Gmail address rules that trip people up
- Usernames are 6 to 30 characters long and use letters, numbers and periods.
- Dots do not matter: jane.doe@gmail.com and janedoe@gmail.com reach the same inbox.
- Plus addressing works: jane+shopping@gmail.com is delivered to jane@gmail.com.
- Capital letters are ignored.
- Addresses ending in @googlemail.com reach the same inbox as the @gmail.com version.
Why messages to Gmail addresses bounce
- A typo in the domain: gmial.com, gmai.com, gnail.com or gmail.con.
- A typo in the username, often a missing or extra letter.
- An account that was closed or deleted. Google can delete personal accounts that have been inactive for a long time.
- A made-up address typed into a sign-up form.
Working with Gmail addresses in your list
Because dots and plus tags all lead to the same inbox, one person can appear in your list several times under different spellings. Treat them as duplicates so people do not receive repeated emails or claim an offer more than once.
For sign-up forms, checking the address as it is entered catches the typos that cause most Gmail bounces.
Spotting a mistyped Gmail address
- The domain is misspelled, for example gmial.com, gmai.com, gnail.com or gmail.con.
- The dot before com is missing (gmailcom) or there are two @ signs.
- The username is very short. Most current usernames are at least six characters.
- The username begins or ends with a period, or has two periods in a row, which Gmail does not allow.
Gmail addresses in business lists
A Gmail address in a business list is not an error. It often belongs to a freelancer, a small business owner or a person who signed up with a personal address. Treat it as information about the contact, not a reason to remove it.
Free addresses are easier to create in bulk, so sign-up forms tend to see more throwaway accounts there. That makes checking them at sign-up especially worthwhile.
Custom-domain addresses that use Google
Many companies use Google to run email on their own domain. Those addresses do not end in gmail.com, and the dot and plus-tag rules above are specific to gmail.com and googlemail.com addresses. Other domains may treat them differently, so do not assume the same behaviour.
Collecting Gmail addresses cleanly
- Accept plus signs. They are valid, and rejecting them frustrates privacy-minded users.
- Compare addresses in a normalised form so one person does not appear as several contacts.
- Confirm new sign-ups with a link so only working addresses stay on your list.
When it pays to check a Gmail address
- Before you send an invoice, receipt or contract to an address someone gave you.
- When a customer says your email never arrived.
- When you import contacts from a form, spreadsheet or event.
- Before you add a new subscriber to a welcome sequence.
If the address turns out to be invalid, ask the person to re-enter it and check the spelling together. Where possible offer another way to reach them, such as a phone number, so an important message is not lost to one wrong letter.