Check my list points out addresses that look mistyped, thrown away or meant for a team, before they bounce. It never changes a contact, suppresses an address or sends an email. It cannot prove an address works, so no result says "verified". You need the permission See the audience (Settings: Roles & Permissions).
Go to Audience > Check my list. One switch above the tabs, Also look for a mail server, applies to both. Off (default): only checks on your own site. On: Hive Mail also asks the internet whether each domain can receive email. This is slower, and is skipped where your server cannot do the look-up.
Check your contacts #
- Open My contacts.
- In Which contacts, choose Everyone or one of your lists. "Everyone" is every contact not in the trash, whatever its status.
- Click Check my contacts. A bar shows "Checked {n} of {total} contacts…" (200 at a time, oldest first). Stop ends it early; the results are then only for the contacts checked.
- When it ends, the button reads Check again.
Check addresses you paste #
- Open Paste addresses.
- Paste into Addresses, one per line or separated by commas or spaces. The limit is 500 at a time. For a longer list, import it first and use My contacts.
- Click Check these addresses.
Read the results #
| Counter | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Looks fine | No check found a problem. It can still bounce, for example if the mailbox was closed last week. |
| Worth a look | Something is odd; the address may still be right. |
| Probably wrong | A reason very likely to cause a bounce. If any reason of an address is "wrong", this is its result. |
The table lists only addresses that are not fine, with Address, Result and Why. Filter with All, Probably wrong and Worth a look. On the contacts tab the address links to the contact, where you can fix or remove it. Show more adds 100 rows. Download as CSV exports the open tab (contacts-to-look-at.csv or addresses-to-look-at.csv) with Email, Result, Why, Did you mean and Contact id.
| Result | Reason on screen | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Probably wrong | "This does not look like an email address," or a specific sentence (part before the @ too long or with a bad dot or character; domain without a dot; a bare IP address; invalid domain ending) | Correct it or remove the contact. |
| Probably wrong | "This address is on your do-not-email list (it bounced, complained or was blocked by hand)." | Leave it; it will not be emailed. |
| Probably wrong | "The domain has no mail server in the internet's address book…" (mail server switch on only) | Check the domain spelling. |
| Worth a look | "The domain looks like a typo. Did you mean {address}?" | Fix it if the suggestion is right. |
| Worth a look | "This is a disposable address service…" | Decide whether to keep it. |
| Worth a look | "This address is for a role or a team, not a person…" (info, admin, support, sales, billing, noreply, team and similar) | Ask for a personal address if you can. |
| Worth a look | "This address has letters outside the usual alphabet…" | Check the spelling. |
| Worth a look | "This address is in the list more than once." (paste tab only) | Keep one. |
If an address fails the syntax check, that is the only reason shown. The typo, disposable and role lists are built into the plugin and cannot be complete. No address leaves your site except for the optional look-up, which asks only about the domain. If the look-up ran out of time, a note says how many addresses were checked without it.
Tip: Treat "Worth a look" as a prompt, not a verdict: info@ may be a small business's only address. Check a list before your first campaign and a file before you import it.
Next: Bounces, complaints and the suppression list, How to import contacts from a CSV file.
