Is gmail.com.br or other country extensions valid email addresses?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 17 May 2025
Updated 16 Aug 2025
4 min read
A common question I encounter is whether Gmail email addresses with country-specific extensions, like user@gmail.com.br, are valid. It's a natural assumption given how often we see country-specific websites.
The short answer is no, consumer Gmail addresses do not come with country extensions. A personal Gmail account will always end in @gmail.com, regardless of the user's location, or @googlemail.com in some specific regions due to historical reasons.
Understanding Gmail's core domains
While you might see websites like google.com.br or google.co.uk, these are specific domains for Google's web presence in different countries. They do not translate into country-specific email domains for consumer Gmail accounts. All free consumer Gmail accounts end in @gmail.com.
The reason for the @googlemail.com alternative, used in countries like the UK, Germany, and Russia, was primarily due to trademark disputes at the time Gmail was launched. However, from a deliverability perspective, @gmail.com and @googlemail.com are treated identically by Google.
This means that if someone sends an email to example@googlemail.com, it will reach the same inbox as example@gmail.com for the same user. This interchangeability does not, however, extend to domains with country extensions.
Country-specific domains and email
Google extensively uses country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) for its localized services and search engines, which is evident from its supported domains list. However, these are web domains, not mail domains. When an email server looks up the Mail Exchange (MX) records for a domain like gmail.com.br, it won't find any that point to Google's email servers. This makes such an address invalid for email.
Example MX record lookup for an invalid Gmail domainbash
dig MX gmail.com.br
Any email sent to an address like user@gmail.com.br will likely bounce or be rejected by the receiving mail server. This isn't just a technicality, it has real implications for email senders.
The danger of invalid addresses
Sending emails to invalid addresses can significantly harm your sender reputation. High bounce rates signal to mailbox providers that your list hygiene is poor, which can lead to your legitimate emails being sent to spam folders or even your domain being added to a blacklist (or blocklist).
Deliverability impact and validation
Maintaining a clean email list is paramount for effective deliverability. This means regularly validating email addresses to ensure they conform to standard formats and actually exist. If your email marketing or transactional system attempts to send to a non-existent domain, it will fail, consuming resources and negatively impacting your sender metrics.
You can learn more about how to validate email address structures to improve your sending practices. It's a critical step in preventing email deliverability issues, including bounces and even getting flagged as a spammer.
Valid Gmail Addresses
Standard:name@gmail.com
With dots:first.last@gmail.com (Gmail ignores dots for routing)
With plus aliases:name+tag@gmail.com (also points to the main inbox)
Googlemail version:name@googlemail.com
Invalid Gmail-like Addresses
Country extension:name@gmail.com.br, name@gmail.co.uk
Other TLDs:name@gmail.net, name@gmail.org
Typographical errors:name@gmai.com, name@gmail.co
Business accounts vs. consumer accounts
It's important to differentiate between free consumer Gmail accounts and business accounts that use Google Workspace. With Google Workspace, businesses can set up email addresses using their own domain names, which can certainly include country extensions. For example, a business in Brazil might have email addresses like info@yourcompany.com.br. These are valid because the company owns and manages the yourcompany.com.br domain, including its MX records, to point to Google's servers.
Custom domains and Google Workspace
When a business uses Google Workspace, their email addresses are tied to their custom domain, not the @gmail.com or @googlemail.com domains. This is a standard practice for professional email hosting.
The distinction is crucial. A business using name@company.com.br is perfectly valid, but this differs entirely from a hypothetical name@gmail.com.br email address.
Ensuring valid email addresses
In summary, while Google maintains various country-specific web domains, consumer Gmail email addresses remain uniform with either @gmail.com or @googlemail.com. Any deviation from these for a personal Gmail account indicates an invalid email address.
Prioritizing the accuracy of your email lists is crucial for effective email marketing and communication. Sending to invalid addresses not only wastes resources but also negatively impacts your sender reputation, increasing the likelihood of your emails landing in the spam folder or your domain ending up on an email blacklist (or blocklist). Always validate email addresses to maintain high deliverability.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always validate email addresses before adding them to your mailing lists to prevent bounces and protect sender reputation.
Recognize that consumer Gmail addresses are globally uniform, ending strictly in '@gmail.com' or sometimes '@googlemail.com'.
Understand that country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) for Google's web presence do not apply to personal email addresses.
Educate your team on email address validity rules to avoid common data entry errors or misconceptions.
Regularly monitor your email campaign metrics, especially bounce rates, as indicators of list health.
Common pitfalls
Assuming that a country-specific Google domain for a website (e.g., google.com.br) means there are corresponding Gmail email addresses.
Not validating email addresses, leading to a high percentage of invalid entries on your lists.
Ignoring bounce notifications, which can signal issues with your email list quality and deliverability.
Confusing Google Workspace custom domains with consumer Gmail accounts, as they follow different validation rules.
Attempting to send to domains that do not have MX records configured for email, resulting in hard bounces.
Expert tips
For large lists, implement automated email validation services as part of your lead capture or list management process.
Use email address normalization techniques to handle variations like dots or plus aliases correctly, as Gmail treats them as the same.
If you receive an email with a suspicious or unusual domain, perform a quick DNS lookup for MX records to verify its legitimacy.
Advise customers or users to double-check their Gmail address entry, especially if they try to add a country extension.
Remember that while Google owns many ccTLDs, they primarily redirect to local Google search pages, not Gmail inboxes.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says there are no MX records for domains like gmail.com.br, confirming they are not valid for email, and only gmail.com and googlemail.com are functional.
2021-04-28 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks notes that Google acquires many gTLDs for brand presence, but these are typically for websites and not for email addresses.
name@gmail.com
