Glossary Deliverability
What is email verification? How it works
Email verification is the process of checking that an email address is correctly formed, belongs to a domain that receives mail and has a mailbox that accepts messages, before you send to it.
A typical check confirms the syntax, looks up the domain's mail (MX) records, and asks the mail server whether it would accept a message for that address without actually sending one.
Verification has limits. Some servers accept every address (catch-all domains), and some refuse to answer, so a result can be "unknown" rather than yes or no.
Why it matters
- It keeps bounce rates low, which protects deliverability.
- It avoids wasting a personal email on an address nobody reads.
- Guessed addresses (first.last@company.com) are often wrong without it.
How Reach Crew handles it
Checker runs two separate checks on every work address: independent sources must agree on it, and a mailbox check must confirm it accepts mail. Verified means two independent sources. Personal addresses never count as work email, and anything Checker is unsure about is held for you to decide.
Related terms
- Catch-all domain. A catch-all domain is an email domain whose server accepts messages for any address at that domain, whether or...
- Bounce rate. Bounce rate is the percentage of sent emails that come back as undeliverable, usually because the address does...
- Data enrichment. Data enrichment is the process of adding missing details to a contact or company record, such as a work email...
- Hard and soft bounce. A hard bounce is a permanent delivery failure, such as an address that does not exist, while a soft bounce is...
- Guide: How to find the right person at a company