Email provider lookup for Google Sheets: a Google or Microsoft column you paste back
In short: Copy an email column from Sheets or Excel, paste it, and get a provider column with exactly one line per row (Google, Microsoft, Other: Zoho, No mail server), blank rows kept, to paste back next to your data. MX lookup per domain, SPF behind a gateway. Limit: It names who receives a domain's mail, not whether a mailbox exists there.
To see which addresses in a sheet use Google or Microsoft, copy the email column, paste it here and press Look up. Each row's domain is checked by its MX record, with SPF used behind a security gateway. You get a provider column with one line per pasted row, blank rows included, so it pastes straight back next to the addresses.
Price: this tool is free. Checking a whole email list is from $9/mo, and the first 100 checks are free with Google, no card. See pricing
Sample result
Each pasted row gets Google, Microsoft or the provider's name, from its domain's MX. Blanks stay blank.
- Pasted rows
- 8 lines
- MX on Google
- Microsoft
- MX on Outlook
What this means for you
Paste the column back next to your addresses and filter it by provider.
- Paste a column from Sheets or Excel
- One line per row, blanks kept
- MX, then SPF behind a gateway
- Only domains are sent
- Google Sheets
- MX
- ESP
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated
You know where each address is hosted. Now check the mailboxes exist.
- Copy the email column again, or download the CSV from this page.
- Upload or paste it at /verify. The first 100 email checks are free with a Google sign-in, no card.
- For every list after that, Pro includes unlimited email verification. Fair use: the first 100,000 checks a month at full speed, then slower, never cut off.
How do I find out which emails in my Google Sheet are Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?
- In Google Sheets or Excel, select the email column from the first row you want (the header is fine) down to the last, and copy it.
- Paste it into the box and press Look up providers. Only the domains are sent for a DNS lookup, never the addresses.
- Press Copy column, click the first cell of an empty column next to your data, and paste. Each line lands on the row it belongs to.
- Filter the new column to Google or Microsoft, or download the CSV with the provider beside each address.
Example
- You enter
- A pasted column: header
Email,[email protected],[email protected], a blank row,[email protected],[email protected],Raj Patel <[email protected]>,[email protected]andno address here. - You get
- Nine lines back, one per pasted row:
Email provideron the header, a Google, Microsoft or Other: provider label for each address (the address insideRaj Patel <…>is used), a blank line for the blank row andNot an email or domainfor the last one. - Limits
- Up to 5,000 rows and 1,000 domains a run; only the domains are sent, for an MX and SPF lookup.
How can you tell if an email is Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?
From the domain's MX records, which name the servers that receive its mail (RFC 5321). Google Workspace domains point at Google's servers (smtp.google.com or aspmx.l.google.com, per Google's MX setup page); Microsoft 365 domains point at *.mail.protection.outlook.com. Gmail and Outlook.com addresses are the consumer versions of the same two.
When a security gateway like Proofpoint or Mimecast receives the mail first, the MX names the gateway. The lookup then reads the domain's SPF record, which usually includes the mailbox provider that sends for it, and marks the row "Google (behind a gateway)" or "Microsoft (behind a gateway)".
Why is the result one line per row?
So you can paste it back without a VLOOKUP. Sheets and Excel copy a column as one line per cell, blank cells included; the tool keeps every one of those lines, writes "Email provider" on the header row and leaves blank rows blank, so line 37 of the result belongs to row 37 of your selection.
If your column has a cell like Jane Doe <[email protected]>, the address inside is used. A cell with a website or bare domain is looked up too.
What do I do with the provider column?
Cold emailers send Google-hosted leads from Google inboxes and Microsoft-hosted leads from Microsoft inboxes (ESP matching); the ESP matching list splitter turns the same lookup into separate files and a sending plan. Sales teams use it to see which accounts run on Microsoft 365 before pitching an integration.
"No mail server" rows are on domains that can't receive email at all, so every address there will bounce. Delete them before you import.
This column or a formula in Sheets?
| This tool | Formula in Sheets | |
|---|---|---|
| Company domains | Looked up by MX: Google, Microsoft or the provider's name | Not possible: Sheets has no DNS function |
| gmail.com, outlook.com | Labelled | Possible with REGEXMATCH on the domain |
| Behind a gateway | SPF read to find the mailbox provider | Not possible |
| Paste back | One line per row, blanks kept | Formula sits in the sheet |
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- Cold emailers
- Add a provider column to a lead sheet and filter it to load Google leads into Google-inbox campaigns and Microsoft leads into Microsoft ones.
- SDR teams
- Mark accounts on Microsoft 365 before pitching an Outlook add-in, without leaving the sheet.
- Agencies
- Show a client the Google and Microsoft split of their list in the sheet they sent you.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- It names who receives a domain's mail, not whether a mailbox exists there. A Microsoft 365 domain can still have closed inboxes.
- A domain behind a gateway whose SPF names neither Google nor Microsoft shows as Other with the gateway's name.
- Up to 5,000 rows and 1,000 domains a run; look up a bigger sheet in parts.
Common questions
- How do I check if an email is Google Workspace?
- Look up the domain's MX records. Google Workspace domains point at smtp.google.com or aspmx.l.google.com. Paste the column here to do that for every row at once.
- How do I find out if a company uses Microsoft 365?
- Its domain's MX records point at a host ending in mail.protection.outlook.com. The lookup labels those rows Microsoft.
- Are my email addresses sent anywhere?
- Only the domains, never the addresses, are sent for the DNS lookup. The pasted column is read in your browser.
- Why does a row say Lookup failed?
- The domain's DNS didn't answer in time. Run it again; a domain that keeps failing often has broken DNS, which is a risk on its own.
- Does this work with Excel?
- Yes. Excel copies cells the same way as Google Sheets, one line per row, so the result pastes back into Excel too.
Sources
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
Plans from $9 a month, 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.