# How to Test Emails

Test email-driven flows like signup verification, password reset, and notifications using the Endtest Mailbox, a disposable inbox for tests.

Part of the Endtest documentation (Web Tests). Canonical URL: https://endtest.io/docs/web-tests/how-to-test-emails

---
## Introduction

The majority of Web Applications send emails when certain actions are triggered.

In some cases, you may want access to those emails during your tests to confirm their delivery, check their contents, or extract information to use within your test.

For example, you can test registering a user account, receiving a verification email, clicking a link to verify the email address, and asserting that the email has been verified.

You can use our [Endtest Mailbox](https://app.endtest.io/mailbox) to access emails.  
The way it works is similar to a disposable email service.  
It can be accessed manually or in an automated test, through the UI or with a script.

For a higher-level overview of how the disposable inbox works, see the [Endtest Mailbox overview](https://endtest.io/mailbox).

---

## 1. Access the Endtest Mailbox through the UI

### Steps

1. Choose an email address that has the `endtest-mail.io` domain.  
2. Make sure your email gets sent to that email address.  
3. Add a `Pause` of 30 seconds or a [Wait Until](https://endtest.io/docs/advanced/waits#2-wait-until) step.  
4. Access the [Endtest Mailbox](https://app.endtest.io/mailbox) for that email address with a `Go to URL` step.

#### Example

Let's suppose you picked the following email address: `bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io`.

You can access the Inbox for that email address by going to this URL:

[https://app.endtest.io/mailbox?email=bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io](https://app.endtest.io/mailbox?email=bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io)

You can add an optional `limit` parameter to return only a specific number of the most recent emails in the inbox. For example, `limit=2` returns the two latest emails: `https://app.endtest.io/mailbox?email=bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io&limit=2`

[Video](https://endtest-videos.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/documentation/endtest_mailbox.mp4)

 

The email address doesn't need to be pre-registered on our side.

You can even generate a random string and prepend it to the `@endtest-mail.io` string.

Or you can generate a random email address with the `Random Email` option from the `Set Variable` action.

You can also open the Endtest Mailbox in a new browser tab, by using the `Open new tab` option from the `Miscellaneous` action.

In order to switch back to your initial browser tab, you can use the `Switch to previous tab` option from the `Miscellaneous` action.

If you're not sure how long it takes for your application to deliver the email, you can add a `Wait Until` step that will also automatically refresh the page at certain intervals.  
The `Wait Until` option can be found in the `Miscellaneous` action.

---

## 2. Access the Endtest Mailbox from a script

### Steps

1. Choose an email address that has the `endtest-mail.io` domain.  
2. Make sure your email gets sent to that email address.  
3. Add a pause of 30 seconds in your script.  
4. Access the Endtest Mailbox in your script by sending a GET request to the `https://app.endtest.io/mailbox` endpoint with the following parameters: `email` and `format`.

Currently, the only option is to fetch the emails in JSON format by using `format=json`.

Let's suppose you picked the following email address: `bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io`.

You can access the emails for that address with the following GET request:

[https://app.endtest.io/mailbox?email=bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io&format=json](https://app.endtest.io/mailbox?email=bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io&format=json)

You can also add an optional `limit` parameter to return only a specific number of the most recent emails. For example, `limit=2` returns the two latest emails: `https://app.endtest.io/mailbox?email=bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io&format=json&limit=2`

The JSON response will have the following structure:

```json
[
  {
    "fromName": "",
    "fromAddress": "",
    "toAddress": "",
    "subject": "",
    "html": "",
    "timestamp": ""
  },
  {
    "fromName": "",
    "fromAddress": "",
    "toAddress": "",
    "subject": "",
    "html": "",
    "timestamp": ""
  }
]
```
The email address doesn't need to be pre-registered on our side.
You can even generate a random string and prepend it to the `@endtest-mail.io` string.

## 3. Delete all the emails sent to an email address

### Steps

Access the Endtest Mailbox in your test or script by sending a GET request to the `https://app.endtest.io/mailbox` endpoint with the following parameters: `email` and `action=delete`.

Let's suppose you picked the following email address: `bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io`

You can delete the emails for that address with the following GET request:

[https://app.endtest.io/mailbox?email=bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io&action=delete](https://app.endtest.io/mailbox?email=bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io&action=delete)

## 4. Using email subaddress

### Steps

An email subaddress refers to the practice of adding a plus sign (+) and additional characters to the local part of an email address to create variations that still deliver to the same inbox.

For example, in the email `batman+label@endtest-mail.io`, `+label` is a form of subaddressing.

If you send separate emails to `batman+1@endtest-mail.io` and `batman+2@endtest-mail.io`, they will still be accessible in the Endtest Mailbox. Each email will be delivered to its own subaddressed variation without needing any special parameters.

However, if you include the `subaddress=true` parameter, you can view all emails addressed to the base email, like `batman@endtest-mail.io`, in one mailbox, regardless of the subaddress:

[https://app.endtest.io/mailbox?email=bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io&subaddress=true&from=alerts@gotham.com](https://app.endtest.io/mailbox?email=bruce.wayne@endtest-mail.io&subaddress=true&from=alerts@gotham.com)

For Security reasons, it's mandatory to also add the `from` parameter when using `subaddress=true`.

The value provided in the `from` parameter needs to match the email address from which those emails were sent.

And the `subaddress=true` parameter can also be used to get the emails in JSON format or to delete the emails.

>When accessing emails in the Endtest Mailbox, you should add a [Wait Until](https://endtest.io/docs/advanced/waits/#2-wait-until) step or a 30 second [Pause](https://endtest.io/docs/advanced/waits/#3-pause) step before the `Go to URL` step, to allow your web application to have enough time to send the email.
>
>Emails sent to this service are technically public and can be accessed by anyone with knowledge of the username being used.
>
>While using a dynamic username provides some level of privacy, you should avoid inclusion of sensitive data in your emails when using this service.
>
>Please note that the emails will be automatically deleted after 7 days.
>
>You can also send emails with the [Endtest Utilities](https://endtest.io/docs/advanced/utilities).

 `Endtest Mailbox` only works with `endtest-mail.io` emails.