Is This Email Valid? 5 Ways to Check

Since its conception, email has evolved from a communication medium from a select few to one used by the masses. The primary catalyst for such growth is increased access to digital devices such as computers and smartphones. This has led to just about everyone who needs to send emails asking themselves, at one time or another, “is this email valid?”

According to data from Statista, there were 3.9 billion email users spread across the globe in 2019. A figure that is poised to reach 4.48 billion by 2024. Though these are astonishing figures that suggest half of the global population uses email, they do not paint an accurate image of email usage.

In 2019, the number of emails sent and received each day was approximately 293.6 billion. As email use continues to increase, this number is projected to reach 347.3 billion in 2022. If you have been in the corporate sector for some time, you know receiving tens of emails daily is normal. The challenging part, however, is determining which emails are worth your attention.

This primarily goes down to two reasons. First, not many people have enough time to go through all their emails. Secondly, there is the risk of opening spam emails, which may expose you to cyber threats. As of March 2020, over 50% of all email traffic comprised of spam messages.

Therefore, it is crucial to learn how to confirm if an email is valid. Are you a tech guru? Don’t worry; you don’t need to be one. Checking the validity of an email address is easy enough that anyone using email can do it.

So, is this email valid? You do not need to keep racking your brain anymore. With the following methods, you can easily find out.

First Method: Send an Email to that Address

Confirming that an email address is valid is as easy as sending an email to that address. However, before you do, it is important to know a little about spam and the dos and don’ts. Spam emails are used to collect information from users. This is usually achieved through links that will redirect you to a phishing website that will download malware to your computer.

Do not click on any links or reply directly to that email. Instead, copy the address and paste it into a new compose email tab. With this email, send something as simple as:

“Hello, just confirming that this email address is valid. Kindly let me know if you read this.”

If the address in question is not valid, the email will bounce back. Your email provider will also send you an email indicating that the message was not delivered. The email will be accompanied by technical details and a suggestion to try again after a few minutes.

Before you deem the address invalid, check whether you made typing errors when keying it in and try again. Since most email providers use catch-all email addresses to pick up on all emails sent to wrong email addresses, you should expect the same message if the address is not valid.

Second Method: Password Recovery

One of the best methods employed by most people to protect their professional emails and personal emails from spam is by opening multiple email addresses. The non-important addresses are used for online sign-ups and other non-verified platforms.

With multiple email addresses, it is not uncommon to forget passwords from time to time. Fortunately, email providers such as Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo have a recovery process for users who have forgotten their addresses or passwords. Such email address checkers can also be used to confirm the validity of an email address. If the email is from @yahoo.com, @gmail.com, or @outlook.com, go to the service providers’ recovery page and key in the address you want to check. You can do this here:

https://edit.yahoo.com/forgot
https://www.google.com/accounts/recovery
https://account.live.com/password/reset

Third Method: Lookup the IP Address

In many networks today, such as computers on the internet, a TCP/IP protocol is used as the standard communication method. Within the TCP/IP protocol is the IP address, which is a unique identifier for a computer. Think of it as the address to which other computers should use to send a message to a particular computer.

Embedded within the IP address is geolocation information that’s usually hidden. However, you can see it by clicking on the view source of the message section that’s under ‘received from.’ There are numerous IP address lookup tools available online. All you need to do is copy that address and paste it into such a tool, and you will get results within seconds.

From the results, you will know the location from which the email was sent and the organization and ISP associated with the address. If the email’s origin is a location you would not expect, proceed with caution as the sender may be spoofing it.

Fourth Method: Use an Email Checker

A fake email message can waste your already limited time and expose you to cyber threats. This is why there are plenty of email checkers that you can use to check a suspicious address. Though most have a limit on the number of email addresses you can check each month, you can use multiple email checkers to avoid paying.

Fifth Method: Perform a Google Search on the Address

At times, you do need to check if an email address is fake but rather if it’s valid. With the prevalence of digital platforms, many people have an online presence such as social media pages and personal websites. Such online activity makes it easy to ascertain that email addresses are valid.

To provide relevant results for users’ search queries, search engines such as Bing and Google sift through the internet and index everything. If an address belongs to an individual or organization with a digital presence, you will find it. However, this method should be used along with one or more of the other ones as there are individuals who prefer keeping their email addresses private.