Email format finder: work out a company's email pattern
An email format finder works out the pattern a company uses, such as first.last@ or flast@, from addresses you already know. Paste a few name and address pairs and it tests 14 common formats and shows which fit. Then it applies the best one to a list of names. With no known address, pick All common formats to get every pattern for each name plus a domain. The results are guesses until a mailbox check: in our catch-all report, only 1.6% of guessed patterns existed.
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated · Runs in your browser; nothing you paste is sent to us
How do I find a company's email format?
- Paste two or more known addresses with the person's name, one per line, such as Jane Doe, jane.doe@company.com.
- Press Find the format. The formats that fit are listed with how many samples match.
- Choose the format and the domain, and paste the names you want addresses for. No known address yet? Choose All common formats.
- Download or copy the guessed addresses.
- Check them before you send. Sign in with Google to run them through the free email checks.
How do I find out a company's email format?
Find one or two real addresses at the company, from its website, a press release, an email signature or a conference list, and read the format from them. Most companies give everyone the same format, so an address like jane.doe@northwind.com tells you first.last and the domain. More samples settle ties: jane@ fits both first and firstl for a person whose last name starts with L, so a second sample with a different name separates them. The email address patterns guide covers the common formats and how often each appears.
How do I build an address from a name?
Apply the format to the first and last name, lower-cased, with accents folded and spaces and apostrophes dropped, so Maria Garcia-Lopez becomes maria.garcia-lopez or mgarcia-lopez. Hyphens and middle names are where formats differ most, which is why people with them are the most likely to be wrong.
For many formats at once, the bulk email permutator writes all of them for each name.
Is a guessed email address safe to send to?
Not until it's checked. In our catch-all domains report, when three or more spellings of the same name were checked at a domain that answers mailbox checks, only 1.6% of those guessed addresses existed (70,580 addresses). A correct format doesn't prove the person has that address: they may use a nickname, a different alias or have left. A wrong guess either bounces or, at catch-all domains, is accepted without anyone reading it. A mailbox check shows which guesses are real; catch-all domains come back as risky, not valid.
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- Recruiters
- Turn a list of names at a target company into candidate addresses to verify.
- Sales teams
- Work out a prospect company's format from one published address.
- PR and outreach
- Build contact addresses for a team from a staff page.
- Researchers
- Check which format a company uses before writing to several people there.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- A guess is not a confirmation. Every generated address is marked unverified.
- Companies with more than one format, aliases or nicknames will fit several patterns.
- It tests 14 common formats. Numbers, middle initials or custom schemes are not covered.
- Names are split into first and last word. Compound and multi-part surnames can come out wrong.
Common questions
- How do I find a company's email format?
- Take one or two real addresses at the company with the owners' names and read the pattern from them, such as first.last@ or flast@. This page tests 14 common formats against your samples.
- What is the most common company email format?
- first.last is the most common single format in published studies, followed by first initial plus last name and first name only. The exact shares vary by dataset and company size.
- Can I trust an email I built from a format?
- No. It is a guess until the mailbox is checked.
- Can I get the email patterns without knowing any address at the company?
- Yes. Paste the names and the domain and choose All common formats: you get all 14 patterns (first.last@, flast@, first@ and so on) for each name. Most of them will not exist: in our catch-all report only 1.6% of guessed patterns did, so verify them before you send.
- Does it look up the company or contact anyone?
- No. It only compares the samples you paste with common formats, in your browser.
- How many samples do I need?
- Two or three with different names settle most cases. One sample may fit several formats.
A tidy list can still be full of dead addresses.
Extracting, deduplicating and syntax checks all work on the text of an address. None of them can tell whether the mailbox exists. Only the server that hosts it can answer that, through an SMTP check, and that is what the paid product does.
- Upload the cleaned file as it is: CSVs up to 100,000 rows
- A real SMTP mailbox check on every row, with catch-all detection
- Small list? Starter at $9/mo covers 2,500 emails a month, cancel anytime
One plan, cancel anytime, no contract. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. The free tools stay free either way.