# Why is an address marked catch-all instead of valid? |… > Catch-all means the domain accepts every recipient without confirming whether the specific mailbox exists. --- ## Navigation - [Home](https://billionverify.com/index.md) **Product:** - [Features](https://billionverify.com/features.md) - [Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/email-verification.md) - [Bulk Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/bulk-email-verification.md) - [Email List Cleaning](https://billionverify.com/email-list-cleaning.md) - [Email Validation API](https://billionverify.com/email-validation-api.md) - [White Label](https://billionverify.com/whitelabel.md) - [Blog](https://billionverify.com/blog.md) - [Pricing](https://billionverify.com/pricing.md) --- **Page Language:** English --- # Why is an address marked catch-all instead of valid? Catch-all means the domain accepts every recipient without confirming whether the specific mailbox exists. [All help topics](https://billionverify.com/help.md) **Short answer:** A `catch-all` (also called "accept-all") result means the domain's mail server **accepts mail to every possible address** without revealing whether the specific mailbox exists. We can confirm the domain will receive the message, but the server refuses to confirm the individual mailbox. ## Why this happens Some domains are configured so their mail server says "yes" to every recipient — valid or not — and sorts things out internally afterwards. This is common on: - Corporate domains with a security gateway in front (Proofpoint, Mimecast, Barracuda, and similar), - Many **Microsoft 365** business tenants, - Some Google Workspace domains, - Domains that forward all mail to another inbox. Because the server accepts everything, there is no way to prove at verification time whether one specific mailbox is real. So instead of a misleading `valid`, we return `catch-all`. ## Is a catch-all address deliverable? Often, yes — but it carries more risk than a clean `valid`. The message will reach the domain; whether it lands in a real mailbox depends on the domain's internal routing, which it does not expose to us. ## What we recommend - Treat `catch-all` as **"deliverable to the domain, mailbox unconfirmed."** - For high-value or transactional sends, catch-all addresses are usually fine. - For cold outreach at scale, apply extra judgment — catch-all domains can hide non-existent mailboxes. A `catch-all` result **is charged**, because we successfully determined the domain's verification behavior. ## Related questions [### What do the verification statuses mean? (valid, invalid, catch-all, unknown, disposable, role) Understand valid, invalid, catch-all, unknown, disposable, and role results, including which outcomes use credits.](https://billionverify.com/help/verification-statuses-overview.md)[### What does an "unknown" result mean, and what should I do with it? Unknown means the receiving mail system did not provide a reliable answer; it does not mean the address is bad.](https://billionverify.com/help/what-does-unknown-status-mean.md)[### Why was an address I believe is active marked "invalid"? Invalid is based on a concrete rejection from the receiving server, not a guess about the mailbox.](https://billionverify.com/help/email-marked-invalid-but-active.md)[### What does the "score" in the result mean? The 0.0–1.0 score reflects deliverability confidence and should always be read together with the status.](https://billionverify.com/help/what-does-the-score-mean.md) --- ## Sitemap **Product:** - [Pricing](https://billionverify.com/pricing.md) - [Features](https://billionverify.com/features.md) - [Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/email-verification.md) - [Bulk Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/bulk-email-verification.md) - [Email List Cleaning](https://billionverify.com/email-list-cleaning.md) - [Email Validation API](https://billionverify.com/email-validation-api.md) - [White Label](https://billionverify.com/whitelabel.md) **Methods:** - [Email Checker](https://billionverify.com/email-checker.md) - [Disposable Email Detection](https://billionverify.com/disposable-email-detection.md) - [Bounce Email Checker](https://billionverify.com/bounce-email-checker.md) - [Catch-All Verifier](https://billionverify.com/catch-all-verifier.md) - [Role Account Detection](https://billionverify.com/role-account-detection.md) **Email Tools:** - [Email Extractor](https://billionverify.com/email-extractor.md) - [Email Deliverability Test](https://billionverify.com/email-deliverability-test.md) **Google Maps:** - [Google Maps Overview](https://billionverify.com/google-maps.md) - [Google Maps Email Extractor](https://billionverify.com/google-maps/google-maps-email-extractor.md) - [Google Maps Leads Scraper](https://billionverify.com/google-maps/google-maps-leads-scraper.md) - [Google Maps Email Finder](https://billionverify.com/google-maps/google-maps-email-finder.md) - [Outscraper Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/google-maps/outscraper.md) - [Scrap.io Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/google-maps/scrap-io.md) - [Apify Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/google-maps/apify.md) **Cold Email:** - [Cold Email Overview](https://billionverify.com/cold-email.md) - [GMass Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/cold-email/gmass.md) - [Instantly Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/cold-email/instantly.md) - [Smartlead Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/cold-email/smartlead.md) - [Lemlist Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/cold-email/lemlist.md) - [Mailshake Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/cold-email/mailshake.md) - [Reply.io Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/cold-email/reply-io.md) **B2B Leads:** - [B2B Leads Overview](https://billionverify.com/b2b-leads.md) - [Apollo Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/b2b-leads/apollo.md) - [Hunter Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/b2b-leads/hunter.md) - [ZoomInfo Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/b2b-leads/zoominfo.md) - [Lusha Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/b2b-leads/lusha.md) - [LinkedIn Sales Navigator](https://billionverify.com/b2b-leads/linkedin-sales-navigator.md) - [Snov.io Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/b2b-leads/snov-io.md) **Local Business:** - [Local Business Overview](https://billionverify.com/local-business.md) - [Yellow Pages Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/local-business/yellow-pages.md) - [Yelp Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/local-business/yelp.md) - [Angi Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/local-business/angi.md) - [Local Business List Cleaning](https://billionverify.com/local-business/local-business-email-list-cleaning.md) **B2B Agency:** - [B2B Agency Overview](https://billionverify.com/b2b-agency.md) - [Clutch Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/b2b-agency/clutch.md) - [G2 Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/b2b-agency/g2.md) - [Trustpilot Email Verification](https://billionverify.com/b2b-agency/trustpilot.md) - [Agency Email Finder](https://billionverify.com/b2b-agency/agency-email-finder-workflow.md) **Integrations:** - [Integrations Overview](https://billionverify.com/integrations.md) - [Mailchimp Integration](https://billionverify.com/integrations/mailchimp.md) - [HubSpot Integration](https://billionverify.com/integrations/hubspot.md) - [Salesforce Integration](https://billionverify.com/integrations/salesforce.md) - [SendGrid Integration](https://billionverify.com/integrations/sendgrid.md) - [Klaviyo Integration](https://billionverify.com/integrations/klaviyo.md) - [ActiveCampaign Integration](https://billionverify.com/integrations/activecampaign.md) - [Zapier Integration](https://billionverify.com/integrations/zapier.md) - [Make Integration](https://billionverify.com/integrations/make.md) - [Pipedrive Integration](https://billionverify.com/integrations/pipedrive.md) - [Integrately Integration](https://billionverify.com/integrations/integrately.md) **Comparisons:** - [Comparisons Overview](https://billionverify.com/vs.md) - [Alternative to NeverBounce](https://billionverify.com/vs/neverbounce.md) - [Alternative to ZeroBounce](https://billionverify.com/vs/zerobounce.md) - [Alternative to Hunter](https://billionverify.com/vs/hunter.md) - [Alternative to Kickbox](https://billionverify.com/vs/kickbox.md) - [Alternative to EmailListVerify](https://billionverify.com/vs/emaillistverify.md) - [Alternative to MillionVerifier](https://billionverify.com/vs/millionverifier.md) - [Alternative to Emailable](https://billionverify.com/vs/emailable.md) - [Alternative to Bouncer](https://billionverify.com/vs/bouncer.md) - [Alternative to Verifalia](https://billionverify.com/vs/verifalia.md) - [Alternative to DeBounce](https://billionverify.com/vs/debounce.md) - [Alternative to Validity](https://billionverify.com/vs/validity.md) - [Alternative to VoilaNorbert](https://billionverify.com/vs/voilanorbert.md) - [Alternative to Reoon](https://billionverify.com/vs/reoon.md) **Resources:** - [Documentation](https://billionverify.com/docs.md) - [Blog](https://billionverify.com/blog.md) - [Email Glossary](https://billionverify.com/glossary.md) - [Benchmark Report](https://billionverify.com/benchmark.md) - [About](https://billionverify.com/about.md)