How to Enable Real-Time Email Validation in Gravity Forms
Validate emails in Gravity Forms faster than you can say “Quidditch!”
If you’re tired of fake emails making it through your forms, there’s a protection spell you might want to cast: GP Email Validator. This incantation stops most fake emails from the get-go using server-side email validation to scream, “You shall not pass!” 
In this article, we’ll cover how to enable and configure basic email validation to suit your use case, and also give a few pointers to help you decide which criteria to use if you’re unsure. Let’s dive into it!
How to Enable GP Email Validator
Email Validator is available through Gravity Perks. You can download it from your WordPress dashboard or under Account > Downloads > Gravity Perks.
Once the perk is active, it starts working right away for Email fields across all your forms. The default rules are blocking disposable emails and emails that don’t have MX records configured.
Emails are a user-friendly identifier, while MX records work like the actual postal address for them. Without MX records (or if it’s setup improperly), an email won’t receive any mail sent to it.
If you want to disable Email Validator on certain email fields:
- Head over to the field.
- Find the Perks tab in their field settings.
- Unselect the Enable Email Validation checkbox.
Email Validator Configuration 101
Go to your Gravity Forms settings and navigate to Email Validator. Under Email Validator > Validator Rules, select “Use custom rules”.
Require configure MX record (default): Only allow emails from domains that have their MX records set up properly, and block ones that don’t. We recommend always leaving this setting on.
Block disposable emails (default): Block submissions using disposable / temporary emails (like from TrashMail, Apple’s “Hide My Email,” etc).
Disposable emails aren’t always a red flag or a sign of disinterest—some use them for privacy or to segment their inbox. If you’re aiming for a quick touch point, allowing them through can be okay—you’ll still know they’re disposable from the entry’s technical details.
However, if you’re hoping to build long-term engagement, disposable emails could pose a risk to your sender reputation that should be considered. At the same time, if your content is strong and your outreach thoughtful, it’s possible to build trust and lasting engagement with disposable addresses.
Block free email accounts: Block submissions using emails from free email providers, like Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft. This is best used when you need to enforce a strict, yet broad, high-quality funnel fast. For example:
- Professional webinar that only wants to allow corporate emails to register.
- Student-focused event that is school-agnostic, but still only wants academic emails to register.
Sanitize Gmail email addresses that use the “plus trick”: The Gmail plus trick lets users customize their email address by adding a “+” and any word while still having mail reach their main inbox (e.g. davesmiff+news@gmail.com). Some use it for organization, others might use +trash for throwaway sign-ups. The biggest issue in not sanitizing this trick is that the different variations of the same email are treated like different emails by Gravity Forms, possibly leading to duplicate emails in your list.
Once you’ve made your selections, you can set up domain validation and press save. Voilà!
Mail Mischief: Managed 
If your use case needs a validation method that is tighter than local validation, Email Validator also offers email verification through Kickbox or ZeroBounce. These services ping the email’s mail server to confirm 100% that the email is real, and provide additional insights (e.g. pointing out role emails and accept-all domains). Check out GP Email Validator’s documentation for more details.
On the fence? Read this article to better understand how email verification differs from email validation.
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments! My question for you is: how do you plan to use this plugin?
