Fake Email Generator
RFC 2606 reserves these; mail to them can never be delivered.
The fake email generator produces placeholder addresses on example.com, example.net, example.org and .test, the domains RFC 2606 reserves for documentation and testing. Mail to these can never be delivered, which is the entire point: a placeholder on a real domain eventually reaches a real person.
How it works
RFC 2606 reserves four second-level domains and several top-level ones specifically so that examples and test fixtures cannot collide with real addresses. Registries are barred from allocating them.
- first.last, the most common corporate convention, and the longest of the three.
- flast, first initial plus surname, which produces shorter addresses that stress column widths differently.
- firstNNNN, a name plus four digits, closer to consumer address patterns.
- Domains: example.com, example.net, example.org and .test, all reserved by RFC 2606.
Examples
Corporate-style addresses
Style
first.last
Domain
example.com
How many
10
Result
[email protected], [email protected], … (10 in total)
Names are drawn from the same 84 first names and 30 surnames as the random name generator, so addresses vary in length from about 18 to 32 characters.
Short-form addresses
The initial-plus-surname form is noticeably shorter, which is useful for checking that a layout handles both extremes.
Frequently asked questions
Can these addresses receive email?
No, and that is deliberate. RFC 2606 reserves example.com, example.net, example.org and the .test top-level domain so they can never be registered by anyone. Mail sent to them bounces rather than reaching a person.
Why not just make up a domain name?
Because invented domains get registered. Test data seeded with a plausible-looking domain has repeatedly ended up sending real mail to whoever later bought it, reserved domains remove that risk permanently.
Will these pass email validation in my application?
Yes. They are syntactically valid addresses on valid domains, so any reasonable validator accepts them. A validator that performs an MX lookup will reject them, which is often exactly the behaviour you want to test.
Can I use these to sign up for services?
You can enter them, but you will never receive a confirmation, so anything with email verification will not complete. For that you need a real inbox. These are for seeding databases and filling out design mock-ups.