Verification
Catch-All Domain
A mail server configured to accept emails to any address at the domain, making individual mailbox verification impossible.
Definition
A catch-all domain (also called accept-all) is a mail server configuration that accepts emails sent to any address at the domain, whether or not the specific mailbox exists. For example, if example.com is catch-all, both john@example.com and xyz123@example.com would be accepted. This creates verification challenges because SMTP checks can't distinguish valid from invalid addresses. Approximately 20-30% of domains use catch-all configurations.
Examples
Small business capturing all emails to avoid missing messagesLegacy systems that forward all mail to one inbox
Pro Tip
Kawaa provides AI-powered catch-all confidence scores (0-100) to help you assess the likelihood that a catch-all address is real.