Free tool
Email blacklist check for your domain or IP
Enter a domain, an email address or an IPv4 address.
13 blocklists queried from your browser through Cloudflare's public DNS resolver; Spamhaus, Barracuda, SURBL, URIBL and Mailspike get a link to check by hand. Nothing is stored.
About this tool
About the email blacklist checker
The checker looks the domain up on 2 domain blocklists and the IPs of its mail servers on 11 IP blocklists, then says for each list what it tracks and how to get off it, with a link to the list's own removal page. A list that does not answer shows as no answer, so a missing reply never reads as clean.
Spamhaus, the list most mail servers use, refuses lookups that come through public DNS resolvers, so no browser tool can read it. The result links the Spamhaus lookup with your domain or IP filled in, and the lookup pages of Barracuda, SURBL, URIBL and Mailspike.
How it works
How to read the result
The banner on top answers the question: listed or not, and on how many lists. The table below has one row per list with its status, what gets an IP or a domain on it and how a listing ends. Listed rows come first.
- Listed: the list has the IP or the domain right now; the code next to it (127.0.0.2 and up) is the list's reason where the list publishes one; stop the source, then use the removal link in the same row
- Network listed: UCEPROTECT level 2 or 3 lists a whole range or a whole provider; the cause is other customers of the same network, so tell your hosting or mailbox provider
- Not listed: the list answered and has no entry; it says nothing about Spamhaus or Barracuda, which you check with the links under the table
- No answer: the list did not reply to its test query or refused the lookup this time; run the check again in a minute or use the list's own page
- A listed MX IP of Google Workspace or Microsoft 365: that server receives your mail and is run by the provider, which handles its listings; it does not mean your domain sends spam
- Reverse DNS: a sending IP needs a PTR name that resolves back to the same IP; Gmail lists a bad or missing PTR record as a reason it rejects mail
- 127.0.0.2 is the test address every IP list keeps listed on purpose; check it to see what a listing looks like
Background
How to get off a blacklist
- Find the cause first: a compromised mailbox or website form, an old or bought list full of spam traps, a sudden jump in volume, or a server that bounces spam back to forged senders
- Stop it: change passwords and close open forms, stop mailing the list that caused it, pause the campaign; a list relists an IP or domain that keeps sending spam
- Request removal on the list's own page (the link in each row); SpamCop and UCEPROTECT level 1 entries expire on their own once the spam stops
- Check again the next day, and look the domain up on Spamhaus by hand
- A cold email domain listed on several lists, with replies gone, is usually cheaper to replace than to repair: what to do with a burned domain has the tests before you decide
Background
Which blacklists matter for cold email
Spamhaus and Barracuda are the lists most mail servers check, and a listing there blocks mail at many company servers. The smaller lists in this check are used by fewer receivers; a listing on one of them is a reason to find the cause before it spreads.
Gmail and Outlook decide mostly on their own data: complaints, engagement and authentication. A domain can be clean on every list and still land in spam there. Read Gmail's view in Google Postmaster Tools, check the whole domain in the domain reputation check, and SPF, DKIM and DMARC in the SPF, DKIM and DMARC checker.
When a bounce names a list, the bounce text has the details: 550 5.7.1 errors and Outlook blocking cold email explain the common ones. The blacklist check skill runs the same lookups on a list of domains in Claude or ChatGPT through your own resolver, which can also query Spamhaus.
Background
The lists this checker queries
IP lists: SpamCop, PSBL, UCEPROTECT levels 1, 2 and 3, NordSpam, s5h.net, 0spam, Backscatterer, SPFBL and Suomispam. Domain lists: the NordSpam and Suomispam domain blocklists. Each one publishes terms that allow free DNS queries and answers correctly through a public resolver; before every check the tool queries each list's test entry and reports a list that fails it as no answer.
Spamhaus, Barracuda, SURBL, URIBL and Mailspike are left out: Spamhaus and URIBL refuse public resolvers, Barracuda answers only registered DNS servers, SURBL's free service may not be built into other services, and Mailspike publishes no usage terms. The result links each one's lookup page.
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Questions
How do I check if my domain is blacklisted?
Enter the domain above. The checker looks it up on the NordSpam and Suomispam domain blocklists, finds the IPs of its mail servers from its MX and SPF records and checks those on 11 IP blocklists. For Spamhaus, use the link in the result: it opens the Spamhaus lookup with your domain filled in.
How do I check if my IP is blacklisted?
Enter the IPv4 address. The checker queries 11 IP blocklists and shows the IP's reverse DNS. If you send through Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or another provider, the sending IPs are the provider's and change between messages; find the one in the Received headers of an email you sent.
How do I remove my domain or IP from a blacklist?
Find and stop what sent the spam, then request removal on the list's own page; every row in the result links it. SpamCop and UCEPROTECT level 1 remove entries on their own once the spam stops. A removal request without a fix usually ends in a new listing.
Why doesn't this tool check Spamhaus?
Spamhaus answers lookups from public resolvers such as Cloudflare or Google DNS with a refusal code, so a browser tool cannot read a real result. Showing Spamhaus as clean would be a guess. The result links the Spamhaus lookup page with your domain or IP filled in.
Does a blacklist listing hurt delivery to Gmail and Outlook?
Less than at company mail servers. Gmail and Outlook rely mostly on their own complaint and engagement data, though Gmail names a domain or IP in public blocklists among the reasons it rejects mail. Company servers behind Spamhaus or Barracuda block listed senders outright.
How long does a blacklist listing last?
It depends on the list. SpamCop drops an IP once reports stop and UCEPROTECT level 1 after 7 days without new spam; PSBL, NordSpam and SPFBL remove an entry when you ask on their site. Each row in the result says which way the list works.
What is a DNSBL?
A DNS-based blocklist: a list of IPs or domains that mail servers query over DNS while they receive mail. A listed entry answers with an address like 127.0.0.2; an unlisted one returns no record. This checker makes the same queries from your browser.
Does this tool store what I check?
No. The lookups go from your browser to Cloudflare's public DNS resolver. We do not receive the domain, the IP or the result unless you ask us to email the fixes.
In your AI assistant
Run the same checks in Claude or ChatGPT
Free SKILL.md files with the rules behind this tool. Install them in Claude or Claude Code, or paste them into ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok or Cursor.
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