Verify your ActiveCampaign contacts before you send

The workflow

1. In ActiveCampaign, click Contacts, then the ellipsis (...) at the top right of Contacts Overview > Export. Name the export (avoid ! # $ in the name, or it can save as text rather than CSV), choose the fields and click Export, then download it from Contacts > Exports.
2. Upload the CSV on the verify page, signed in; the first 100 checks are free. The email column is found by its header or contents and every other column is kept.
3. When the job finishes, download the valid, risky and invalid files. Each keeps all of your original columns.
4. Create a tag in ActiveCampaign for each result you want to act on, for example email-invalid and email-risky.
5. In Contacts, open Import, choose Import from File, upload the invalid file and map the email column. Apply the tag email-invalid and choose to update existing contacts. Repeat with the risky file and its tag.
6. Add a condition to your automations and campaign segments: tag email-invalid is not present. Bounced or unsubscribed contacts are a common cause of failed imports, so check the import summary.

Columns to map

• Email, the only required field for a contact row.
• First name and Last name if you want them kept in sync; unmapped columns are simply not imported.
• Lists must already exist before importing; the importer cannot create them, so create or pick the list first.

What to do with risky and catch-all results

Tag risky contacts instead of deleting them. Exclude the tag from automations that send many emails quickly, and let risky contacts into a slower re-engagement sequence. Anyone who opens or clicks there is a keeper; anyone who bounces is removed.

What people use it for

• Stop an automation from emailing addresses that bounce, which counts against your account's deliverability.
• Check a purchased or event list before importing it as new contacts.
• Trim dead contacts when your plan is priced by contact count.

Using the result

Each address comes back valid (the mail server confirmed the mailbox), risky (delivery could not be confirmed: a catch-all domain, a role address such as info@, or a provider that hides mailbox status) or invalid (it will bounce, or it is a throwaway address).

Full endpoint reference, error codes and an OpenAPI file are in the API docs. For lists of thousands of addresses, upload a CSV on the verify page instead.

Comparing tools? See email verifiers for ActiveCampaign compared, with prices checked on each vendor’s site.

Common questions

Which plans include API access for ActiveCampaign?

API access comes with Pro, Business and Agency, listed on the pricing page; Starter covers CSV verification only. A key on a plan without API access gets a 402 that says so. Each key can make 120 calls a minute.

Does SimpleVerifier have an ActiveCampaign integration?

No native one. For a single new contact you could call the SimpleVerifier API from a webhook step in Zapier, Make or n8n (see those pages); for a whole list the CSV route is simpler.

Why did my ActiveCampaign import fail?

ActiveCampaign lists common causes: an XLS saved as CSV with the wrong encoding, files that are too large, bounced or unsubscribed contacts, and special characters not wrapped in quotes. Splitting the file and re-saving as UTF-8 CSV usually fixes it.