Verify and clean your email list
Measure list risk with a free bounce test, verify every address when needed and remove invalid addresses before you send.
Email verification checks whether the addresses in your list are technically valid and reachable before you send. A clean list reduces avoidable bounces, protects your sender reputation and gives future emails a healthier basis for delivery.
Why email verification matters
Old, mistyped or abandoned addresses can produce hard bounces. The difference between hard and soft bounces determines whether an address should be removed from sending or watched as a temporary problem. A high bounce rate signals poor list hygiene to inbox providers. It can affect not only the current campaign but also whether future emails reach the inbox.
Keep the rate below 5%
If the estimated bounce rate is above 5%, do not send until you have cleaned the list. Clean the list under Reports > Email verification.
The MailGraf difference
Many email marketing platforms identify a high bounce rate after a campaign has been sent. By that point, sending may be restricted or the account placed under review. MailGraf surfaces the risk before the send with a free bounce test, while list cleaning removes invalid addresses from your sends. This reduces the risk of later disruption and helps protect your sender reputation.
Run a free bounce test first
A bounce test measures risk before you pay to verify every address. MailGraf evaluates addresses it already knows instantly, then live-tests a random sample of the rest. Addresses already on your block list, or found invalid in an earlier check, are left out: nothing is sent to them, so they do not count towards the estimate. The test is free and does not use verification credits.
Open Reports and select Email verification
Click Run a bounce test under Bounce tests
Choose the list you want to check and click Start bounce test.Review the estimated bounce rate
The result shows the estimated bounce rate and its calculated margin. If the rate is above 5%, run a full verification before sending.
Verify the full list
Cleaning checks the addresses on the list that do not have a result yet. Addresses that have already received an email or been checked are skipped.
Click Clean a list under List cleaning history
Choose the list and click Start cleaning
Your remaining cleaning credits appear next to the section title. You cannot start a new cleaning run while another one is running on your account.Click View report on the row
The report counts the results as Valid, Invalid, Risky and Unknown. Invalid addresses are left out of future sends.
A risky result means the mailbox could not be confirmed with confidence, for example a catch-all domain or a server that did not answer the check. An unknown result means the receiving server refused the check. Both are still included in sends, but delivery is not guaranteed. The automatic check before sending may still hold some of them back; those addresses show on the contact profile as Risky address, not sent and are not counted as bounces. To check a single address again, use Check address on the contact profile.
Buy verification credits
If you run out of credits, select Buy cleaning credits. You can also find the available packs under Settings > Billing > Email verification credits. Once the purchase is complete, return to Reports > Email verification and start cleaning straight away.
The time required depends on the list size and how many addresses need a live check. Most lists finish in 5-10 minutes. Larger lists, or lists with many addresses that have not been checked before, can take around 15 minutes.
What happens after verification?
Invalid addresses are automatically excluded from campaign sends. Nothing is sent to those addresses, so they cannot produce a bounce. Continue building your campaign with the cleaned list, then monitor the results in Monitor delivery health.
Frequently asked questions
Does a bounce test use verification credits?
No. A bounce test is free and does not use verification credits. It checks known addresses and a random sample of the list to estimate the bounce rate.
When should I verify the full list?
If the estimated bounce rate is above 5%, verify and clean the full list before sending a campaign.
How long does verification take?
Most lists finish in 5-10 minutes. Larger lists, or lists with many addresses that have not been checked before, can take around 15 minutes.
What happens to invalid addresses?
Addresses found to be invalid are left out of future sends.
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