BounceLens Email Check for Joomla
A free plugin that stops bad email addresses before they reach your user list or your inbox. It checks the email field in Joomla's registration, edit profile and contact forms, and in any other form you name.
- Typos:
[email protected]gets "Did you mean [email protected]?" - Dead domains: domains that don't exist, have no mail server, or accept no email.
- Throwaway addresses: Mailinator, 10minutemail and thousands more.
- Optional: shared inboxes (info@, sales@) and free providers (for work-address-only sites).
It runs on your own server. No account, no API key, no limits, and nothing is sent to BounceLens.
Download
Download for Joomla 4.4, 5 and 6
Download for Joomla 3.9 and 3.10
Version 1.0.0. PHP 7.4 or newer (7.2 or newer on Joomla 3). License: GNU GPL version 2 or later. Updates appear in Joomla's normal update manager, and each Joomla version only gets the matching download.
Install
- In the Joomla administrator, open System → Install → Extensions (Joomla 3: Extensions → Manage → Install) and upload the zip.
- Open System → Manage → Plugins (Joomla 3: Extensions → Plugins), search for BounceLens and enable System - BounceLens Email Check.
- That's it. The default settings already protect registration, edit profile and the contact form.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| User registration / Edit profile / Contact form | On | Which of Joomla's own forms are checked. |
| Other forms | empty | One per line: form name:field name, for example com_example.form:email. For a field inside a group, write group.field. Note: Joomla hides all errors on the "forgot username" form on purpose, so a check there blocks the reminder without saying why. |
| Also check in the administrator | Off | When off, administrators can still enter any address. |
| Domains that can't receive email | On | The domain does not exist, has no mail server, or says it accepts no email. |
| Typos of big providers | On | Shows the corrected address, e.g. gmail.com for gmial.com. |
| Disposable (throwaway) addresses | On | Blocks throwaway services, including their subdomains. |
| Shared addresses | Off | info@, sales@, support@ and similar team inboxes. |
| Free email providers | Off | Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook.com and others, for sites that want work addresses. |
| Always allow these domains | empty | One per line. These domains (and their subdomains) skip every check except the basic format. |
How it works
- The plugin adds its check to the email field. The field's own rules still run first, so Joomla's "already in use" and banned-address checks keep working.
- The domain is looked up with your server's normal DNS (the MX record, then the A record). If DNS doesn't answer, the address is accepted, so a slow resolver never locks people out.
- It can't tell whether a mailbox really exists. That needs a conversation with the receiving mail server, which this plugin does not do.
- Developers can also put
validate="bouncelens"on an email field in their own form XML.
Privacy
Addresses are checked on your own server and are not sent to BounceLens or anyone else. Only the domain name is looked up through your server's DNS resolver. The plugin stores nothing and adds no links or tracking to your site. See the Privacy Policy.
Support
Questions, a wrong result, or a form that isn't checked? Email [email protected] with your Joomla version and the form you use. If a result looks wrong, the domain (the part after the @) is enough.
License
BounceLens Email Check is free software under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later. The list of disposable domains comes from disposable-email-domains (CC0, public domain).
Changelog
- 1.0.0 (October 2026): first release, for Joomla 3.9/3.10, 4.4, 5 and 6.