How to Check Whether the Links in Your Email Are on a Blocklist

To check the links in an email, paste its HTML or text into the email link blacklist checker and add your click-tracking domain. Each linked domain is cut to its registered domain and checked live on URIBL and the NordSpam DBL, up to eight domains a run, and any listing is named.

Why links matter

Domain blocklists, also called URI or RHSBL lists, list domains seen in spam: the links in the message body, not the server that sent it. A filter such as SpamAssassin's URIBL plugin extracts every domain in the body and queries the lists, so one link to a listed domain can mark an otherwise clean email. A link shortener, a free file host or a click-tracking domain shared with spammers is the usual cause. To check the sending domain itself, see checking if your domain is on a blacklist.

Step 1: paste the email

Paste the HTML (in most platforms, export or view the HTML source) or the plain text, or upload an .html, .txt or .eml file.

Step 2: add your tracking domain

Type your click-tracking or sending domain in the optional field. Sending tools rewrite every link to it on send, so it is in every email. Links are read as written, so the rewrite is only checked if you add it here. If you do not know it, look up its CNAME.

Step 3: read each domain

Result	What it means
Listed	The list holds the domain; the listing is named
Not listed	The list answered, including its own test entry, and does not hold it
Partly checked	Some lists answered and some did not
Couldn't check	A refused or dropped query is never shown as clean

Up to eight domains are checked a run, at ten lookups a minute per visitor.

Step 4: fix a listed link

• A domain you do not control, such as a shortener or a third-party file link: link to the real page on your own site instead.
• Your own domain or tracking domain: find the cause first. Lists add domains after spam trap hits and complaints, and a removal request without a fix tends to be relisted. Each list's own lookup page explains its codes and removal steps, and how to get off a blacklist covers the order.

Spamhaus DBL and SURBL

These are two widely used domain lists, but their terms only allow free queries from non-commercial or free-of-charge services, so they are not queried here. Look the domain up on their own sites; the domain blacklist check links to both. For a list of domains, use the bulk domain blacklist checker.

What this check cannot do

• Spamhaus DBL and SURBL are linked, not queried.
• A clean result covers the queried lists only. Filters also use private reputation data.
• Tracking rewrites added on send are only checked if you type the tracking domain in.
• The limit is eight domains a run.

Check the addresses you are linking to

Clean links get the message through the filter; the address still has to exist. Upload your list on the verify page: the first 100 email checks are free with a Google sign-in, no card. Each address comes back valid, risky or invalid with a reason, and nothing is sent to anyone on the list. For larger or recurring lists, see bulk email verification, list cleaning and pricing.

Check your links now

Paste your email into the email link blacklist checker.