In most cases, it will send a non-delivery notice back to the sender, and in most cases that notice will include a full copy of the message that had been attempted. The sender and anyone with administrative access to the mail system will be able to see the message.
What happens if you send an email to a non existing email address?
In general, if you send email to a non-existent account, the recipient's mailserver responds with a 500-series permanent error status. The sender's mailserver then generates a delivery failure message, including the error status. It's a permanent error, it won't try again.
How do I fix an invalid email address?
- Find another way to communicate.
- Notify the company.
- Check domains.
- Rely on a service.
- Check for typos and formatting problems.
- Email format and email validation.
- Remember to double check.
What happens if an email address is incorrect?
You may get a bounce telling you the message was undeliverable. This is probably the best possible situation, as you'd know it wasn't delivered to the mailbox you sent it too. It may be silently discarded. No human may ever see it, and you wouldn't get notification one way or another.