Every valid email address follows the local-part@domain structure defined in RFC 5322 and RFC 5321. Wondering *"can you have a dash in an email address?"* or what characters are allowed? Inspect any email’s syntax and live MX/SMTP status below.
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A proper email address consists of three parts: (1) the local-part (username) up to 64 characters long, (2) the @ symbol, and (3) the domain name up to 255 characters long (e.g., firstname.lastname@company.com). Total length must not exceed 254 characters.
Yes! You can have a dash (-) in both the local-part (e.g., mary-jane@company.com) and inside the domain name (e.g., info@north-west.com). The only restriction is that a domain label cannot start or end with a dash (so user@-domain.com or user@domain-.com is invalid).
Across corporate domains, 49% use firstname.lastname@company.com (john.smith@), 28% use firstname@company.com (john@), 12% use flastname@company.com (jsmith@), and 7% use firstname_lastname@ or firstnamel@company.com.