Is my email working?
Find out in seconds.

Send yourself a free test email - no signup, no software to install. Watch it arrive, or find out exactly why it didn't.


SPF DKIM DMARC NO SIGNUP · FREE EST. 2022
HOW_IT_WORKS

Three steps, about ten seconds

01

Enter your address

Type the email address you want to check and press Send Test Email. That's the whole setup.

02

We transmit

Our mail server hands your test message to the receiving server over SMTP - encrypted in transit when your provider supports it, and authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

03

Track the result

Every test gets a unique Email ID. Use it on the Lookup page to see the delivery record: when it was sent, which server accepted it, and what that server said.

DELIVERY_RECORD.LOG

See what the receiving server actually said

When an email fails, it is not always clear why. Enter your Email ID to view the actual delivery record, including the response returned by the receiving server.

LOOKUP.EXE
> LOOKUP 3f9c41d8…20e4a1c8 DATE ........ Jul 14 14:58:03 TO .......... you@example.com RELAY ....... mx.your-provider.com[203.0.113.7]:25 CONNECT ..... 0.42s TRANSMIT .... 0.31s DSN ......... 2.0.0 STATUS ...... SENT ✓

SAMPLE OUTPUT

Already sent a test? Look up your Email ID here.

TEST_RESULTS

More than "did it arrive"

  • DELIVERABILITYWhether your address accepts mail right now - or the exact rejection the server returned if it doesn't.
  • SPEEDSee how long the receiving server took to connect and accept your message.
  • SERVER RESPONSEView the exact status code and response returned by the receiving server.
  • PLACEMENTFind out whether the message reached your provider. If the status says "sent" but it is not in your inbox, check your spam folder.
AUTHENTICATION.SYS

A properly authenticated sender

A test is only useful if the test message itself is beyond suspicion. Mail from this site is published with SPF, cryptographically signed with DKIM, and covered by a DMARC policy - the three standards receiving servers use to verify a sender is genuine. Transport is encrypted with TLS whenever the receiving server supports it.

The message is the same for every user: a short plain note confirming your address works, with no attachments and no tracking pixels. In the interest of transparency, it states the IP address that requested it - so if someone else enters your address, you can see exactly where the request came from, and block future tests to your address at any time.

FAQ.TXT

Email testing, answered

How do I check if my email address is working?

Enter your address above and press Send Test Email. The message is dispatched immediately and typically arrives within seconds. If it shows up, your address is receiving mail. If it doesn't, use your Email ID on the Lookup page to see what the receiving server told us - accepted, rejected, or delayed - which tells you where the problem is.

Why didn't I receive the test email?

Check your spam or junk folder first - that's the most common answer. Beyond that: the mailbox may be full, the address may have a typo, a corporate filter may have quarantined the message, or the receiving server may be greylisting (deliberately delaying) first-time senders. If the Lookup page shows a status of "sent," your provider accepted the message and the issue is filtering on their side.

What is the Email ID?

Every test is assigned a unique 32-character random identifier, shown right after you send. It's your receipt: enter it on the Lookup page to retrieve the delivery record for that exact test. IDs are random, so nobody can guess yours or browse other people's results.

What do "sent", "bounced", and "deferred" mean?

Sent means the receiving server accepted the message, a DSN code like 2.0.0. Bounced means it was permanently rejected (a 5.x.x code): the address doesn't exist, the mailbox is unavailable, or a policy refused it. Deferred means the server asked us to try again later (a 4.x.x code), usually greylisting or a temporarily busy server, and our server keeps retrying automatically.

Why do emails go to spam?

Spam filters weigh many signals: whether the sender is authenticated (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), the sending server's reputation, message content, and sending patterns. A test landing in spam doesn't mean your address is broken - it means the filter was suspicious of the sender or content. It's still a useful result: your mailbox works, and now you know your filter is aggressive.

What are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC?

Three DNS-based standards that let a receiving server verify mail really comes from the domain it claims. SPF publishes which servers may send for a domain; DKIM adds a cryptographic signature to each message; DMARC tells receivers how to handle mail that fails the first two. Together they're the backbone of modern deliverability - and the tests sent from this site pass all three.

What is greylisting?

A spam-fighting technique where a server temporarily rejects the first message from a sender it hasn't seen before. Legitimate mail servers retry a few minutes later and get through; crude spam software usually doesn't. If your delivery record shows "deferred" followed by "sent," you've watched greylisting work in real time.

What's inside the test message?

The same thing for everyone: a short note confirming that your address is receiving mail, a link to block future tests, and the IP address of whoever requested the test. No attachments, no images, no tracking. Here it is in full:

MESSAGE.TXT
SUBJECT: SendTestEmail.com - Testing Email ID: [YOUR-EMAIL-ID] FROM: noreply@sendtestemail.com Congratulations! If you are reading this your email address is working. This is not spam or a solicitation. This email was sent to your email address because you, or someone else, requested a test email to be sent to this address. We work hard to ensure a balance between testing, transparency, and privacy. If you did not request this email test, it's likely that someone accidentally mistyped their email address as yours. You can request your email address be blocked here: https://sendtestemail.com/block The IP address of the requester of this test email is: XXX.YYY.ZZZ.AAA

Someone keeps sending tests to my address. How do I stop it?

Open the test message and use the block link, or go directly to the Block page and enter your address - we'll temporarily block tests to it for the next hour, which resolves nearly every case of a mistyped address. Every test message also displays the requester's IP address, and daily per-address limits keep the volume low in the first place.

How many tests can I send?

There are fair-use limits per email address and per requester each day, purely to prevent abuse. If you're testing your own addresses - even generously - you're unlikely to ever notice them.

Is it really free?

Yes. There's no account, no trial, and no mailing list - the only email this site will ever send you is the test you ask for.

Can I use this to test my own mail server?

Yes - it's a quick inbound check. Send a test to an address on your server and watch what happens: instant acceptance, a greylist deferral, or a rejection with the exact DSN code your server returned. Administrators use it after DNS changes, migrations, and TLS certificate renewals to confirm inbound mail still flows.

ABOUT.TXT

Small, independent, running since 2022

SendTestEmail has delivered more than 1.1 million test emails since 2022. It was built to answer a simple question quickly: is my email working?

No signup, no software, and no mailing list. Just send the test.

THANKS FOR TRYING SENDTESTEMAIL.COM (: