Email Address Validation in C# and VB.NET

GemBox.Email provides MailAddressValidator.Validate methods that allow you to validate a single email address, or a list of email addresses, from your C# or VB.NET application.

Email address validation has the following features:

  • Email syntax verification – Checks the format of an email address to see if it conforms to IETF/RFC standards.
  • Domain name validation – The DNS protocol checks the email's domain to see if it exists, and an MX record for the given domain is retrieved.
  • Email server validation – Uses the SMTP protocol to check the email server's (MX host) connection and availability.
  • Mailbox verification – Checks the existence of a specified email address with the email server's report.

Note, the email address validation is not 100% accurate and may result in occasional false-positive or false-negative results.The reason is that the validation depends on multiple factors, some of which are not under GemBox.Email’s control, such as firewalls, ISP settings, DNS settings, email server settings, etc.

The example below shows how you can validate a single email address.

Validating individual email address in C# and VB.NET
Screenshot of validated email addresses
using System;
using GemBox.Email;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // If using the Professional version, put your serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");

        // Incorrectly formatted mail address.
        string address = " <invalid.address@gemboxsoftware.com";
        MailAddressValidationResult result = MailAddressValidator.Validate(address);
        Console.WriteLine($"Address: {address,-40} | Result: {result.Status}");

        // Non-existing mail address account.
        address = "no-address@gemboxsoftware.com";
        result = MailAddressValidator.Validate(address);
        Console.WriteLine($"Address: {address,-40} | Result: {result.Status}");

        // Non-existing mail address domain.
        address = "no-domain@gemboxsoftware123.com";
        result = MailAddressValidator.Validate(address);
        Console.WriteLine($"Address: {address,-40} | Result: {result.Status}");

        // Valid mail address.
        address = "Info <info@gemboxsoftware.com>";
        result = MailAddressValidator.Validate(address);
        Console.WriteLine($"Address: {address,-40} | Result: {result.Status}");
    }
}
Imports System
Imports GemBox.Email

Module Program

    Sub Main()

        ' If using the Professional version, put your serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")

        ' Incorrectly formatted mail address.
        Dim address As String = " <invalid.address@gemboxsoftware.com"
        Dim result As MailAddressValidationResult = MailAddressValidator.Validate(address)
        Console.WriteLine($"Address: {address,-40} | Result: {result.Status}")

        ' Non-existing mail address account.
        address = "no-address@gemboxsoftware.com"
        result = MailAddressValidator.Validate(address)
        Console.WriteLine($"Address: {address,-40} | Result: {result.Status}")

        ' Non-existing mail address domain.
        address = "no-domain@gemboxsoftware123.com"
        result = MailAddressValidator.Validate(address)
        Console.WriteLine($"Address: {address,-40} | Result: {result.Status}")

        ' Valid mail address.
        address = "Info <info@gemboxsoftware.com>"
        result = MailAddressValidator.Validate(address)
        Console.WriteLine($"Address: {address,-40} | Result: {result.Status}")
    End Sub
End Module

For validating a collection of email addresses, you can use MailAddressValidator.Validate overload methods that accept a collection parameter.

These address validation methods are more efficient than validating multiple addresses individually in a loop, mainly because they group addresses with the same domain and validate them in one pass, which speeds up the process, lowers the resource usage, and reduces the possibility of IP blacklisting.

The example below shows how you can verify a collection of email addresses.

Validating emails collection in C# and VB.NET
Screenshot of validated email addresses
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using GemBox.Email;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // If using the Professional version, put your serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY");

        // Create a list of mail addresses.
        List<MailAddress> addresses = new List<MailAddress>()
        {
            new MailAddress("no-address@gemboxsoftware.com"),
            new MailAddress("no-domain@gemboxsoftware123.com"),
            new MailAddress("info@gemboxsoftware.com")
        };

        // Validate address list and display results.
        IList<MailAddressValidationResult> results = MailAddressValidator.Validate(addresses);

        Console.WriteLine($"| {"MAIL ADDRESS",-35} | {"RESULT",15} |");

        for (int i = 0; i < results.Count; i++)
            Console.WriteLine($"| {addresses[i],-35} | {results[i].Status,15} |");
    }
}
Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports GemBox.Email

Module Program

    Sub Main()

        ' If using the Professional version, put your serial key below.
        ComponentInfo.SetLicense("FREE-LIMITED-KEY")

        ' Create a list of mail addresses.
        Dim addresses As New List(Of MailAddress)() From
        {
            New MailAddress("no-address@gemboxsoftware.com"),
            New MailAddress("no-domain@gemboxsoftware123.com"),
            New MailAddress("info@gemboxsoftware.com")
        }

        ' Validate address list and display results.
        Dim results As IList(Of MailAddressValidationResult) = MailAddressValidator.Validate(addresses)

        Console.WriteLine($"| {"MAIL ADDRESS",-35} | {"RESULT",15} |")

        For i = 0 To results.Count - 1
            Console.WriteLine($"| {addresses(i),-35} | {results(i).Status,15} |")
        Next
    End Sub
End Module

The validation method returns a read-only collection of MailAddressValidationResult values that represent the results of the validation. The results are in the same order as the provided collection of email addresses.

See also


Next steps

GemBox.Email is a .NET component that enables you to read, write, receive, and send emails from your .NET applications using one simple API.

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