How do I know if my email forwarding is working?

First check that the MX records point at the forwarding service, which this tool does. Then send a test message from another account to the forwarding address and confirm it arrives; DNS can't show the final inbox.

Why is mail to my domain not arriving?

The common causes are no MX records at all, MX records still pointing at an old provider, or a mix of both. The checker shows each of these. A null MX (a single MX of priority 0 pointing at ".") means the domain refuses all mail.

Do I need SPF for email forwarding?

Receiving mail doesn't need SPF, but most forwarding services ask for their include so mail they pass on, or send for you, authenticates. The tool shows the include the service documents and whether your record has it.

Which forwarding services does it recognise?

Cloudflare Email Routing, ImprovMX, Forward Email, Namecheap email forwarding, Porkbun email forwarding and SimpleLogin, plus the mailbox providers and security gateways our email provider lookup names. Anything else shows as not recognised.

Is this email forwarding checker free?

Yes, it's a free tool with no card. 25 domains a run without an account, 100 when you sign in with Google. It reads public DNS only and sends no email.

Email forwarding checker: is forwarding set up on my domain?

In short: Enter a domain, or up to 25, and see from its MX records whether mail goes to a forwarding service, a mailbox provider or nowhere, with the SPF include and DMARC it needs. Limit: It reads where mail for the domain arrives, not the inbox the service forwards it to; only a test message confirms the last hop.

An email forwarding checker reads a domain's MX records to tell you whether mail sent to it goes to a forwarding service such as Cloudflare Email Routing, ImprovMX, Forward Email or Namecheap, to a real mailbox provider, or nowhere. It also checks the SPF include the forwarder documents and the DMARC record. DNS only; no email is sent.

Domains, one per line (up to 25)

Upload a CSV or TXT fileDNS lookups only; no email is sent. 25 domains a run, or 100 when you sign in.

By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated October 26, 2026

How do I check email forwarding on a domain?

Enter the domain you set forwarding up on, or paste up to 25 domains or email addresses, one per line.
Press Check forwarding. Each domain's MX, SPF and DMARC records are read from public DNS.
Read the verdict: forwarding set up (with the service named), mailboxes, a security gateway, no MX, or a null MX that refuses all mail.
Fix what it flags, such as a missing SPF include or MX hosts split between two setups, then run it again. Download the results as CSV.

Example

You enter: The domain yournewbusiness.example, with MX mx1.improvmx.com and mx2.improvmx.com and SPF v=spf1 include:spf.improvmx.com ~all.
You get: Forwarding set up with ImprovMX: the MX hosts are named, SPF includes spf.improvmx.com as ImprovMX documents, a line says ImprovMX can send as the domain over SMTP on paid plans, and the DMARC record is checked.
Limits: Up to 25 domains a run without an account and 100 when signed in with Google. MX, TXT and DMARC lookups only; no email is sent.

How do I check if email forwarding is set up on my domain?

Look at the domain's MX records: they say which servers accept mail for it, and forwarding services publish their own host names. Cloudflare Email Routing uses route1.mx.cloudflare.net and its siblings, ImprovMX mx1.improvmx.com, Forward Email mx1.forwardemail.net, Namecheap's free forwarding eforward1.registrar-servers.com, Porkbun fwd1.porkbun.com and SimpleLogin mx1.simplelogin.co. Enter the domain above and the tool reads the MX records and names the service.

DNS shows where mail for the domain arrives, not where the service then sends it. The destination inbox is a setting inside the forwarding service, so the only way to confirm the last hop is to send yourself a test message from a different account and see it arrive.

Why does my domain show mailboxes instead of forwarding?

Because its MX records point at a mailbox provider such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or Zoho, not at a forwarding service. That is normal for a domain with real mailboxes; forwarding there is a rule inside a mailbox, which DNS can't see. If you meant to use a forwarding service, replace the MX records with the ones its setup page gives you, and remove the old ones.

A mix of both is the case to fix. Senders try the MX host with the lowest priority number first and fall back to the others, so mail can land at the forwarder one day and at the old provider the next. The tool marks that as "Forwarding mixed with another server".

Can I send email from a forwarding address?

Not through forwarding alone: a forwarding service receives mail, it doesn't give you a mailbox or an outgoing server. To reply as hello@ your domain you need an SMTP server that is allowed to send for it, for example a send-as setting in Gmail with your forwarder's SMTP on a plan that includes it, or a mailbox provider. ImprovMX and Forward Email offer SMTP on paid plans, and SimpleLogin sends replies through its own servers; Cloudflare Email Routing and registrar forwarding only receive.

Whatever sends must be in the domain's SPF record, and the domain should have a DMARC record, or replies are likely to be filtered. The checker shows whether SPF includes the forwarder's documented value, such as include:_spf.mx.cloudflare.net or include:spf.improvmx.com. Add it to the one SPF record you have; two SPF records break SPF, and the SPF record merger combines them.

Who uses this tool, and for what?

Founders: Just bought a domain for a new business and pointed it at a free forwarder? Check the MX and SPF records are in place before you put the address on your site.
Cold emailers: Secondary sending domains often forward replies to a main inbox. Check every one in a single run, and spot domains whose MX still points nowhere.
Agencies: Audit a client's domains to see which have real mailboxes, which only forward and which can't receive mail at all, as a CSV.
Developers: Confirm a Cloudflare Email Routing or ImprovMX setup went live after a DNS change, without sending a test message first.

What can’t this tool tell you?

It reads where mail for the domain arrives, not the inbox the service forwards it to; only a test message confirms the last hop.
Forwarding services are named from a short list of documented MX hosts; others show as not recognised.
Forwarding set up as a rule inside a mailbox (Gmail, Outlook) is invisible in DNS and shows as mailboxes.
DNS changes can take up to the old record's TTL to be seen by every resolver, so a fresh change may not show yet.

Common questions

How do I know if my email forwarding is working?: First check that the MX records point at the forwarding service, which this tool does. Then send a test message from another account to the forwarding address and confirm it arrives; DNS can't show the final inbox.
Why is mail to my domain not arriving?: The common causes are no MX records at all, MX records still pointing at an old provider, or a mix of both. The checker shows each of these. A null MX (a single MX of priority 0 pointing at ".") means the domain refuses all mail.
Do I need SPF for email forwarding?: Receiving mail doesn't need SPF, but most forwarding services ask for their include so mail they pass on, or send for you, authenticates. The tool shows the include the service documents and whether your record has it.
Which forwarding services does it recognise?: Cloudflare Email Routing, ImprovMX, Forward Email, Namecheap email forwarding, Porkbun email forwarding and SimpleLogin, plus the mailbox providers and security gateways our email provider lookup names. Anything else shows as not recognised.
Is this email forwarding checker free?: Yes, it's a free tool with no card. 25 domains a run without an account, 100 when you sign in with Google. It reads public DNS only and sends no email.

Sources

Authentication and capacity are half of deliverability.

The other half is who you send to. Every hard bounce counts against the domain and inboxes you are sending from, and nothing in DNS can tell you which addresses on your list are dead.

Bulk verification with real SMTP mailbox checks
Hard bounces removed before a send, not discovered after
Catch-all, disposable and role detection on every row

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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.