# Respondent email verification

On the Business plan, respondents confirm their email address with a 6-digit code before they can submit, so every address you collect is real and reachable.

This needs the Business plan. [Compare plans](https://formstep.io/pricing/)

## What it does

Turn it on for an **Email** question, and the respondent confirms the address with a 6-digit code that Formstep emails them. They cannot submit until the code is right, so you do not receive fake or mistyped addresses.

## Turn it on

1. **Open the email question's block menu**

   Click the drag handle next to the Email question and open **Validation**.

2. **Turn on Require email verification**

   The switch is under **Verification**.

3. **Publish**

   The published form now asks respondents to verify before they can submit.

It is not available inside [repeating groups](https://formstep.io/docs/building-forms/repeating-groups/).

## What respondents see

1. When the respondent types a correctly formatted address, a **Verify email** action appears under the input.

2. Formstep emails a 6-digit code to that address. The code expires after 10 minutes.

3. The respondent enters the code and the question shows a green Verified pill.

**Resend** works after 30 seconds. After five wrong codes, the respondent has to ask for a new one. Temporary email addresses are refused. Codes come from your [custom email domain](https://formstep.io/docs/branding-domains/custom-domains/#custom-email-domains) if you set one.

If two email questions hold the same address, one code covers both. A changed address needs a new code. A verified address cannot be changed later, even where [edit after submit](https://formstep.io/docs/submissions-analytics/edit-after-submit/) is on.

> **Verifying an answer vs. requiring sign-in**
>
> This rule verifies an email _answer_. To require respondents to sign in before they can open the form at all, use the [authentication gate](https://formstep.io/docs/sharing-publishing/authentication-gate/) instead.

## Next steps

[Authentication gate](https://formstep.io/docs/sharing-publishing/authentication-gate/) — Ask people to sign in before they open the form

[Validation rules](https://formstep.io/docs/building-forms/field-configuration/#validation-rules) — Every rule a question can check