You can now verify email addresses directly in Google Sheets with the free MailValid add-on, available on the Google Workspace Marketplace. Select a column of emails, click Verify, and every address gets a status (valid, invalid, catch_all, unknown or do_not_mail), a 0–100 confidence score, the mailbox provider and the reason, written into the columns next to your list. It uses MailValid credits: 1 credit per address, unknown results are free, and new accounts get 100 free credits with no card required.
Install MailValid for Google Sheets (free) · Get your free API key (100 credits)
TL;DR
- What: MailValid: Email Verifier for Sheets, a free Google Sheets add-on that checks whether email addresses can actually receive mail.
- How: Extensions → MailValid → Verify emails, paste your API key once, select a column, click Verify.
- Results: status, confidence score, mailbox provider and reason for each row, color-coded.
- Formulas: =MAILVALID_STATUS(A2) and =MAILVALID_VERIFY(A2).
- Cost: the add-on is free. Verifications cost 1 credit each, unknown results are free, and credits start at $8 for 2,000 and never expire.
- Privacy: it only reads the cells you select and only sends the email addresses to MailValid.
Why verify emails in Google Sheets?
Most email lists start life in a spreadsheet: a lead export, an event sign-up sheet, a scraped prospect list, a CRM download or a list a client shared with you. And most bad addresses get into your email platform from that same spreadsheet.
Sending to addresses that don't exist causes hard bounces. A high bounce rate tells mailbox providers like Gmail and Outlook that you aren't looking after your list. Your sender reputation drops, more of your emails land in spam, and email platforms may pause or suspend your account.
Until now, cleaning a list meant leaving the sheet: export a CSV, upload it to a verification tool, wait, download the results, and match them back to your rows. The MailValid add-on removes those steps. The list stays where it is, and the results appear next to it.
What the MailValid Google Sheets add-on does
The add-on adds a MailValid menu under Extensions in Google Sheets. From there you can verify a column of emails with a sidebar, or use two custom formulas.
For every email address, it writes four columns:
| Column | What it tells you | Example |
|---|---|---|
| MailValid status | Whether the address can receive mail, color-coded | valid |
| Score | A 0–100 confidence score | 97 |
| Provider | The mailbox provider | |
| Reason | Why the address got that status | mailbox_confirmed |
When the run finishes, the sidebar shows how many addresses got each status, so you can see how clean the list is at a glance.
How to verify email addresses in Google Sheets: step by step
Step 1: Install the add-on
Open the MailValid listing on the Google Workspace Marketplace and click Install: MailValid: Email Verifier for Sheets
Google shows the permissions the add-on needs (explained in the privacy section below). Click Allow.
You can also install it from inside a spreadsheet: Extensions → Add-ons → Get add-ons, then search for "MailValid".
Step 2: Get your MailValid API key
If you don't have a MailValid account yet, sign up at mailvalid.io. You get 100 free credits, no card required.
In your MailValid dashboard, open API Keys and create a key. Copy it.
Step 3: Open the sidebar and save your key
In any spreadsheet, go to Extensions → MailValid → Verify emails. The sidebar opens on the right.
Paste your API key and click Save key. The sidebar confirms the connection and shows your credit balance. You only do this once: the key is saved to your Google account, not to the spreadsheet.
Step 4: Select your emails and check the cost
Select the cells that contain email addresses. A header row is fine; the add-on skips anything that isn't an email address.
Click Check selection. The sidebar shows how many addresses will be verified, how many credits that will use, and how many credits you have.
Step 5: Click Verify
Click Verify. Results fill the four columns to the right of your selection. If those columns already contain data, the add-on warns you before writing anything.
Verify emails with a formula
If you prefer formulas, the add-on adds two custom functions you can type like any other Sheets function.
=MAILVALID_STATUS(email)
Returns the status of one address:
=MAILVALID_STATUS(A2)
It also accepts a single-column range and returns one status per row:
=MAILVALID_STATUS(A2:A50)
=MAILVALID_VERIFY(email)
Returns four cells across: status, score, provider and reason.
=MAILVALID_VERIFY(A2)
Formula tips
- Each formula range handles up to 200 addresses, so it stays within Google's 30-second limit for custom functions. For bigger lists, use the sidebar.
- Results are cached for 6 hours (1 hour for unknown results), so recalculating the sheet doesn't charge you again.
- Formulas are handy for live sheets, such as a form-responses tab where new rows keep arriving.
What each result means
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 🟢 valid | The mailbox exists and accepts mail. | Safe to send. |
| 🔴 invalid | The mailbox or domain doesn't exist. | Remove it. It will bounce. |
| 🟡 catch_all | The domain accepts every address, so this specific mailbox can't be confirmed. | Send carefully, or only to your most engaged segment. See catch-all domains explained. |
| ⚪ unknown | The mail server didn't give an answer in time. | Not charged. Try again later. |
| 🟣 do_not_mail | Disposable, role-based (like info@ or support@) or otherwise risky. | Usually leave out of campaigns. |
What each check covers
Every address goes through:
- Syntax check
- Domain and MX record lookup
- SMTP mailbox check (asks the mail server whether the mailbox exists, without sending an email)
- Catch-all detection
- Disposable address detection
- Role-based address detection (info@, sales@, support@)
- Free email provider detection
Other ways to verify emails in Google Sheets (and how they compare)
There are several ways to check emails in a spreadsheet. They don't all check the same thing.
| Method | What it checks | Finds addresses that will bounce? | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| ISEMAIL() or REGEXMATCH() | Only whether the text looks like an email address | No | Low |
| Manual test emails | Whether a test email bounces | Yes, but it hurts your sender reputation | Very high |
| Export CSV → verification tool → import | Full verification | Yes | Medium, with copy-paste between tools |
| Zapier (Google Sheets "New Row" + MailValid Verify Email) | Full verification, one row at a time as rows arrive | Yes | Medium setup, good for ongoing automation |
| MailValid add-on | Full verification, results written into the sheet | Yes | Low |
Why ISEMAIL isn't enough: Google Sheets' built-in ISEMAIL() function only checks the format. A typo like john@gmial.com or a made-up address like nobody12345@company.com passes ISEMAIL, but neither is likely to reach a real inbox. Real verification has to look up the domain's mail servers and ask whether the mailbox exists. (Regex has the same limit: we tested 6 popular email regexes and none can tell whether a mailbox exists.)
When to use Zapier instead: if new rows arrive in a sheet all the time (for example from a form) and you want each one checked automatically, a Zap with the MailValid Verify Email action works well. See the Zapier guide.
Built for real-world spreadsheets
- Big lists: the sidebar verifies thousands of rows in one run. Lists of 25 addresses or fewer are checked directly; bigger lists run as bulk jobs of up to 1,000 addresses each, so there's no practical row limit.
- No surprise charges: you see the credit cost and your balance before every run.
- No lost data: the add-on warns you before writing over cells that already contain data.
- Skips the junk: blank cells and text that isn't an email address are skipped and not charged.
- Duplicates charged once: if the same address appears twice, you pay for one check.
- Several Google accounts: if you're signed in to more than one Google account and the sidebar can't connect, use Extensions → MailValid → Set API key and Quick verify selected column. They do the same job with Google's own dialogs.
Pricing
- The add-on is free to install.
- 100 free credits when you sign up. No card required.
- 1 credit = 1 email address. Unknown results are free.
- Pay as you go from $8 for 2,000 credits.
- Credits never expire. No subscription.
- The same credits work across the add-on, the MailValid dashboard, the API, Zapier, n8n and the MCP server.
See all prices on the pricing page.
Privacy and permissions
The add-on asks for three Google permissions, and each has one job:
- See and edit only the spreadsheet it's used in (spreadsheets.currentonly): to read the cells you select and write the results next to them. It can't open your other files in Google Drive.
- Display a sidebar (script.container.ui): to show the MailValid sidebar.
- Connect to an external service (script.external_request): to send the selected email addresses to the MailValid API at mailvalid.io. Nothing else in your spreadsheet is sent.
Your API key is stored in your own Google account, not in the spreadsheet, so sharing a sheet never shares your key. The add-on passed Google's OAuth verification and the Google Workspace Marketplace review.
Read the privacy policy.
Who it's for
- Sales teams: check a prospect list before it goes into your outreach tool, so bounces don't damage your sending domain.
- Marketers: clean an event, webinar or lead-magnet list before importing it into your email platform.
- Agencies: verify client lists in the sheet they shared with you and hand it back cleaned.
- Recruiters and founders: check a few important addresses before you hit send.
- Ops and RevOps teams: clean CRM exports before a re-import or migration.
Troubleshooting
The sidebar says it couldn't connect to my account
This happens when you're signed in to more than one Google account in the same browser. Use Extensions → MailValid → Set API key and Extensions → MailValid → Quick verify selected column instead, or sign out of the other accounts and reopen the sheet.
"Not enough credits for this list"
Buy more credits in your MailValid dashboard, or select fewer rows. Credits never expire.
"MailValid rejected the API key"
Check that you copied the whole key and that it's still active under API Keys in your dashboard, then save it again.
Some rows say "not verified yet"
A large Quick verify run stopped before Google's time limit. Run Quick verify again on the same selection. It picks up where it left off without charging twice.
The formula shows #NAME? or "Unknown function"
Make sure the add-on is installed for the account you're using, then reload the spreadsheet. Custom functions only load once the add-on has been opened at least once in that spreadsheet (Extensions → MailValid).
Frequently asked questions
Can you verify email addresses in Google Sheets?
Yes. Install the free MailValid add-on from the Google Workspace Marketplace, select a column of email addresses, and click Verify. Each address gets a status, a confidence score, the mailbox provider and a reason. You can also use the formula =MAILVALID_STATUS(A2).
Is the MailValid Google Sheets add-on free?
The add-on is free to install. Each verification uses 1 MailValid credit, unknown results are free, and new accounts get 100 free credits. More credits start at $8 for 2,000 and never expire.
Does ISEMAIL check if an email address exists?
No. ISEMAIL only checks whether text is formatted like an email address. It can't tell whether the mailbox exists. To find addresses that will bounce, you need a verification service that checks the domain's mail servers, like the MailValid add-on.
How many emails can I verify at once in Google Sheets?
Thousands of rows per run with the sidebar. Formulas handle up to 200 addresses per range.
Does the add-on send emails to the addresses it checks?
No. MailValid asks the recipient's mail server whether the mailbox exists, then ends the conversation before any email is sent. The person never receives anything.
Does it work with Google Workspace accounts?
Yes. It works with personal Gmail accounts and Google Workspace accounts, and Workspace admins can install it for their whole organization from the Marketplace.
Can my teammates use my API key if I share the sheet?
No. Your key is stored in your Google account, not in the spreadsheet. Each person saves their own key.
Does MailValid store my spreadsheet?
No. The add-on only sends the email addresses you select or reference in a formula. It never reads the rest of your spreadsheet or your other files.
Does a valid result mean someone agreed to hear from me?
No. A result tells you whether an address can receive mail. It doesn't prove identity, consent to be contacted, or guaranteed inbox placement. Follow the email laws that apply to you.
Get started
Clean your next list without leaving Google Sheets.
Install MailValid for Google Sheets, then create a free account for 100 credits, no credit card.
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