How to Find Email Addresses (2K+ Free Credits Inside)
Learn how to find email addresses using 30+ free tools and manual techniques. Get 2,288 free credits and discover proven methods for finding business and personal emails.
What's the easiest way to find someone's email address? The first thing that usually comes to mind is checking their contact page.
But what if all it has is a generic email like info@domain.com? This guide shows you how to find email addresses using both free tools (2,288 credits included) and manual techniques that actually work.
📊 Reality Check
I checked around 1,300 team pages during my last email search, and only 11% of them had employees' contact details.
In 89% of cases, I was out of luck. That's what you should expect too, give or take.
The good thing is an email search doesn't end on contact and team pages. Although people are cagey about personal info today, it still surfaces here and there on the web. Some companies collect that data into email lists to share via email finder tools.
Free Email Finders and How to Use Them
Let's start with email finders, as they can let you do the job much quicker than a manual search. No web browsing for hours. The whole process comes down to typing in a few words like your prospect's name or their domain or both.
💰 Free Credits Available
This post includes only tools providing free credits. In total, you'll get:
- ✓1,873 credits per month (renewable)
- ✓415 one-time credits (trials)
- ✓2,288 total free credits
1. What Options You Can Set for an Email Search
In email prospecting, you can find yourself at different stages. Sometimes, you know your prospect's full name and employer. Other times, you only have a list of companies to connect with but have no idea whom to contact there.
🔍 Email Search by Name and Company
This option will come in handy when you have a clear idea of who your prospect is and where they work.
To discover their email address, type in both their full name and company (or its domain).
🏢 Email Search by Company Only
Do you know the company you want to collaborate with but aren't sure about the best person to reach out to?
Type in your target company's name (or its domain), and you'll see all employees available in the tool's database, along with their emails and job titles.
💡 Tip: It usually costs a single credit to check many emails under the same domain.
👤 Email Search by Name Only
With this option, you can find someone's email address by their first and last names.
It's convenient when you don't know where your prospect currently works. If your tool lacks this option, check their current employer on LinkedIn beforehand.
📍 Email Search by Location and Other Details
To narrow down your search, some email finder tools provide extra filters:
- • City and address
- • Industry
- • Company size
- • Revenue
- • Job titles and departments
2. Install Chrome Extensions to Find Email Addresses Outside the Apps
Email search tools are available as web apps but many also come with Chrome extensions. With their help, you won't have to switch between your app interface and other tabs all the time.
🔌 Extension Search Options
Social Media Search
Find emails on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter
Click extension icon on any social profile to reveal email
On-Site Search
Extract emails from any website you're visiting
One click reveals all emails from current domain
Google Search
Extract emails directly from Google results
Find emails while researching your queries
3. What Types of Email Addresses You Can Find
💼 Business Email Addresses
Business email addresses are tied to domains that your prospects use on behalf of their companies.
Example: john.smith@company.com
✅ These should be your top priority for professional outreach
📧 Personal Email Addresses
Personal email addresses aren't tied to company domains. They come from Gmail, Yahoo, and other free providers.
Example: johnsmith123@gmail.com
⚠️ Use only when business email is inactive or unavailable
📮 Generic Email Addresses
Generic addresses are tied to company domains but not to someone specific (role-based).
Examples: info@domain.com, sales@domain.com, support@domain.com
❌ Use only as a last resort when you can't find business emails
4. Use a Company Email Format Finder
Email lookup tools aren't magic wands, and they won't provide data in 100% of requests. That's especially common for new hires, as their addresses don't appear in databases overnight.
📝 Most Common Email Formats
Based on analysis of 12 million addresses, here are the most popular formats:
firstname.lastname@domain.com (35%)
firstname@domain.com (20%)
firstnamelastname@domain.com (15%)
flastname@domain.com (10%)
firstname_lastname@domain.com (8%)
firstname-lastname@domain.com (5%)
firstinitiallastname@domain.com (4%)
lastname@domain.com (3%)
5. Check Data Accuracy with Email Verifiers
Using email finders is the quickest way to find contact details but you can't blindly trust everything they show. Their owners don't even conceal that they can't guarantee 100% email accuracy.
✅ Email Verification Indicators
📊 Confidence Score
🔍 Verification Checks
- ✓Domain Type: Ensures email isn't disposable
- ✓Server Status: Verifies MX records and SMTP server
- ✓Email Format: Checks syntax validity
- ✓Email Status: Tests for bounces and catch-all policies
6. What Else You Can Learn About Email Prospects
Email prospecting goes far beyond searching for contact details. Many email finders reveal full or partial profiles to help you craft better outreach.
👤 Prospect Profile Information
Personal Data
- • Social media accounts
- • Work experience
- • Skills and expertise
- • Education background
Company Information
- • Company size
- • HQ locations
- • Industry and niche
- • Phone numbers
7. Speed Things Up with Bulk Email Finders
With hundreds of prospects on the list, imagine how much time it drains to perform an individual email search for everyone. To put an end to this time-wasting, tools provide bulk email finders.
⚡ Bulk Processing Benefits
Using bulk features, you can upload many email requests in one go and export results with a single click. An hour's work comes down to minutes.
Consider this: With a 16% response rate (good result), you need at least 100 prospects to get 16 responses. Bulk tools make this scalable.
How to Find Email Addresses Yourself, Without Lookup Tools
Email address finders are mighty, but not almighty. People can hide their contact details so well that no email crawler will ever see a trace. Here are manual methods when tools fail.
1. Find Emails in Source Code
Right-click on any page and select "View page source." Then:
CTRL + F → Search for:
• mailto:
• @domain.com
2. Find Emails via Newsletter Subscription
Many newsletters come from business emails rather than generic addresses. Subscribe to your prospect's mailing list.
💡 Tip: Sign up for free trials - you'll often get emails from heads of marketing or sales reps.
3. Use Google Advanced Operators
[name] + email
[name] + "email address"
[name] + contact
site:domain.com + [name] + email
site:domain.com + [name] + contact
4. Run a Twitter Email Search
Use Twitter's advanced search with these parameters:
- • Words: "email" or "contact"
- • Accounts: @prospect_username
- • Also try: "at" or "dot" (people often write emails as "name at domain dot com")
5. WHOIS Email Search
WHOIS provides basic info about any domain, including contact details. Best for reaching website owners.
⚠️ Note: Often shows generic emails or hidden info. Don't bother CEOs of big companies with link requests.
6. Ask for Email Addresses Directly
When all else fails, reach out to info@domain.com or use their contact form. Simply ask:
"Who's the best person to discuss [topic] with, and how can I reach them?"
🛠️ Email Permutator & Name2Email
Email Permutator
Enter prospect's full name and domain to generate all possible email variations automatically.
Then check validity in Gmail (hover for profile pic)
Name2Email Chrome Extension
Completely free tool that generates possible emails right in Gmail and highlights valid ones in green.
No manual checking needed
Final Word
Now that you know how to find email addresses, I hope for some responsibility on your part. Imagine that you and thousands of others sign up for email finders and spam the hell out of the same people.
The outcome? Those people will insist that their contact details are deleted from email databases in no time. Please, don't provoke them to go underground. It'll end badly for all of us.
Remember: With great email finding power comes great responsibility. Use these techniques ethically and respect people's privacy.
🎯 Quick Reference Summary
Free Tools
2,288 free credits across 30+ tools
Best Practices
Always verify emails before sending
Success Rate
Expect 16% response rate on average