Wondering if that form that’s scolding you about forbidden characters in your email address is right? Curious which characters you can definitely use in your email address? Find here the complete list of characters allowed in an email address ⤓ (including symbols and special characters).
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Valid Characters for Email Addresses: Complete RFC 5322 List
The Complete List
Here’s the complete list of all characters you can safely use in the username of an email address (as defined in Request for Comments standard document RFC 5322: Internet Message Format):
| Lowercase | Uppercase | Numbers | Special |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | A | 0 | . |
| b | B | 1 | ? |
| c | C | 2 | ! |
| d | D | 3 | { |
| e | E | 4 | } |
| f | F | 5 | ~ |
| g | G | 6 | _ |
| h | H | 7 | - |
| i | I | 8 | + |
| j | J | 9 | / |
| k | K | = | |
| l | L | % | |
| m | M | $ | |
| n | N | # | |
| o | O | ' | |
| p | P | ` | |
| q | Q | | | |
| r | R | ^ | |
| s | S | * | |
| t | T | & | |
| u | U | ||
| v | V | ||
| w | W | ||
| x | X | ||
| y | Y | ||
| z | Z |
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Backward compatible: Email addresses using only the characters above will reliably work even with
- legacy email servers and
- web forms using simple email address validation.
With up-to-date email infrastructure (and into the future), you can also safely use international characters as valid in email addresses, both the username and, of course, the domain name. See below.
Characters Often Rejected by Forms
| Character | Valid (RFC) | Commonly Accepted |
|---|---|---|
| A-Z, a-z | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| 0-9 | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| . | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| - | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| _ | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| + | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| ' | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Typically |
| ! | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Sometimes |
| % | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Sometimes |
| = | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Sometimes |
| # | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Sometimes |
| $ | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Sometimes |
| & | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Sometimes |
| * | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Sometimes |
| / | ✅ Yes | ❌ Rarely |
| ? | ✅ Yes | ❌ Rarely |
| ^ | ✅ Yes | ❌ Rarely |
| ~ | ✅ Yes | ❌ Rarely |
| ` | ✅ Yes | ❌ Rarely |
| | | ✅ Yes | ❌ Rarely |
| { } | ✅ Yes | ❌ Rarely |
Quick Character Checker for Email Addresses
Character Analysis
Upper or lower case? Does Capitalization Matter in an Email Address?
Number at the start? Email Addresses Can Begin with a Number
Valid Characters for Email Addresses — Complete RFC 5322 List: Examples
Valid Email Addresses
mukasa.apio@ladedu.com
sarah+jobs@ladedu.com
o’connor@ladedu.com
mika_test@ladedu.com
customer-service@ladedu.comValid (But Uncommon) Email Addresses
jessica!sales@ladedu.com
someone%office@ladedu.com
acb=xuz@ladedu.comValid (But Often Rejected) Email Addresses
jessica{smith}@ladedu.com
user|test@ladedu.comValid Characters for Email Addresses — Complete RFC 5322 List: FAQ
Can an email Address have special characters and symbols?
Yes.
Drawn from the list above there are a handful of characters other than numbers and letters that can be used in email addresses:
! __ exclamation mark? __ question mark& __ ampersand# __ hash$ __ dollar sign% __ percent sign' __ straight apostrophe` __ back quote+ __ plus sign- __ minus sign* __ star/ __ slash= __ equal sign~ __ tilde^ __ caret_ __ underscore{ __ left curly bracket} __ right curly bracket| __ pipe
Can I use encoding to include special characters in my email address?
No and yes.
No, you cannot use any encoding, special or international characters with RFC 5322 email addresses.
Yes, with email infrastructure that works with RFC 6530 addresses, you can use
- any Unicode character.
The email service or program will employ UTF-8 encoding.
Can I use emoji in an email address?
No, not normally.
Email addresses can only contain the characters above.
You can, however, use emojis and special characters in the display name part in the “From:” line — in Gmail, for instance, or use an email forwarding service that employs emoji in the domain or user name (like Mailoji).
How long can an email address be?
Email addresses can be some 4 to 254 characters long in total.
Notable Characters Not Allowed in an Email Addresses
Here is a list of common characters that you cannot use when making up the username part of an email address following RFC 5322:
| @ | : | – | [ |
| ´ | ; | — | ] |
| \ | , | < | ( |
| " | > | ) |
It’s still part of the address: How to Type the ‘At’ Symbol ( @ ) on a Mac
(First published March 2021, last updated August 2026)