow colors. It showcases various stages of email address validity in SmartReach.io app.

So, effectively now you are able to verify unlimited lists of prospect emails + run cold outreach on those email addresses at the cost of one tool.
This is one of the many ways, SmartReach.io improves your email deliverability by protecting your sender reputation and saving your domains from getting burnt (yeah, it’s a real thing, once you send invalid emails in bulk it happens).
SmartReach helps you maintain a healthy email list along with outreach options via multiple channels such as Gmail, LinkedIn, Whatsapp, Calling and text messaging. It helps you scale up your email outreach safely using features such as Inbox rotation and ESP matching for maximum email deliverability, reply rate and ROI.
Check out our website SmartReach.io for more information.
Sign-up and try SmartReach.io for a 14-days FREE trial without any credit card requirement.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are so many methods out there to verify an email. But choosing which one suits your specific needs are the key.
While email validation offers a clear path to a cleaner list, remember, it’s not a foolproof guarantee. In rare cases, even validated addresses might bounce due to server issues or full inboxes.
It’s always wise to segment your lists and monitor campaign performance to identify any lingering issues. So, validate, segment, and track – that’s the perfect cold email recipe for you.
F.A.Q
Q. What is the email validation?
Email validation is the process of verifying whether an email address is deliverable and functional. It verifies email addresses by checking for real domains and mail server capabilities. This keeps your bounce rates low, protecting your sender reputation and boosting campaign success. Email outreach platforms like SmartReach.io offer built-in validation tools to streamline the process.
Q. How can I validate my email?
There are multiple ways to validate your emails. Some of them are:
1. Sending an email directly to the email address
2. Checking out the password recovery page of the email address
3. Scrutizing the email format carefully
4. Searching for that email address in the internet
5. Using an email verification tool (most accurate and efficient)
We have discussed about all the methods in details in the article.
Q. What is the best email validation tool?
Choosing the “best” email validation tool depends on your specific needs. Here are some popular options to consider:
High Accuracy: ZeroBounce boasts excellent accuracy and bulk verification capabilities.
Free Trial/Freemium: NeverBounce offers a free trial and a limited free plan for basic needs.
Ease of Use: Clearout is known for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive validation checks.
Always research and compare features, pricing, and free trials before selecting a tool that best suits your requirements.
Q. Why is email validation needed?
Validating emails keeps your emails out of the spam folder and in inboxes. It ensures they reach real people by checking beyond format for active mail servers, reducing bounces and protecting your sender reputation.