What are "catch-all" emails?

Understanding catch-all email configurations

About 70% of B2B companies use a standard email server configuration. With these domains, any email verification tool can easily check if an address is valid. A simple test returns a clear yes or no.

But around 30% of B2B companies choose a catch-all configuration. Their mail server accepts all incoming emails sent to their domain, whether the specific address exists or not. Standard verification tests can't get a definitive answer because the server just accepts everything.

This creates a major challenge: most email finders either reject catch-all addresses entirely or label them as "risky," forcing you to exclude valuable prospects from your campaigns.

Why catch-all domains are high-value targets

Catch-all configurations are especially common among large companies with higher buying power. These are exactly the prospects you want to reach.

Here's the kicker: these leads are also significantly less solicited than standard contacts. Why? Because catch-all emails are harder to find and validate, so most email finders skip them entirely. Even the most sophisticated email waterfall setups fail to provide these addresses.

This means less inbox competition for you. While your competitors are hitting the same easy-to-find contacts, you're reaching decision-makers who receive far fewer cold emails.

By excluding catch-all/"risky" addresses entirely, you're cutting out roughly 30% of your addressable B2B market, including some of your most valuable and least saturated targets.

Dropcontact's advanced catch-all validation

Unlike standard verification tools that give up on catch-all domains, Dropcontact invested heavily in R&D to build advanced validation algorithms integrated directly into our real-time enrichment process.

The result: we can confidently verify 70-80% of catch-all email addresses. This ensures there's an actual recipient behind the address, not just a server that accepts everything.

When validated, these emails are upgraded to nominative@pro status (99% valid) for clarity. They're no longer labeled as "catch-all" or "risky." Instead, they're high-quality, directly usable addresses.

Current accuracy rates:

• nominative@pro emails: 99% valid
• catchall@pro emails: 90% valid

When labeled "catchall@pro", Dropcontact provides the best email candidate we've identified, but we can't guarantee its validity with absolute certainty. This label means we've applied our algorithms to generate the most likely valid address, but it remains unverifiable due to the catch-all configuration.

Why third-party validators label Dropcontact emails as "risky"

Here's a common confusion: you run Dropcontact emails through traditional verifiers (ZeroBounce, Neverbounce, Bouncer, BrightVerify...), and suddenly addresses we labeled nominative@pro (99% valid) show up as "risky."

This happens because traditional validators can't perform advanced catch-all verification. They only run basic tests that fail on catch-all domains. Since they can't verify the address, they default to labeling it "risky."

Dropcontact's validation goes deeper. We verify catch-all addresses through our real-time enrichment algorithms, then upgrade validated ones to nominative@pro. This is why our label differs from what basic validators report.

Bottom line: Adding third-party validators after Dropcontact doesn't improve quality. It actually reduces your email coverage by rejecting valid addresses our advanced algorithms already verified.

The hidden problem: unverifiable catch-alls that don't bounce

Here's what often gets overlooked: many catch-all addresses appear to work perfectly. Your emails don't bounce, your deliverability looks fine, but  nobody is actually receiving them.

This is why response rates drop without obvious technical issues. You're sending emails into the void, wasting budget and time on addresses that seem valid but have no real recipient behind them.

The real question isn't just "will this bounce?" It's "can I confidently verify someone will actually receive this email?"

Should you send to catch-all addresses?

Absolutely. With Dropcontact's advanced verification, you're reaching high-value prospects with strong deliverability (99% valid for nominative@pro, 90% for catchall@pro).

By excluding catch-all addresses from your campaigns, you'd be cutting out 30% of your B2B opportunities (even more if you're targeting large enterprises). These leads are also significantly less solicited than standard contacts, meaning less inbox competition for you.

Want to dive deeper into catch-all strategy? Catch-All emails: should you include them in your Cold Email campaigns?

I have some bounces on my catch-alls, how bad is it Doc? 

There will always be a margin of error with catch-all addresses. You may experience some bounces on these emails, and that's normal.

If you follow cold email best practices (no spam, maximum 100-150 emails per day, proper domain configuration), a slight bounce rate won't impact your domain reputation. High bounce rates only affect reputation at much larger volumes.

For more details on bounce rates and domain reputation, read our guide: Cold Email: my emails are bouncing.. How serious is it, Doctor?

💡 Pro tip: If you use a cold email tool that exports hard bounce files, send them to us. We'll analyze them in detail and instantly recredit your email credits for any legitimate bounces.

Experiencing unusually high bounce rates?

If you're seeing abnormally high bounce rates, the issue is often linked to improper sender domain configuration, not the email addresses themselves.

Check your domain's SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in your hosting provider settings. These records certify to email servers that you're the legitimate sender and that your email hasn't been intercepted by a third party.

Since 2020, email providers have implemented techniques to automatically refuse or bounce unsolicited emails (newsletters, cold emails). These are called Refuse Bounces or Reject Bounces, and they're different from Hard Bounces (invalid addresses).

Key distinction:

• Hard Bounce: The email address is invalid or doesn't exist
• Refuse/Reject Bounce: Your domain configuration is flagged as unsolicited or improperly authenticated

To reduce Refuse Bounces and improve deliverability, follow this tutorial to properly configure your domain: Achieve over 70% open rates thanks to your domain settings