How to Verify Email Addresses From Gravity Forms Entries

To verify email addresses from Gravity Forms entries, export the entries as a CSV, upload the file to an email verifier, and follow up only with the addresses that come back valid. Gravity Forms confirms that an email field is shaped like an address, but it cannot tell whether the mailbox exists. SimpleVerifier checks that on the verify page: upload the export, download the results, and keep the status next to each entry. Pro is $39 a month and the first 100 checks are free.

The Gravity Forms steps below come from the plugin's own documentation on exporting entries, read on 10 November 2026. Menu names can change between versions, so check them in your install.

Why verify form entries

A contact form, quote request or lead magnet collects addresses from strangers on the open internet. Four things go wrong:

• Typos. name@gmial.com is a well-formed address, so the field accepts it. Nobody ever receives your reply.
• Invented addresses. Some visitors type a fake address to get a download or skip a follow-up.
• Disposable inboxes. Throwaway addresses accept the form confirmation and disappear.
• Bots. Automated submissions use random addresses on real domains.

When you email these addresses, the bounces count against your sending domain, and that is where the damage lands. A hand-sent reply to a lead is one thing; a notification sequence or newsletter to a few thousand entries is another. See why emails bounce and what it does to your sender reputation for how providers read it.

Step 1: Export the entries

According to the Gravity Forms documentation:

1. In the WordPress admin, go to Forms and then Import/Export. You can also use the Export button at the top of a form's entry list, which preselects that form and your current status filter.
2. On the Export Entries tab, choose the form.
3. In Select Fields, tick the fields to include. For verification you need the email field. Add the entry ID and, if you want, the date created, so you can match rows later. Leave out fields you do not need.
4. Choose a Status: Active is the default, and Unread, Starred, Spam and Trash are available. Spam entries are not worth paying to check.
5. Optionally turn on conditional logic or set a date range. With no range, all entries are exported.
6. Click Download Export File. The file is a CSV. Large exports can take a while.

Exporting only what you need is good practice. Entries often hold names, phone numbers and free-text messages, and a verification upload does not need them. Keeping the file small also keeps the upload quick.

Step 2: Clean the file

A few seconds of tidying saves checks.

• Remove repeat submissions with the duplicate email remover. People often submit a form twice.
• Fix common domain typos with the email typo corrector.
• If you also want the addresses as a bare list, the form responses to email list tool pulls them out of an export.
• Check the file for broken rows, since free-text fields with line breaks can wrap awkwardly in a CSV; the CSV broken row fixer repairs those.

Step 3: Verify the CSV

1. Open the verify page and sign in with Google. The first 100 checks are free, no card.
2. Upload the CSV. If the page cannot tell which column holds the address, it asks you to pick one.
3. Wait for the list to finish, then download the results.

Every row comes back with a status, a reason, and a send-advice column. The three statuses:

Status	Meaning	What to do
valid	The mail server confirmed the mailbox exists.	Safe to send.
risky	Delivery is not confirmed: a catch-all domain, a role address such as info@, or a provider that will not say.	Keep out of large sends. Test in a small batch.
invalid	Bad format, no mail server, disposable address or mailbox not found.	Do not send.

A risky row is not a rejection. On a catch-all domain the server accepts mail for any address, so one particular mailbox cannot be confirmed from outside. For form leads, risky usually means a small company with a catch-all setup, and they are often real people who asked for something. Reply to them, but do not put them in a bulk send alongside the valid group.

Step 4: Act on the results

Match the results back to your entries on the email address or entry ID, then:

• Valid. Follow up, add to your list, or sync to your CRM.
• Invalid. If the person genuinely wanted a reply, try another channel, such as a phone number from the same entry. Do not email the address.
• Risky. Send one-to-one replies; hold back from newsletters until the address engages.

For a list you will mail repeatedly, keep the verdict next to each lead and note when it was checked. Addresses go stale, and verifying again before a campaign is cheap.

Stop bad addresses at the source

An export is fine for a backlog. If the form runs all the time, checking each address as it arrives stops the problem growing. The SimpleVerifier REST API returns a verdict for one address per call, using a key from the API keys page. The WordPress integration and the WordPress API guide show how to call it from a site, and the API docs cover the fields. Pro includes 10,000 API calls a month.

Some practical rules for a live form check:

• Block only invalid. Warn the visitor ("check the spelling of your address") rather than silently dropping them.
• Let timeouts through. If the check does not answer in time, accept the entry and verify it later in a batch.
• Never call the API from the browser. Keys stay on the server. Call it from PHP in WordPress, or from an automation.
• Keep a copy of the verdict on the entry so you do not check the same address twice.

If you would rather not write code, an automation tool that watches new entries and makes an HTTP request works too. See Zapier, Make or n8n. Gravity Forms has its own add-ons for sending entries to those tools; check its documentation for the current list.

Common mistakes with form leads

• Paying to check spam entries. Export the Active status, not Spam or Trash, so you only check real submissions.
• Treating risky as dead. Many genuine small-business leads sit on catch-all domains. Keep them, but handle them one to one.
• Never re-checking. An address that was valid when someone filled the form can be closed months later. Re-verify before any bulk send to old entries.
• Keeping the verdict nowhere. If the result lives only in a downloaded file, the next person on your team will check the same addresses again. Save the status with the lead.
• Over-blocking on the form. A hard block on anything unusual loses real enquiries. Warn on typos, block only clear invalids, and let everything else through.

What it costs

SimpleVerifier Pro is $39 a month. The first 100,000 checks a month run at full speed, then they run slower, and you are never cut off. You can try 100 free checks first by signing in with Google, no card. See pricing for the other plans.

Bottom line

Gravity Forms makes sure an email field looks like an address. It does not make sure the person can be reached. Export the entries, verify the file, and follow up with the valid ones first. If you want to see the damage before paying, run the 100 free checks on your most recent entries.