The validity of an email address relies on the correct and valid email format. Without knowing the right format, it’s difficult to create a valid email address. Hence, it’s essential to understand what letters, components, or special characters make an email valid or invalid.
If you are interested in learning about the right email format and how to use it, this guide can be more than helpful. So, let’s dive in and see what we got here:
Essential Components of a Valid Email Address
To know about the major components of a valid email address, it’s imperative to understand the parts into which an email address is divided. A valid email address consists of the following essential parts.
Username: This is a phrase, name, or word that distinguishes an email address from others.
@ Symbol: The @ symbol creates a connection between the username and the domain.
Domain: This is the domain name of the organization or company offering the email services (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.). When creating an email address, avoid invalid email domains.
Top-Level Domain (TLD): This is the last part of an email address, which allows organizing the IP addresses by type (i.e., .com, .org, .edu)
The domain and TLD parts are usually paired together and are referred to as email suffixes. In addition, there are also some subdomains. For instance, there are child domains, parent domains, and TLDs (username@subdomain.domain.com).
When you send an email, the email server looks for the username's relationship with its corresponding server. For instance, if you are emailing to “smithbob@gmail.com,” it first checks whether the username “smith bob” is valid and available on the Gmail domain.
If your requested email address is invalid or fails to meet the criteria of a valid email format, your message will bounce without being delivered. This is because the server has no destination with such an email address.
Understanding the Correct Email Address Formats
Here’s the correct or valid email address format:
username@domain.tld
If someone is using a subdomain, the format will be:
username@subdomain.domain.tld
Whether you are creating an email address for professional or personal use, you must use a unique username to distinguish your address from others on a shared domain. The usernames are associated with the domain, and the TLD organizes the domain into a specific category.
Besides, there are specific international email addresses, which include the origin or country of the said email. For instance, you might have seen the abbreviation of a country at the end of an email address.
An example include:
username@domain.tld.uk
So, make sure to identify whether the email address has an international identifier before sending an email.
Syntax Rules Regarding Standard Email Format
Apart from the basic structure, there are certain other factors associated with an email address. Below, we have explained these factors to give you an idea of what a standard email format looks like:
The Correct Email Username Syntax
When creating a username, you can use numbers, uppercase or lowercase letters, or combinations of letters or numbers. However, the use of special characters varies depending on the particular mail server you are using.
For instance, the valid email format approved by Google doesn’t contain the following:
- ampersand (&)
- underscore ( _ )
- dash (-)
- equals sign (=)
- apostrophe (‘)
- brackets (< >)
- comma (,)
- plus (+)
You are not allowed to use more than one period in succession. In addition, you can’t end the username with a period.
On the other hand, Yahoo, Zoho, and Outlook permit more special characters in their email addresses. In fact, they allow even those characters that are not permitted by Google. However, it would be better to avoid using unnecessary characters to make an email address simple and easy to remember.
This is also important to understand that a few special characters like bracket (< >) will count as two characters. This might cause deliverability issues if you exceed the character limit of a valid email address.
Casing and Periods are Mostly Irrelevant
Although you can use a period almost anywhere in a username, it won’t impact the validity of an email format. If an email address is smith.bob@gmail.com and you have entered smithbob@gmail.com, you can still send the message to this email address even if it doesn’t include a period in the username.
However, you should avoid using periods back to back. Similarly, email addresses aren’t normally case-sensitive. This means uppercase and lowercase letters don't matter. For example, if a username contains uppercase letters and you have typed them in lowercase, the message can still reach the inbox.
Acceptable Email Domain Syntax
Talking about the email domain, it can contain lowercase, uppercase, or numbers. You can also use a period or hyphen (-) to distinguish a sub-domain from a domain. However, it won’t be a good idea to use a hyphen at the start or end of the valid email domains.
Maximum Length for a Correct Email Format
When the combined upper limits of the email component are reached, the maximum length of a valid email format shouldn’t exceed 320 characters.
Username= 64
@= 1
domain name (255)
Total characters= 320
Examples of Valid and Invalid Email Format
To help you create a valid email address, we have listed the formats of both the valid and invalid email addresses with examples.
Valid Email Prefixes
Invalid Email Prefixes
davidsan@gmail.com
david..san@gmail.com
support11@company.edu
peter@support@company.edu
smithtoe02@outlook.com
smithtoe02-@outlook.com
Valid Email Suffixes
Invalid Email Suffixes
tom.d@outlook.com
tom.d@outlook
david32@newsletter.company.net
david32@newsletter.company
support@company. ca
james@support@company.ca
The above table allows you to identify the acceptable email prefix formats and valid suffix formats.
What is the Standard Email Format of a Professional Email Address?
It’s important to follow the exact format of a valid email address when creating a professional email. If it isn’t done the right way, you could face deliverability issues. So, following a valid email format is crucial for professionals.
For instance, if people are unable to connect with you via email, there is no point in creating an email address. In addition to the correct format, you also need to consider the following tips when creating a professional email address.
Keep it Short and Simple
It’s hard to remember a complicated email address. Therefore, creating a long and difficult email address won’t be a good idea. If there are numerous numbers or special characters, people will struggle to remember your email.
For the sake of comparison, here are the two email addresses:
thompsonalex@gmail.com
joecool_marteingexpert11@yahoo.com
The first email address is concise, clean, and easily recognizable, making it a highly preferred professional email address. Whereas, the second one contains symbols, numbers, and unnecessary words. It looks childish and is too long to remember. Also, it can harm sender reputation by giving a spammy feel.
Consider Using Custom Domain
Using a custom domain will help to create professional and genuine email addresses that stand out among the other generic contacts. This is why most of the organizations and companies use a custom domain. They usually do this by setting up a private email server using their company name as the domain name.
This not only helps elevate your distinguished status but also promotes your brand. If your company name is too long, make sure to use abbreviations. This will allow you to shorten the username.
Try to Include Company's Role
If you have to create a shared email address for various account managers, it would be appropriate to include your company role. For example, customer care and technical support teams can use a similar email address with a different company role added.
While creating such an email address, try to make it as simple as possible. For instance, you can use something like support@company.com. By looking at this email address, your customers can understand that this is the email address of your company’s support team.
Final Thoughts
Knowing the right email format is crucial for effective communication. By adhering to the tips listed above, you can easily create valid email addresses that are clear, professional, easy to remember, and impactful. A valid email address guarantees that you always receive emails from your clients and stay connected.
