Back to Resources
Understanding Results
What do Deliverable, Undeliverable, and Risky mean?
We categorize every email verification result into one of three primary statuses. Understanding these will help you make better decisions about which emails to keep and which to remove.
Valid
The email address exists, the domain has valid MX records, and the server is accepting mail.
Action
Safe to send
Invalid
The email address does not exist, the domain is inactive, or the mailbox is blocked.
Action
Do not send
Risky
The server is "catch-all" (accepts all mail), temporarily unavailable, or full.
Action
Segment & test
Detailed Status Codes
| Status | Reason | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Valid | smtp_valid | SMTP handshake completed successfully. |
| Invalid | user_not_found | The specific user account does not exist at this domain. |
| Invalid | domain_invalid | The domain name does not exist or has expired. |
| Risky | catch_all | Server accepts all emails. Cannot confirm if user exists. |
| Risky | mailbox_full | Mailbox is temporarily full and rejecting new messages. |