{"id":14307,"date":"2024-06-04T10:26:31","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T10:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartreach.io\/blog\/?p=14307"},"modified":"2025-03-12T12:06:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T12:06:18","slug":"how-to-check-if-an-email-is-valid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartreach.io\/blog\/how-to-check-if-an-email-is-valid\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Check If An Email Is Valid or Not (7 Ways)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Learning how to check if an email is valid is the first step in running any successful cold email outreach campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the email validation is done, you are good to run any kind of cold email campaigns for sales or whatever purpose you have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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7 Methods on how to check if an email is valid or not<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Single email validation<\/strong> – Single email validation<\/a> 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s your go-to way if you are looking for email validation for the sake of job applications to recruiters, networking<\/a> with VCs or for sending some super personalized emails<\/a> to a small group of people. .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batch email validation<\/strong> – Unlike, single email validation, bulk email verification can help you in checking emails in hundreds. It\u2019s generally useful for sales reps to run potential email outreach to those email addresses. Bulk email verification tools<\/a> are typically paid services. . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this section, we will be covering both ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Method 7) Mouse over your target email address<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is a brilliant free method to check if an email is valid. There are two ways you can do it \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A) <\/strong>Using Gmail<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Head over to the Gmail application on your pc\/phone \u27a1\ufe0f Click on the \u201cCompose<\/strong>\u201d button on the top \u27a1\ufe0f Put your target email address in the recipient box \u27a1\ufe0f Now put your mouse cursor on the name of the sender\u2019s name<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the email is valid and the inbox exists, you will receipient\u2019s full name with image (sometimes a logo) and the email address (as shown in the image below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"email<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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B) Using Google Sheet<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Head over to the Google sheet \u27a1\ufe0f Now over your mouse over the cell your target email address is located in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again if the email is valid, it will automatically the details of your recipient (as shown in the image below). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Email<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Method 6) Verify the domain age associated with the email address<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This method works only for the professional emails<\/a>. A long-standing domain associated with the email address is often a positive sign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"domain<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proper email formatting is crucial, especially when dealing with potential scams. But it’s not just about looking professional; URL security is also essential. Incorporating a reliable tool like the Bitdefender link checker tool<\/a> can help ensure that any links in your emails are safe and not phishing attempts or malicious sites. Using domain age checks complemented by URL verification can add an extra layer of security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note that:<\/strong> Domain age is a clue, not a guarantee<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip:<\/strong> If you want to verify the role-based email addresses (sales@smartreach.io<\/a>, support@smartreach.io<\/a> etc.), always look at the suffix used after \u201c@\u201d in the email address (\u201csmartreach.io<\/strong>\u201d) and verify the domain age as shown in the above screenshot.  This is the best way to check their validity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Method 5) <\/strong>Send an email to the email address directly<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This method works better for personal email especially when you are reaching out to a small email list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This method is not recommended for professional email outreach since it doesn\u2019t contain your domain name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example,

A professional email address will look like \u25b6 subha.bhattacharya@smartreach.io<\/a> <\/strong>(which contains the brand name \u201cSmartReach.io<\/strong>\u201d in it making it appear professional)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, you might have noticed that a personal email usually looks like \u25b6 subha.bhattacharya@gmail.com<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you will encounter one of the two messages on your Gmail app:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Message not delivered: <\/strong>There was a problem delivering your message to XYZ@XYZ.com<\/a> (your recipient\u2019s email). See the technical details below or resend the email in a few minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Address not found: <\/strong>Your message wasn\u2019t delivered to XYZ@XYZ.com<\/a> (your recipient\u2019s email) because the address couldn\u2019t be found. Check for typos or unnecessary spaces and try again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from these, some email service providers<\/a> implement a safety net called a catch-all address<\/strong>. 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<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Method 4) Password recovery trick (limited use)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the recovery pages links for your easy access: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gmail:<\/strong> https:\/\/www.google.com\/accounts\/recovery<\/a>
Outlook:<\/strong> https:\/\/account.live.com\/password\/reset<\/a>
Yahoo mail:<\/strong> https:\/\/edit.yahoo.com\/forgot<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit the password recovery page of  and put the email address you want to check. In this case, I have taken an Gmail address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Password<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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If the email service provider acknowledges the email address and allows password reset options, it suggests that the email address exists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Password<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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However, this doesn’t guarantee email deliverability, as inactive accounts might still show up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are doing bulk email verification, this method is super inefficient and time-consuming. So, you better avoid it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Method 3) Scrutinize the email format carefully<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cSyntax Checking<\/strong>\u201d for email addresses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A valis email address has usually three parts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n